Alternative representation for CHAT systems: Uniting the subject-object division

Cultural-historical Activity Theory (CHAT) offers us a unique lens to look at human activity in context. As such it is not a theory which aims to evaluate the “objective” truth of the social world, aiming to empirically prove or falsify testable hypotheses. CHAT is closer to ethnomethodology’s notion of theory. It is an attempt to make concrete sociology’s theoretical constructs with reference to the social world (Halverson, 2002). These constructs are then evaluated not on how “true” they are but how well they classify and provide insights to the socio-cultural activities they are applied to. These evaluations are in themselves cultural activities which can take the form of academic rhetoric, publications, etc. It is hoped that this short exposition provides such an opportunity for this alternative representation of CHAT systems to be evaluated by the CHAT community. Before getting to the alternative representation for CHAT systems I would like to briefly describe the context in which it came about. This context will illustrate how it was developed as a response to practical challenges. This will also make the activities represented more meaningful. If you are impatient or pressed for time, you can click: Go to straight to O representation.