ABSTRACT
In this chapter, I address the core (worldview level) foundations of the Cultural-Historical Activity Theory (CHAT, taken here to refer to the Vygotsky-Leontive-Luria school)—a theoretical perspective grounded in Vygotsky’s writings and further extended by several generations of this scholar’s collaborators and followers both in Russia and, more recently, by a broad community of researchers on an international scene. Collaboratively developed in the early 20th century by Vygotsky and a group of enthusiastic scholars united around him (especially Leontiev and Luria), all passionately involved in the social transformations that at the time were taking place in Russia, this perspective offered-well ahead of its time-a new vision on the most profound questions pertaining to human development and human ‘nature.’ At the same time, it suggested a new mission for psychology as a practical-theoretical endeavor deeply imbued with the ideology of social justice and empowerment and aimed at the betterment and transformation of society (see Stetsenko & Arievitch, 2004). In my view, this theoretical perspective represents a revolutionary way to conceptualize human development that-if revealed and ascertained more coherently and directly than it has been done till now-can be seen as a precursor for the most recent breakthroughs in developmental sciences that still bears much potential for finding solutions for today’s issues in these sciences both theoretically and practically.
