Page 83 - Cultural Studies of Science Education

60 W.-M. Roth

Fig. 4 When forms of relations and orientation toward the environment became available, the
latter came under the control of the species

behavior without transmitting it to others in the group. In such a case, the behavior
would have been lost. But with the hominids (great apes), traditions emerged; indi-
viduals learned how to fish for termites from other individuals (often the mothers).
Knowledge came to exist no longer at the individual but at the collective level. Even
if one or two individuals never were to fish for termites, never appropriate the skill,
as long as there were others practicing the skill and making it available through
observational and mimetic means to others, the knowledge survived. This knowl-
edge that allows humans to control the environment has increased tremendously,
leading the human hubris of a nearly almighty agent in the environment. But the
required knowledge and practices concerning the responsibility for place and a
sense for ecojustice – the concept that we cannot make others and other organisms
pay for our own power and excesses – has not grown in the same way.
Among the great apes one can also observe a third feature, division of labor. Thus,
chimpanzee males hunt for monkeys clearly dividing the task. Some climb adjacent
trees thereby blocking escape routes and the “hunter” climbs up the tree where the
monkeys sit killing one, which is to be shared subsequently with all others. Alexei
Nikolaevich Leont’ev (1978), the father of cultural-historical activity theory, used such
an example (his involves “hunters” and “beaters”) to explain early forms of division of
labor that actually formed the basis for diverse human societies. More advanced forms
of division of labor began when some individuals stayed back, producing the tools
others used in hunting and gathering, and exchanging the tools thus manufactured
against food: The first barter systems emerged and with it, human forms of society.
That is, because there are two forms of activity, individuals have the choice to partici-
pate in one or the other, and as long as they participate, their needs are met because
they can exchange the fruits of their labor with others trading what they have for some-
thing that they need. In fact, as long as there is sufficient food produced, even those
who do not or cannot engage in one or the other form of activity can survive feeding
on the leftovers or what is given to them. These societies are characterized by the
conscious production, exchange, distribution, and consumption of things important to
the group as a whole. The structure of society is shown in Fig. 5.