An Interdisciplinary Concept of Activity

Authors

  • Andy Blunden Independent Social Research Network Melbourne

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.7146/ocps.v11i1.2119

Keywords:

activity, theory, concept, interdisciplinary

Abstract

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 interdisciplinary 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 ‘an activity’, and a clear distinction between the unit of analysis and the substance, 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.

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Published

2009-09-23

How to Cite

Blunden, A. (2009). An Interdisciplinary Concept of Activity. Outlines. Critical Practice Studies, 11(1), 1–26. https://doi.org/10.7146/ocps.v11i1.2119

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Section

Articles