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The three initial sources of this book are a Marxist dialectical theory of concepts, an emphasis on the collective and historically evolving nature of concepts, and the turn toward everyday practical activities as legitimate arenas of thinking and conceptualizing. The resources for integrating these sources into a coherent framework come from cultural-historical activity theory and the theory of expansive learning, applied and developed in interventionist studies of various types of work and organizations, from cleaning services to hospitals and courts of law to factories and banks. In recent years, this empirical basis has been broadened to include social movements and societal change efforts championed by broad-based coalitions. The primary focus of this book is on collective creation of culturally new concepts in the wild. The starting point is the realization that culturally novel concepts are not only created by scientists but also by people struggling with persistent problems and challenges in all walks of life. We are all involved in the creation of new concepts. This has been largely omitted by scholars of concept formation. Taking this seriously means that we need to reexamine and perhaps revamp aspects of our basic understanding of concepts.
Concept formation is predominantly analyzed in classrooms and laboratory experiments, meaning the collective formation of culturally novel concepts in practical activities 'in the wild' has largely been neglected. However, understanding and influencing the complexity and contradictions of the present world demands powerful concepts that can make a difference in practice. Going beyond the understanding of concepts as individually acquired static labels, this book develops a dialectical theory of collective formation of novel concepts in the wild, in everyday activities. Drawing on cultural-historical activity theory (CHAT), concepts are seen as contested and future-oriented means for guiding activities and their transformations. Detailed real-life examples of germ-cell concepts show how they can radically influence the course of development in different activities. Helping to identify and foster the formation of potentially powerful concepts in fields of practice, it is essential reading for researchers, advanced students and practitioners across human and social sciences. This title is also available as open access on Cambridge Core.
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