Language and social determinism in the Vygotskian tradition

A response to Ratner (2015)

Authors

  • Peter E. Jones Sheffield Hallam University

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.1558/lst.v3i1.30502

Keywords:

Vygotsky, language, social determinism

Abstract

‘[Starbucks baristas] live for the moment in the immediate, circumscribed, visible, here and now … This catalyzes the fragmented, disorganized, non descriptive, nonsystematic, illogical, limited speech (and thinking) of these individuals’ (Ratner, 2015: 68).

‘In a little less than three years, I’ve been on strike 10 times. I’ve watched as the movement spread to Chicago, St. Louis, and then all around the country and the world. I traveled to Denmark, where I visited with fast-food workers who are paid more than $21 an hour, and it gave me hope that winning higher pay was actually possible.’ (Winning $15 an hour means everything to me: http://www.cnbc.com/2015/07/23/ winning-the-15-minimum-wage-fight-commentary.html).

Author Biography

  • Peter E. Jones, Sheffield Hallam University

    Peter Jones is Principle Lecturer of Communication Studies in the Culture, Communication and Computing Research Institute at Sheffield Hallam University.

References

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Jones, P. E. and Collins, C. (2010). State ideology and oppositional discourses: Conceptual and methodological issues. In M. Huspek (Ed.), Oppositional Discourses and Democracies, 17–39. New York: Routledge.

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Ratner, C. (2015). Classic and Revisionist Sociocultural Theory, and their analyses of expressive language: An empirical and theoretical assessment. Language and Sociocultural Theory 2 (1): 51–83. http://dx.doi.org/10.1558/lst.v2i1.26988

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Vygotsky, L. S. (1997). The Collected Works of L. S. Vygotsky, vol 4. New York: Plenum.

Published

2016-04-28

Issue

Section

Articles

How to Cite

Jones, P. E. (2016). Language and social determinism in the Vygotskian tradition: A response to Ratner (2015). Language and Sociocultural Theory, 3(1), 3-10. https://doi.org/10.1558/lst.v3i1.30502

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