This accessible collection of essays critically examines Vygotsky’s scientific legacy. The book is solidly grounded in the "revisionist revolution" context and encourages constructive questioning of Vygotsky’s theory of human development. It tackles thought-provoking issues such as the true value of his scholarship, the possible falsification of his scientific legacy, and the role of political factors and the Communist parties in the worldwide dissemination of his work. It is essential reading on Vygotskian psychology and of interest to students and researchers in developmental psychology, history of psychology, history of science, Soviet/Russian history, philosophical science and education.

Most educators are familiar with Lev Vygotsky's concept of the "zone of proximal development," yet the bulk of Vygotsky's pioneering theory of cognitive development largely remains unknown. This unique volume provides a systematic, authoritative overview of Vygotsky's work and its implications for educational research and practice. Major topics include how children develop higher-order thinking; the influences on cognitive development of teacher-student interactions, the family, and culture; and critical and stable periods in development from infancy through adolescence. Key concepts and research methods are explained in detail, and classroom examples and instructional suggestions are provided.

An illuminating and original collection of essays on 20th century Russian psychology, offering unparalleled coverage of the scholarship of Vygotsky and his peers. Yasnitsky et al. challenge our assumptions about the history of Soviet science and the nature of Soviet Marxism and its influence on psychological thinking. He significantly broadens the discussion around Vygotsky’s life and work and its historical context, applying theories of other notable thinkers such as Alexander Luria and the much-neglected philosopher/psychologist Sergei Rubinstein, alongside key movements in history, such as the pedology and psychohygiene. A diverse range of researchers from countries such as Argentina, Brazil, Canada, France, Russian Federation, Switzerland, Ukraine, and the UK, give this book a truly global outlook. This is an important and insightful text for undergraduate and postgraduate students and scholars interested in the history of psychology and science, social and cultural history of Russia and Eastern Europe, Marxism, and Soviet politics.

This is the first book in English to show how the work of Lev Vygotsky gave rise to a prolific and original school of cultural-historical psychology in Latin America. In recent decades, Latin American researchers have expanded Vygotskyan conceptualizations and applied practical theory to psychological and educational research and practice, but until now this production remained virtually unknown for English speaking audiences since it has been mainly published in Spanish and Portuguese. This timely volume contributes to change this situation by presenting a panoramic picture of the state of the art of cultural-historical psychology in Latin America. The book is divided in two parts. The first part shows how Latin American researchers used Vygotsky’s work to develop new theoretical elaborations and empirical advances to deal with different political, social and cultural problems in the region. The second part presents an overview of the current state of cultural-historical psychology in Latin America. Throughout its 15 chapters, the book shows how Latin American researchers contributed to the studies of different aspects of the cultural-historical theoretical conception of the development of higher psychological functions, such as concept formation, inner speech, zone of proximal development and imagination, and how these theoretical elaborations have been applied to research and practice in fields such as sociocultural psychology, developmental psychology, psychotherapy and education in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Cuba, Mexico, Peru and Puerto Rico. Latin American Advances in Subjectivity and Development - Through the Vygotsky Route will be an invaluable resource to researchers, students and practitioners in the fields of psychology, education and other social sciences interested in discovering or learning more about the original Latin American school of cultural-historical psychology.

This book presents an intellectual history of the reception of Soviet psychology in Argentina as part of the communist scientific culture promoted by the Argentine Communist Party. This research reconstructs the material conditions, the political conjunctures and disciplinary disputes that allowed the international circulation of the works and ideas of Ivan Pavlov and Lev Vygotsky, and analyzes how pavlovism and vygotskianism impacted psychology, psychiatry and the wider mental health field in Argentina between 1935 and 1991. Starting on the 1930s, a group of professionals, scientists and intellectuals who belonged to the Argentine Communist Party introduced Soviet psychology in Argentina as an effort to promote the philosophical and political principles of Marxism-Leninism in Argentinean psychological and psychiatric academic circles, as well as in mental health institutions. This book shows how the efforts of this group contributed to the diffusion of communist scientific ideas and practices in South America as part of a transnational circuit of communist scholars and intellectuals that included France, Spain and the USA, which fostered scientific exchange and politicized science during the years of antifascist struggle and the Cold War. Communist Psychology in Argentina: Transnational Politics, Scientific Culture and Psychotherapy (1935-1991) will be of interest to historians of psychology and psychiatry concerned with the study of the relationship between Marxism and psychology in the 20th century, as well as to historians of science in general attentive to the study of the circulation of scientific ideas, as the book reconstructs the networks of the international communist movement as an effort to provide a scientific basis for the development of a socialist program in different parts of the world.

Vol. 2 translated and with an introduction by Jane E. Knox and Carol B. Stevens.