In this interview Prof. Engeström discusses his professional trajectory and interest in cultural-historical activity theory with a focus on its insights into the fields of work and human development. He comments on recent transformations within this theoretical orientation, many of them promoted by his research into a variety of workplaces and organisations. Methodological aspects, and in parti...

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 ...

I explore theoretical conceptions of the use and exchange values of mathematics education within cultural-historical activity theory perspectives. The case of education in England is compared with that of health care (due to Engestrom). Then I draw on Lave and McDermott’s study of estranged learning from the early Marx, and from Marx’s later analyses in Capital. They deduced the source of learn...

This paper explores the role that societal culture may play in terms of acting as an inhibitor or enabler when creating conditions conducive to innovative enterprise. To further understanding of this concept, the paper’s authors explore different cultural influences and traditions of the country of Germany and the Canadian province of Ontario against the backdrop of the introduction of a govern...

with the collapse of soviet :union:, central asian countries came into independence. the countries were neglected by russia during the first years after their formation. this encouraged other regional and trans-regional powers to interfere in the region and try to maximize their interests. shifting its foreign-policy process, russia kept its eyes on look-east policy and tried to prevent others ...

This paper explores the design of computerbased systems that support the management of organisational knowledge. The information systems notions of databases and information architectures are extended to the search for a meaningful conceptual structure by which collective knowledge can be supported by existing information technologies. An “architecture” is presented where the key unit of analys...

The authors of this paper take the view that knowledge management is a set of practices for systematically adding value to the knowlege of individuals, which is generated and shaped through interaction with others. It is therefore appropriate that knowledge management research be conducted in the context of particular organisations, focusing on local activities. To that end two of the authors h...