ABSTRACT
We identify activity systems as key sites in the enactment, consolidation and construction of cultures so that different social practices, norms, values, predispositions and taken-for-granted knowledge become instantiated at different locations in the university. It is here that recurrent practices become embedded and developing meanings are shaped, as individuals work together on the issues of professional life. HartLandsberg and colleagues offer a succinct description of an activity system:
An activity system [comprises] . . . a number of basic elements, including a given practitioner or subject, the object or motive of the activity, its mediating artefacts (e.g. tools, signs and symbols), the rules generally followed in carrying out the activity, the community of co-workers and colleagues involved in the activity, and the division of labour within the activity.
