Kenneth Nilsson, Victor Kaptelinin: Cultural-historical psychology and activity theory today: A trip report from the Fourth ISCRAT Congress (June 1998, Aarhus, Denmark)

Much concern has been voiced recently about the lack of a unifying theoretical perspective in Human-Computer Interaction, CSCW, and related fields. Fragmentation in the fields undermines not only their conceptual integrity but also their impact on the practice of design, evaluation, and use of computer systems. A potential conceptual framework, which is becoming increasingly well known, is Activity Theory. Activity Theory was developed by the Russian psychologists Vygotsky, Rubinshtein, Leont'ev and others, with work beginning in the 1920's. There is a thriving Activity Theory tradition in HCI/IS studies in Scandinavia and increasing interest in Activity Theory in other European countries, the U.S., Canada and Australia, as well as continuing work in Russia. Earlier this year Kenneth Nilsson and Victor Kaptelinin participated in the Fourth International ISCRAT Congress that took place in Aarhus, Denmark. They will share their impressions about the Congress and the current state of development in cultural-historical psychology and activity theory in general, with a special emphasis on studies oriented towards technological mediation of human activities.

Välkommna!
Per-Olof Ågren