Group Problem Solving Among Grassroots Development Activists in South Africa: A Process of Horizontal Mediated Action

Abstract

The article reports on a study of everyday problem-solving practices of a group of community activists in South Africa. A theoretical framework for the study, based on a cultural-historical approach, is presented. Everyday problem solving is defined as a goal-directed activity that embodies a dialectical interface between person and socio-cultural environment. This interface is defined as cultural mediation. Mediation comes about through joint action between people with the help of mediational means such as values, goals, and models. Data for the study consist of 28 interviews and 10 videotaped problem-solving events. The article describes the grounded interpretative approach used for the analysis of the data and explains the multilayered process of successively deeper interpretations of the data congruent with the adopted theoretical framework. The research participants' group problem-solving practice is steeped in the traditional African philosophy of Ubuntu, which can be loosely translated as the desire of social harmony. This was reflected in the participants' perceptions of the concepts "problem" and "problem solving" and in their problem-solving activities, which were characterized by their sustained attempts to reach a common understanding and group consensus. The structure of the group problem-solving event, the strategies used by the participants, and the roles they played in the activity were congruent with these attempts. However, some evidence suggests that emerging assumptions and practice deviate from the traditional Ubuntu philosophy.