Mind as Action

James V. Wertsch is Professor and Chair of the Department of Education at Washington University, St. Louis, Missouri.

1. The task of sociocultural analysis ; Translation at the crossroads ; Multiple perspectives on human action ; Methodological individualism in the copyright age ; 2. Properties of mediated action ; Mediated action is characterized by an irreducible tension between agent and mediational means ; Mediational means are material ; Mediated action typically has multiple simultaneous goals ; Mediated action is situated in one orf more developmental paths ; Mediational means constrain as well as enable action ; New mediational means transform mediated action ; The relationship of agents toward mediational means can be characterized in terms of mastery: Internalization as mastery ; The relationship of agents toard mediational means can be characterized in terms of appropriation: Internalization as appropriation ; Mediational means are often produced for reasons other than to facilitate mediated action ; Mediational means are associated with power and authority ; Narrative as a cultural tool for representing the past ; Representing the past: Cultural tools and their uses ; Historical texts as cultural tools ; Mastering texts about the origins of the U.S.: Knowing too little ; Mastering texts about the origins of the U.S.: Knowing too much ; Events ; Theme ; The construction of main characters ; Frequency of mention ; Patterns of agency ; Patterns of presupposed presence ; The irreducible tension between cultural tool and agent in generating historical texts ; The mastery and appropriation of narratives as mediational means for representing the past ; 4. Mediated action in social space ; Intersubjectivity and alterity in social interaction ; Intersubjectivity and laterity in studies of intermental; functioning ; Harnessing intersubjectivity and alterity in instructional discourse ; Reciprocal teaching as an alternative form of instructional discourse ; 5. Appropriation and resistance ; Appropriation and resistance: The official Soviet history of Estonia ; Tactics of consumption and forms of resistance ; Strategies of consumption and forms of resistance: ; Official and unofficial history ; Summary ; Appropriation and resistance: Cultural stereotypes ; The "Microdynamics" of appropriation and resistance ; Stereotype threat and appropriation ; 6. Mind as mediated action: An Epilogue