What Is a 21st-Century Activist Scholar to Do?

• In Event: Being/Becoming an Activist Scholar: Lessons From Cultural-Historical Activity Research

Abstract

To the naïve mind revolution and history seem incompatible. It believes that historical development continues as long as it follows a straight line. When a change comes, a break in the historical fabric, a leap—then this naïve mind sees only catastrophe, a fall, a rupture; for the naïve mind history ends until back again straight and narrow. The scientific mind on the contrary, views revolution as the locomotive of history, forging ahead at full speed; it regards the revolutionary epoch as the tangible, living embodiment of history. A revolution solves only those tasks which have been raised by history; this proposition holds equally true for revolution in general and for aspects of social and cultural life. (Vygotsky as quoted in Leviathan, 1982).

Socio-cultural theory was born of activism. It emerged in the early, most improvisational moments of the Russian Revolution, and one of its continuing provocations is that it does not claim to be objective or apolitical.

Vygotsky and his followers located their discoveries in the realm of revolution and its relationship to human development, learning, creativity, and social change. They were tasked with nothing less than the creation of a new psychology that was not purely explanatory, but that could respond to the specificity of their historical moment, and support the transformation and development of the Russian people.

It is now over a hundred years since that revolution, and we are also living in a moment of upheaval and rapid change. This invited symposium was inspired by the experience of the 2017 AERA meeting in San Antonio, and by the year of elections, protests, violence, and creativity that came before and after. As we walked the halls of the convention center and sat in sessions by scholars new and old, we could feel a growing sense of urgency. In a moment when people around the world are on the move literally and figuratively, and when many of the taken for granted assumptions of American democracy are being called into question, scholarship in the absence of activism seems insufficient. Once again, many scholars are attempting to go beyond explanation and description, to create more just and revolutionary educational practices, a new approach to education, and perhaps even a new form of activism.

As people take to the streets and the divides within American society continue to grow, what is the role of the educational researcher, and what is the relevance of Vygotsky and socio-cultural theory?

In this invited symposium, we will hear from three scholars who each have each spent decades working with socio-cultural theory at the intersection of activism and research. They will share their experiences and understanding of being activist scholars. The session will continue with a final paper which will be presented by a panel of emerging scholar activists who will collectively interview and respond to the presentations and lead a discussion with the audience.

Authors

• Carrie L. Lobman, Rutgers University

• Jennifer A. Vadeboncoeur, The University of British Columbia

• Angela N. Booker, University of California - San Diego

• Fernanda Coelho Liberali, Pontificia Universidad Catolica de Sao Paulo

• Svetlana Jovic, Pratt Institute

• Thomas M. Philip, University of California - Los Angeles

• Aria Razfar, University of Illinois at Chicago

• Michael Frazier, University of West Georgia