A history of the social construction of the “cultural-historical”

Contrary to common opinion, the label “cultural-historical theory [kul’turno-istoricheskaia teoriia]” is no authentic designation for the conceptions elaborated by L.S. Vygotsky together with A.R. Luria, A.N. Leontiev, and a number of other collaborators between 1927/1928 and 1931/1932. Likewise, the denomination “cultural-historical school [kul’turno-istoricheskaia shkola]” does not reflect the genuine self-concept of the respective researchers. Rather, both designations were originally introduced in the mid-1930s by critics with defamatory aims and were later accepted as a defense mechanism, referred to by psychoanalysts as “identification with the aggressor.” In the aftermath of the “thaw”, when the once “beaten” turned out to be “victorious”, those labels became generally accepted (though in several respects quite problematic) shibboleths.