Cultural-historical psychology

Cultural-historical psychology is a branch of psychological theory and practice associated with Lev Vygotsky and Alexander Luria and their Circle, who initiated it in the mid-1920s–1930s. The phrase "cultural-historical psychology" never occurs in the writings of Vygotsky, and was subsequently ascribed to him by his critics and followers alike, yet it is under this title that this intellectual movement is now widely known. The main goal of Vygotsky-Luria project was the establishment of a "new psychology" that would account for the inseparable unity of mind, brain and culture in their development (and/or degradation) in concrete socio-historical settings (in case of individuals) and throughout the history of humankind as socio-biological species. In its most radical forms, the theory that Vygotsky and Luria were attempting to build was expressed in terms of a "science of Superman", and was closely linked with the pronouncement for the need in a new psychological theory of consciousness and its relationship to the development of higher psychological functions. All this theoretical (mostly, speculative) and experimental empirical work was attempted by the members of the Vygotsky Circle (also referred to as "Vygotsky-Luria Circle"). Cultural-historical psychology never existed as such during Vygotsky's lifetime. He never accomplished a developmental theory of his own and, by his own admission, died at the threshold of a new psychological theory of consciousness. Vygotsky believed in the "new man" that he referred to as a "superman" of the future Communist society and advocated for a psychological theory that would account for the development from the actual level of human development to the potential one of a "superman". To that end, he claimed that the development of "higher psychological functions" are a result of the impact of the society (including, according to Marxist principles, its economic basis and the relations of production) and the culture at large.

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