Carol Macdonald wrote:
> Hi Ricardo
> I come from Michael Cole's stable (as well as work with local colleagues);
> when Vygotsky's work fell into political disrepute (because some people were
> more equal than others), then the activity theorists "took over", and
> largely displaced the focus on cultural tools (mediational means) as
> semiotic (specifically language) as creating consciousness, and focused on
> the cultural artifact (tools) as creating consciousness, and thus AT was
> developed.
This does not seem accurate to me. It seems to be joining various
"activity schools" of which Leontev was just one. Leontev's Activity
fell out of favor along with Vygotsky's emphasis on signs.
I think the real issue is how american theorists like to pick and choose
ideas that are most favorable to their particular viewpoint. Often a
Vygotsky - Leont'ev dichotomy is not good enough, and one needs to split
Vygotsky's work into periods. Vygotsky's work on scientific concepts and
his other work concepts.
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