Dialogic foundations of CSCL

The dialogical perspective provides an important theoretical framework for CSCL. The strain of this approach most influential in CSCL arose in the throes of the Russian revolution. In the social and intellectual ferment of revolutionary Russia—during the decades preceding and following 1917—groups turned to the theories of Marx (1867/1976) not only to leave behind feudal relationships, but also to leap over the capitalist stage of economic development. While the official soviet philosophy developed a dogmatic version of Marxism-Leninism and even Stalinism, theoreticians like Vygotsky (1930/1978) and Bakhtin (1986) remained true to the social impetus of Marx’ thought. They provided social, developmental, dialectical approaches to psychology (Vygotsky, 1934/1986) and linguistics (Voloshinov, 1973) that complemented Marx’ revolutionary philosophy, history, economics and politics. In particular, these two authors—and the circles of researchers around them—pioneered dialogical outlooks that overcame the ideology of individualism, which is associated with capitalist culture. Philosophies propounded in the early days of the bourgeois era, like reflections by Descartes (1633/1999) of an isolated mind or the social contract among individual citizens postulated by Rousseau (1762) led to views in which (i) minds are possessions of individuals and (ii) communications are exchanges between individuals. Vygotsky countered the first of these views (i) by demonstrating how the higher psychological faculties of human cognition develop historically and evolve culturally through discourse and labor by groups of people; the mind is not innate to isolated individuals, but is an evolving composite of skills and practices developed through social interaction. Bakhtin opposed the second view (ii) by analyzing the dialogical character of communication; ideas are not first produced in self-contained individual minds, but emerge from multi-vocal discourse, whether in conversation, in self-talk or in novels. This is a developmental outlook, which views the nature of things as the result of their history— propounded by philosophers like Hegel, Nietzsche, Wittgenstein and Heidegger as well as scientists like Darwin, Marx and Freud. For both of the Russian researchers, language—a thoroughly social product and essential mediator of cognition—is the focal phenomenon. According to Vygotsky, thinking is a mediated and internalized form of self-talk, a dialog with oneself. In Bakhtin's writings, the cultural and historical forms of language speak through us: The voices of countless social groups are sedimented in the words, phrases and genres of our speech. For an individual to “have an idea” is for meanings which have previously been incorporated in a community's language to be brought together in a multi-vocal and dialogical interaction. Although an adult can formulate new meaning, develop an idea or elaborate an argument as an individual achievement, such abilities are originally learned in small groups or dyads. Even as an individual act, the