excellent book in Marxian psychology from a world systemic perspective.. I am sure it will help our discussion on political economy.. Mine -- Prof. Chris Chase Dunn wrote: of relevance for comparing world-systems is a new book by Bruce Lerro _From Earthspirits to Sky Gods: The Socioecological Origins Of Monotheism, Individualism And Hyperabstract Reasoning From The Stone Age To The Axial Iron Age_ Lexington Press, 2000. What is the difference between a spell and a prayer? Why do the gods replace the goddesses in the creation myths of the ancient world? Why does monotheism replace animism and polytheism at least among the upper classes in some state societies? This book is an attempt to a) link the sociohistorical school of psychology, led by the marxian psychologist, Vygotsky to macrosociology b) apply Vygotsky's cooperative theory of learning to tribal, archaic and ancient societies in a way similar to Luria's study of the effect of industrialization on the cognitive processes of workers and peasants c) extend and deepen Marx and Engels' theory of religion by suggesting that magic, unlike religion, is not a sign of alienation, but an expression of egalitarian relations in some pre-state societies. d) to historicize both Mead and Piaget, by arguing that both Mead's chararacteristics self and Piaget's stages of cognitive development have an origin in history and are not universally present.