Leont'ev's small book 'Activity, Consciousness, and Personality' was written
as an attempt to present systematically key theoretical ideas of activity
theory as Alexei Nikolaevitch saw it. The book is so condensed that it is
not a an easy starting point for a novice. In my opinion, it is necessary to
read other key texts by Leont'ev if one wants to grasp his version of
activity theory.
I would like to point out two specific limitations of the book which we
might be conscious of when we discuss it:
1. Even though it is intended to be a summary of cultural-historical
activity theory, the book contains no concrete historical analysis. The
concepts are not historically derived and developed in this book. Thus, if
one reads this book only, one gets a very one-sided image of the method of
CHAT. The genetic-historical foundation is largely presented in Leont'ev
seminal work 'Problems of the Development of the Mind' (Moscow, Progress
Publishers, 1981) which is based on Leont'ev work from the 1940s to the
1960s.
2. The book presents activity theory as a psychological theory. However,
when one reads it, one realizes that the central ideas (e.g., the structure
of human activity) transcend the boundaries of any single discipline.
Leont'ev's insistence on psychology as the home of CHAT is probably
understandable against the background of the political situation in the
Soviet Union: discussion of concrete sociological and institutional
implications of CHAT would have been dangerous (Davydov's troubles with the
Party demonstrate that it was enough if one invited philosophers and
cultural scholars to interact with psychologists). Be that as it may, I
think that we can see a tension between individual-centered psychologism and
collectively oriented activity theory in many places in Leont'ev's book.
As to the discussion on Chapter 1, please start. I'll join in when I feel I
have something to say.
Cheers,
Yrjo Engestrom
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