Re: Intellectual roots of AT

nate (schmolze who-is-at students.wisc.edu)
Tue, 6 Apr 1999 08:15:15 -0500

Engestrom and Miettinen in their intro to Perspectives in Activity Theory
compare Dewey's pragmatism with Leontiev. Examples of complementary
aspects between the two include transcending dualisms, conceptions of
action, practice and collective activity etc. The main differentiation
between activity theory and Dewey is Dewey's lack of emphasis on cultural
mediation.

Also, as Van Der Veer & Valsiner mention in Understanding Vygotsky, Dewey
was very influential in Russia in the late teens and early twenties. In
the intro to Ed Psych., Davydov argued;

"These observations (independance) were hammered out early in the 20th
century by certain leading philosophers, educators, and psychologists who
had fought to make the evolving system of public education effectively
democratic. The remarkable American scholar John Dewey was one such
educational philosopher."

In Visions of Childhood, Marx and Dewey are seen complentary in their
connection to Hegalian philosophy. The complentary aspects of Dewey and
Activity Theory seem to have a common lineage in Hegalian philosophy.

Nate

----- Original Message -----
From: Martin Ryder <mryder who-is-at carbon.cudenver.edu>
To: <xmca who-is-at weber.ucsd.edu>
Sent: Monday, April 05, 1999 7:34 PM
Subject: Intellectual roots of AT

> When we define the field of Activity Theory, we typically
> describe its Russian intellectual roots in Vygotsky, Luria
> and Leont'ev. But some writers, including Birger Hjrland
> (Information Seeking and Subject Representation: An
> Activity-Theoretical Approach to Information Science.
> Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press, 1997) credit American
> pragmatic influences, specifically that of John Dewey.
>
> I would be curious to know if anyone here can cite some
> obvious examples of Deweyan influences in the Russian
> lineage of AT.
>
> Martin R.
>