An Interdisciplinary Concept of Activity
<p class="AbstractText" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 12pt;"><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;" lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">It is suggested that if Cultural-...
| Main Author: | |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
The Outlines Association
2009-09-01
|
| Series: | Outlines |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://ojs.statsbiblioteket.dk/index.php/outlines/article/view/2119 |
| Summary: | <p class="AbstractText" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 12pt;"><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;" lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">It is suggested that if Cultural-Historical Activity Theory (CHAT) is to fulfil its potential as an approach to cultural and historical science in general, then an <em>interdisciplinary</em> concept of activity is needed. Such a concept of activity would provide a common foundation for all the human sciences, underpinning concepts of, for example, state and social movement equally as, for example, learning and personality. For this is needed a clear conception of the ‘unit of analysis’ of activity, i.e., of what constitutes ‘<em>an</em> activity’, and a clear distinction between the<em> unit of analysis</em> and the <em>substance</em>, i.e., ultimate reality underlying all the human sciences: artifact-mediated joint activity. It is claimed that the concept of ‘project collaboration’ – the interaction between two or more persons in pursuit of a common objective – forms such a unit of activity, the single ‘molecule’ in terms of which both sociological and psychological phenomena can be theorised. It is suggested that such a clarification of the notion of activity allows us to see how individual actions and societal activities mutually constitute one another and are each construed in the light of the other.</span></span></span></p> |
|---|---|
| ISSN: | 1399-5510 1904-0210 |