Marxism and Psychology
Posted 31st October 2008 at 04:50 by Labor Shall Rule
A NEEDED DISCUSSION...
Psychology is overshadowed by many Marxists, even though it is a subject that should be under severe inquiry.
To change social and historical human life vis-a-vis revolution, requires a remarkable change in the governing of human behavior altogether. The processes of mental development could be regulated in such a way that could rupture all hitherto existing human weaknesses.
Lev Vygotsky (first row, third from left), a famous Soviet psychologist that penned 'cultural mediation'
Psychology is overshadowed by many Marxists, even though it is a subject that should be under severe inquiry.
To change social and historical human life vis-a-vis revolution, requires a remarkable change in the governing of human behavior altogether. The processes of mental development could be regulated in such a way that could rupture all hitherto existing human weaknesses.
Lev Vygotsky (first row, third from left), a famous Soviet psychologist that penned 'cultural mediation'
Total Comments 7
Comments
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was Lev the one who did the work of scaffolding in regards to Child development?Posted 1st November 2008 at 20:33 by Holden Caulfield 
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I agree in many ways. I think it is crucial that, as leftists, we adopt a very clear sense of human psychology, both in regards to how huamns think and to what psychological orientations make sense for a communist society.
Maybe we can start a Psychology forum - this is an idea I have been toying with for awhile.Posted 2nd November 2008 at 02:20 by Dean
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Holden,
Lev, unlike other unscientific psychologists, did not view a delay in a child's development as a chemical interruption (or a mistake in child-rearing during the 'psychoanalytic stages') but a result of social interaction with the cultural means of behavior as they grow through society.
He pretty much started cognitive and physical maturation + social experience = learning for a child. So yes, he laid down the foundation of modern child development.Posted 2nd November 2008 at 17:02 by Labor Shall Rule
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Sounds interesting, but I'm not sure I like the sound of "could be regulated in such a way as to rupture all hitherto existing human weaknesses", regulated by whom? Undoubtedly releasing childhood from the necessity of learning the deforming habits and attitudes required to function in an unequal society would be a boon to human potential. But I remember my childhood as a time of some quite intense conflicts with people who believed THEY KNEW HOW TO REGULATE my development. Those conflicts were not necessary when I was dealth with as an actual person who could see things for myself. We need to trust that the society we seek to build is reasonable enough that most children will WANT to develop into it. A great deal of mental suffering today, I believe, comes from the very reasonable insistence on the part of the unconscious that it not suffer to be rendered onto this travesty of a social world. Which, by the way is something of a Freudian position.
As to your comments contra-psychoanalysis, let us not forget that such greats as Marcuse and Fromm, even Trotsky were ardent admirers of Freud.Posted 6th November 2008 at 10:50 by alternate_redstar
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I think it's a bit silly to think that you can "change" people's psychology simply by knowing about it. The fundamentals of human psychology are more or less unalterable except through certain chemicals.
However, a familiarity with the fundamentals and how they work can be extremely useful. Basically, what you can do with this knowledge is alter the environment in ways that you know (from testing) will have predictable effects on people's thinking and behavior. For instance, Zimbardo's prison experiment (not really an experiment) and Milgram's conformity studies, and literally hundreds of related studies, have shown that you can set up an environment which fosters competition to an extreme degree--to the point where people will physically abuse their peers because their superiors sanction the abuse. The environment in these studies actually mimics the capitalist workplace in a lot of ways. Well, armed with a knowledge of what things foster competition, you can set up an environment that fosters cooperation instead. People think that socialists want to manipulate human nature, but the truth is that capitalist society already does so to an extreme degree. Socialists merely want to do so in the other direction. Anyone who controls the environment of a group of people can't help but manipulate their psychology and behavior, in one direction or the other.
Social psychology is the most relevant area--I do think every leftist with some reading time on her/his hands ought to pick up an intro Social Psychology textbook. I'd recommend Social Psychology by David G. Meyers, as it's very clearly written and covers an extremely broad range of topics. It also uses a lot of interesting real-world applications, and doesn't always resort to, say, the Nazis, when talking about conformity or obedience studies. Meyers actually has an eye for subtle societal applications and will tie such studies into things like the capitalist workplace, police academies, religious institutions, etc., thus acknowledging that these principles cause harm in our own society (he is an American), not merely in their societies.
Another thing: I find that I often turn to the principles of social psychology to help me explain capitalist ideological hegemony when I start to get depressed because anti-communism has such a hold on the American population. The hegemony is really not a mystery at all when you are aware of some basic social psychological principles.Posted 9th November 2008 at 07:20 by JimmyJazz
Updated 23rd July 2009 at 07:34 by JimmyJazz -
Not that Labor Shall Rule did this, just that people often do, including (maybe especially) leftists.Quote:Originally Posted by JimmyJazzand I'd point out that it's a bit silly to think that you can "change" people's psychology simply by knowing about it
I want to add this to my last post, too: I think people will naturally gravitate towards creating an environment which facilitates social cooperation. The competitive structure of the capitalist workplace is, for most people, imposed. (A small percentage of people actually thrive in it and enjoy it, while others merely thrive in it but don't enjoy it, a few Randbot-type idiots enjoy it even though they don't thrive in it, and the majority do neither). So I think the biggest change we need to make regarding human psychology is simply to stop imposing a competitive environment on people. They'll naturally create a cooperative environment when they're allowed to do so, and they'll be allowed to do so when it's they (and not capitalists) who control access to the MoP and therefore all the jobs.Posted 9th November 2008 at 07:29 by JimmyJazz
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HUMAN MIND IF STUDIED PROPERLY CAN LEAD TO ALL SOCIAL PROBLEMS AS IT WILL LEAD US TO THE REACTION AND THE RESULT OF A SITUATION.
TO SHARE, PAKISTANI PEOPLE HAVE FALLEN TO GREED OF MONEY......WE AS A POLITICAL PARTY MNAKA, ARE TRYING OUR LEVEL BEST TO BRING THEM OUT OF THE CIRCLE OF CAPITALISM. WE BELIEVE IN IMPROVING THE SKILLS AND KNOWLEDGE OF THE WORKING CLASS THAN TO HUMILIATE THEM.
WE ACKNOWLEDGE AND BELIEVE THAT THE WORKING CLASS CAN FULFILL ALL DOMESTIC AND SOCIAL REQUIREMENTS BY IMPROVING THEIR SKILLS AND KNOWLEDGE, AND HAVE VERY LESS NEED OF MONEY.
[COLOR="Red"]MNAKA PAKISTAN.....GROUP OF PATRIOTIC REVOLUTIONARY YOUTH[/COLOR]Posted 31st May 2010 at 03:50 by vpmnaka
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