ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the development of human subjects as relational outcome that is emerging from the history of social exchanges. We consider here the question of the social embeddedness of the subject as an emergent partner. We also consider the specificity and creative nature of processes of social exchanges, which, we argue, give rise to emergence of meaning. Meaning is thus conceptualized as a processual and relational outcome of interactive social exchanges. To emphasize the historical nature of development, we propose and develop three concepts that describe the changing form of such interactions through time: establishment, extension, and abbreviation. These concepts are illustrated through their application to mother-infant dyadic exchanges. The analysis of the development of communicative interactions using these concepts guides us in our examination of both deterministic and indeterministic characteristics of development.
