Mediated Actions and the Structure of Activity Theory
Actions
and activity as a Unit of Analysis
Text by Marco Querol
Mediated Actions
Vygotsky proposed the theory that human actions are
mediated by signs, symbols, and tools (Figure 1). These mediators are called
cultural instruments or artifacts. Studies that take mediated action as the
unit of analysis are considered as the 1st generation in Activity Theory.
Figure 1 The mediated
action, reformulation of Vygotsky's version by Engeström (1987).
There are different types of artifacts that mediate
human actions (Wartofski, 1979). There are primary artifacts that are directly
used to transform an object (e.g., a hoe), but there are also symbolic
mediators, such as the knowledge we have about how to plant tomatoes, when to
plant them, how deep, in what type of soil, number of seeds, how much water to
put in, and so on.
There are also secondary artifacts that are
representations of the system or forms of action. These artifacts are not used
directly to transform the activity, but rather to transmit it from one
individual to another and reproduce it. Examples of this type of artifact are:
a scheme representing planting or harvesting, a planting schedule, a sketch, a
theory about soil fertility.
There are also artifacts that are used not only to
represent the present, but to simulate future alternative forms of the
activity. These artifacts are called tertiary artifacts. Examples of this type
of artifact are a simulator, a project, or a model of the future activity
system.
Cultural artifacts can be material, but also
cognitive. Part of the knowledge we have about the world is tacit, that is, we
know, but we do not externalize it – it remains "inside the head".
For example, a farmer knows how to move the soil with a hoe, but cannot explain
how to do it. With a reflection, it may be that knowledge can be externalized
through language. With the use of existing or new concepts and words, people
reflect which operations or elements are essential and which are not, representing
it with the use of words with consensual meaning. And in this way, knowledge is
passed on from one person to another, from one generation to another. In this
process, knowledge, as well as artifacts, develop independently of individuals,
seeming to have a life of their own. However, it is important to emphasize that
the origin of artifacts, both material (tools, symbols, words) and cognitive
artifacts, are from human practices.
As mentioned
earlier, Vygotsky (1978) formulated the theory of cultural mediation of human
action, according to which actions do not occur directly between subject and
object, but are always mediated by cultural artifacts — material and symbolic
tools. These mediators not only expand the possibilities of action, but also
qualitatively transform the activity itself.
In the
tradition developed by Engeström, this perspective is expanded to understand
that human activity is always structured by multiple mediating elements—tools
and signs, rules, division of labor, and community. Thus, the transformation of
any of these elements modifies the very dynamics of the activity. This process
is called remediation.
Remediation
occurs, for example, when a tool is replaced by a more advanced one, when a
guiding theory is updated, when a rule of operation is changed, or when the
division of labor is reorganized. In these cases, it is not just a one-off
change, but a transformation that can open up new possibilities for action,
learning and development.
What is
the structure of an activity.
Now that we have said that human actions and
activities are mediated by cultural artifacts, we can present the mediators of human
activity. Above we have already talked about the different types of artifacts,
but let's see how they relate in a functional way to the subject and the
object.
Based on the work of Leontiev (1981), Engeström (1987)
systematized the structure of a human activity, what is called the activity
system model, the famous triangle with connections between the elements,
representing different forms of mediation, as represented in Figure 3. Studies
that take this model of activity system as the theoretical unit of analysis is
called the 2nd generation of Activity Theory.
The activity system represents the elements that
basically all human activities have, from the most primitive (e.g., hunting,
gathering, fishing) to the most modern. What are these elements?
The first and most obvious is the subject. Activities
have subjects, people doing something. In the activity system, the subject is
the individual who takes himself as the point of the perspective of analysis.
When the activity system is represented, one can choose to place one of the
members of the community as a subject. Obviously, depending on who is selected,
we can have a different perspective on what the object is, and the other
mediating elements (Figure 2).
Figure 2 Activity System
proposed by Engeström (1987).
Another element of the system is the object that the
subject's actions aim to transform. It refers to what is being transformed and
what is being idealized. The object is the pure motivation of the activity, and
has property capable of satisfying one or more human needs. The word object is
the translation of the word Gegenstand from German. Unfortunately, there
is no exact translation for the word in English or Portuguese, which makes it
difficult to understand. We translate it as object. But its meaning is that
which is before the individual, his focus, aim, purpose. In Activity Theory, it
is what gives direction and meaning to human activity. An example of an object
would be a prey that a lion sees, and attracts its attention and motivation.
As mentioned above, the object has a double meaning:
it is the raw material, the starting point, what it wants to transform,
motivates and attracts the attention of individuals, but also what
is being idealized. I will draw attention to this double aspect of the concept:
being what you want to transform and your product.
Perhaps some examples will help to clarify. For
example, in the activity of hunting, the prey is the object that will be
transformed. It has the motivating power because the hunter idealizes it in
meat and skin that will satisfy the need for food and clothing. In the activity
of construction, the object, what is being transformed is terrain. But what
motivates is not the land itself, but what the idealized house that will meet
the housing need. In the activity of care, for a doctor, his object, his raw material
is a sick patient. But what motivates him is to have a healthy person. In the
activity of resocialization of young people in conflict with the law, the
object of social assistance agents, teachers, psychologists is the young
offender, who is idealized into a resocialized person. Obviously, what a young
offender and resocialized young person means is contested, as well as what a
sustainable home, a healthy patient, etc., means.
Another element is the instruments, which encompass
the tools and symbols that we have already talked about above when I mentioned
the mediation of actions.
In addition to the technical mediators (the
instruments) there are also social mediators. These are three: the rules, the
community, and the division of labor. Rules are impositions from outside the
system that restrict or determine how actions should be conducted. There are
explicit rules, such as laws and norms, but there are also implicit rules that
are not written and sometimes not even spoken.
Community refers to individuals who are collaborating
directly to produce the expected results. For example, in tomato production we
have the farmer and his family, his employees, the input seller, the extension
worker who provides technical assistance, perhaps also the cooperative that
buys, packages and sells his products. In the medical assistance service we
have not only a doctor, but also a nurse, a receptionist, an assistant, an
anesthesiologist, a hospital administrator, a security guard, a pharmacist,
etc. They are all part of the community. In the representation of the subject,
I choose one of these members of the community to analyze from his perspective.
Finally, the division of labor is the tasks that are
performed by individuals, that is, the set of actions to transform the object.
We have to remember that the activity system is an
abstraction, a model that represents human activity, and not the activity
itself. Therefore, in reality, there is an infinity of mediators whose
categorization in the system requires a theoretical interpretation. For
example, what is the farmer's land. It can be a means, a tool used to produce
tomatoes. Or it can be a symbol, as in the case of a social movement fighting
for land. Or it can be its object if the intention is to transform it – a
degraded land into a productive land.
Knowledge, also called generalizations or
conceptualizations, is embedded in all elements of an activity, not just
instruments. We have generalizations of all the elements, what they are, how
they work, etc. Often, or rather, most of the time we are not aware of
mediators that we call paradigms, which are presuppositions, beliefs, and
values that guide our actions and activities. However, if we want to bring
about deeper changes, it becomes essential to become aware of them.
Forms
of representation of cooperation between systems of activity
Network
of functionally connected systems
Activity systems are not isolated, but are interacting
with other systems in a functional way that produce and consume the elements of
the system being analyzed. Figure 4 shows how this functional relationship can
be represented (Engeström, 1987). In the center is located the central activity
that is being analyzed, whose subject was produced by another activity, the
productive activity of the subject that forms his identity, capacities and
abilities. The subject has his own history, experiences and training. Examples
of activities that produce subjects are the family, the school and training
centers.
The central activity under analysis is also connected
with the activities that produce the instruments used in the activity, such as
tools, symbols, theories, models. Examples of instrument-producing activity are
research and development centers that produce innovations.
Another activity connected with the central activity
is the activity that produces rules that affect the system. Examples of this
type of activity are the regulatory agencies that produce technical standards,
the lawmakers, the management that imposes goals and guidelines on how the
activity should be conducted.
Finally, there is the activity that consumes the
object produced by the central activity, which can be the final consumer, for
example a family, or another activity, if it is the case of an input or
ingredient.
In our tomato production example, the system is
connected with other systems. For example, we have the system of activity that
produces the farmer, his family and the technical school that has been formed
if applicable. We have the systems that produce the tools and techniques used.
We have the systems that produce the rules to be followed, such as which
pesticides can be used, labor and sales rules.
We have the system that consumes the object, which can be, for example,
a tomato pulp factory, a restaurant or the final consumer.
Two
Partially Shared Object Systems
Another form of possible collaboration is when two
activity systems partially share an object. This idea was systematized by
Engeström (2001) who proposed what he calls the third generation of Activity
Theory, a new way of modeling networks of activity systems, also called the
"co-production model" or "co-configuration". In this model,
two activity systems co-produce a partially shared object, which becomes the
minimum unit of analysis. Activities are targeted at different objects, but
there is an overlap between them, which allows collaboration between systems.
This collaboration is possible due to the existence of a shared object (Figure 3).
Figure 3
Two systems of activity with a partially shared object, proposed by Engeström
(2001).
More recently, Engeström and Sannino (2021) have
proposed a new unit of analysis that they call the 4th generation of Activity
Theory. The unit of analysis in these studies are coalescing learning cycles,
driven by heterogeneous coalitions that are directed at a specific type of
object that they call an elusive object. I will leave this theory for later,
because to understand this generation we will need to understand some other
concepts that we have not yet presented.
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