Perspectives on Activity Theory

Activity theory is an interdisciplinary approach to human sciences that originates in the cultural-historical psychology school, initiated by Vygotsky, Leontev, and Luria. It takes the object-oriented, artifact-mediated collective activity system as its unit of analysis, thus bridging the gulf between the individual subject and the societal structure. This 1999 volume includes 26 chapters on activity theory by authors from ten countries. In Part I of the book, central theoretical issues are discussed from different points of view. Some topics addressed in this part are epistemology, methodology, and the relationship between biological and cultural factors. Part II is devoted to the acquisition and development of language. This part includes a chapter that analyzes writing activity in Japanese classrooms, and a case study of literacy skills of a man with cerebral palsy. Part III contains chapters on play, learning, and education, and Part IV addresses the meaning of technology and the development of work activities. The final part covers issues of therapy and addiction. Contents
Part I. Theoretical Issues: 1. Activity theory and individual and social transformation Yrjo Engestrm
2. The content and unsolved problems of activity theory Vassily V. Davydov
3. Knowledge as shared procedures Stephen Toulmin
4. Activity theory in a new era Vladimir A. Letkorsky
5. Society versus context in individual development: does theory make a difference? Charles W. Tolman
6. Cultural psychology: some general principles and a concrete example Michael Cole
7. Laws logics and human activity Antti Eskola
8. Collapse creation and continuity in Europe - how do people change? Yrjo-Paavo Hayrynen
9. Activity theory and the concept of integrative levels Eythel Tobach
10. The relevance to psychology of Antonio Gramscis ideas on activity and common sense Francesco Paolo Colucci
Part II. Language and its Acquisition: 11. The expanded dialogic sphere: writing activity and authoring of self in Japanese classrooms Yuji Moro
12. Improvement of school childrens reading and writing ability through the formation of linguistic awareness Kyoshi Amano
13. Psychomotor and socio-emotional processes in literacy acquisition: results from an ongoing case study involving a nonvocal cerebral palsic young man Matthias Bujarski Martin Hildebrand-Nilshon and Jane Kordt
Part III. Play Learning and Instruction: 14. Play and motivation Pentti Hakkarainen
15. Drama games with six year old children: possibilities and limitations Stig Brostrom
16. Activity formation as an alternative strategy of instruction Joachim Lompscher
17. Activity theory and historic teaching Mariane Hedegaard
18. Didactic models and the problem of intertextuality and polyphony Jacques Carpay and Bert Van Oers
19. Metaphor and learning activity Bernd Fichtner
20. Transcending traditional school learning: teachers work and networks of learning Reijo Miettinen
Part IV. Technology and Work: 21. The theory of activity changed by information technology Oleg K. Tikhomirov
22. Activity theory transformation of work and information systems design Kari Kuutti
23. Innovative learning in work teams: analyzing cycles of knowledge creation in practice Yrj Engestrm
Part V. Therapy and Addiction: 24. Object relations theory and activity theory: a proposed link by way of the procedural sequence model Anthony Ryle
25. The concept of sign in the work of Vygotsky, Winnicott and Bakhtin: further integration of object relations theory and activity theory Mikael Leiman
26. From addiction to self-governance Anja Koski-Jannes.

Author/Editor Details
Edited by: Yrj Engestrm, University of California, San Diego
Edited by: Reijo Miettinen, University of Helsinki
Edited by: Raija-Leena Punamki, University of Helsinki