Three International Symposia on Activity Theory: 1982-1985

In 1982 a First International Symposium on Activity Theory took place Espoo, Finland, where participants from Eastern and Western European countries as well as the United States came togetherwith a focus on research on learning and teaching. This event was organized by Yrjö Engeström. Participants from Denmark took responsibility to organize the Second International Symposium on Activity Theory in Aarhus in 1983. The papers from that conference were published in:

Hedegaard, M., Hakkarainen, P., & Engeström, Y. (Eds.) (1984). Teaching and learning on a scientific basis: Methodological and epistemological aspects of the activity theory of learning and teaching. Aarhus: Aarhus Universitet, Psykologisk Institut.

The Third International Symposium on Activity Theory followed in 1984 in Utrecht, The Netherlands as an event extended from Activity Theory only to related scholarly approaches. The papers from this event were published in:

Bol, E., Haenen, J.P.P., & Wolters, M.A. (Eds.) (1985). Education for cognitive development: Proceedings of the Third International Symposium on Activity Theory. The Hague: SVO.

When the future was discussed in Utrecht, it became clear that some participants felt the need to focus on research on learning and instruction without committing to Activity Theory (Bol, Haenen, & Wolters, 1985), while other participants wanted to pursue this. Two different organizations eventually emerged: European Association for Research on Learning and Instruction (EARLI) and International Society for Cultural Research on Activity Theory (ISCRAT). 

Congresses on Activity Theory and ISCRAT: 1986-2002

The the First International Congress on Activity Theory was organized in West Berlin in 1986, where ISCRAT was established. This Congress was organized by Georg Rückriem and Alfred Messman at the University of Fine Arts Berlin in cooperation with Klaus Holzkamp, Martin Hildebrand-Nilshon, and Walter Volpert. In this Congress the focus was broadened to encompass multiple fields of application of Activity a theory beside teaching and learning, such as work, play and therapy. The International Standing Committee for Research on Activity Theory was elected on the last day of the congress with representatives from 10 countries. A newsletter was started in 1988 with Georg Rückriem as editor.

The Second ISCRAT congress took place in Lahti, Finland in 1990 with Yrjö Engeström as president. A new committee was selected at this Congress, with representatives from 11 countries. In 1992 the International Standing Committee for Research on Activity Theory became the International Society for Cultural Research on Activity Theory.

In 1995 the Third ISCRAT Congress took place in Moscow with Vasilii Davydov as the president. The Fourth ISCRAT Congress was held in Aarhus, Denmark in 1998 with Mariane Hedegaard as the president. At this Congress, a new Executive Committee was formed with Mariane Hedegaard as president and Seth Chaiklin as the treasurer. The Fifth ISCRAT Congress was held in Amsterdam in 2002 with Bert van Oers as president.

ISCAR: 2002-

By the end of 1990s, it became clear that ISCRAT shared similar concerns and drew from some of the same theoretical sources as the Society for Sociocultural Studies (SSCS). Many scholars were actively participating in both the ISCAR and SSCS congresses and recognized that their efforts were both overlapping and complementary.

During an ISCRAT Executive Committee meeting in Amsterdam in 1999 Pablo del Río gave a presentation of the history of the Society of Sociocultural Studies (SSCS) and proposed the ISCRAT and SSCS congresses to be unified. It was decided that ISCRAT would suspend its plans to incorporate itself as a registered scientific organization, and wait to hear the result of the General Meeting to be held at the III Conference for Sociocultural Research held in Campinas, Brasil in 2000.

The International Society for Cultural And Activity Research (ISCAR) was formally established in 2002 with the merging of ISCRAT and SSCS during the Fifth ISCRAT Congress held in Amsterdam.

ISCAR Executive Boards

2002-2005

• Dr Seth Chaiklin, University of Aarhus, Denmark (President)
• Dr Antonia Candela (Vice-President), Centro de Investigación y Estudios Avanzado, Ciudad de México
• Dr Jaakko Virkkunen, University of Helsinki, Finland (Secretariat)
• Prof Kiyoshi Amano, Chuo University, Tokyo, Japan
• Dr King Beach, Michigan State University, USA
• Prof Harry Daniels, University of Birmingham, United Kingdom
• Prof Vladislav A. Lektorsky, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, Russia
• Prof Juan Daniel Ramírez Garrido, Universidad de Sevilla, Spain
• Prof Ana Luiza Bustamante Smolka, Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Brazil
• Prof Serena Veggetti, University of Rome 1, Italy
• Dr Irina Verenikina, University of Wollongong, Australia

2005-2008

• Dr Seth Chaiklin, University of Aarhus, Denmark (President)
• Prof Alberto Rosa (Vice-President), Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Spain
• Prof Fran Hagstrom (Treasury), University of Arkansas, USA
• Dr Irina Verenikina (Secretariat), University of Wollongong, Australia
• Dr Antonia Candela, Centro de Investigación y Estudios Avanzado, Ciudad de México
• Prof Harry Daniels, University of Birmingham, United Kingdom
• Dr Inger Eriksson, Stockholm Institute of Education, Sweden
• Prof Anne-Nelly Perret-Clermont, Université de Neuchâtel, Switzerland
• Prof Vitaly V. Rubtsov, Moscow State University of Psychology and Education, Russia
• Prof Ana Luiza Bustamante Smolka, Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Brazil
• Dr Naoki Ueno, Musashi Institute of Technology, Japan

2008-2011

• Prof Marilyn Fleer (President), Monash University, Australia
• Dr Inger Eriksson (Vice-President), Stockholm University, Sweden
• Dr Michalis Kontopodis (Secretariat), Humboldt Universität zu Berlin, Germany
• Dr Manuel Luis de la Mata Benítez, Universidad de Sevilla, Spain
• Prof Anne Edwards, University of Oxford, United Kingdom
• Dr Fernanda Coelho Liberali, Pontifícia Universidade Católica de São Paulo, Brazil
• Dr Maria Beatrice Ligorio (Treasury), University of Bari, Italy
• Dr Yuji Moro, University of Tsukuba, Ibaraki, Japan
• Dr Morten Nissen, Københavns Universitet, Danmark
• Dr Kevin O'Connor, University of Rochester, USA
• Prof Sylvia Rojas-Drummond, Universidad Nacional Autonoma de México, Ciudad de México
• Prof Vitaly V. Rubtsov, Moscow State University of Psychology and Education, Russia

2011-2014

• Prof Marilyn Fleer (President), Monash University, Australia
• Dr Manuel L. de la Mata Benítez (Vice-President and Treasury), Universidad de Sevilla, Spain
• Dr Mohammed-Aminu Sanda (Newsletter), University of Ghana Business School, Ghana
• Prof Thérèse Laferrière (ICT & Logo), Université Laval, Québec
• Dr Malcolm Reed (Secretariat),  University of Bristol, UK
• Prof Mariane Hedegaard, University of Aarhus, Denmark
• Prof Arcady Margoli,Moscow State University of Psychology and Education, Russia
• Prof Marilia Mendez Ferreira, University of São Paulo, Brazil
• Dr Rebeca Mejía Arauz, ITESO University, Tlaquepaque, Mexico
• Dr Martijn van Schaik, University of Applied Sciences, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

2014-2017

• Dr Malcolm Reed (President), University of Bristol, UK
• Dr Martijn van Schaik (Secretariat), University of Applied Sciences, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
• Prof Therese Laferièrre (Treasury), Université Laval, Québec

2017-2024

• Prof Katerina Plakitsi (President), University of Ioannina, Greece
• Dr Ian Thompson (Vice-president & Treasury), University of Oxford, United Kingdom
• Prof Nick Hopwood (Newsletter), University of Technology Sydney, Australia
• Prof Adolfo Tanzi Neto (Secretariat), Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
• Dr Martijn van Schaik (Secretariat), University of Applied Sciences, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
• Dr Carrie Lobman, Rutgers State University of New Jersey, USA
• Prof Viktor Zaretsky, Moscow State University of Psychology and Education, Russia
• Dr Marjolein Dobber, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, The Netherlands
• Prof Joan Hardman, University of Cape Town, South Africa
• Lourdes de Leó, Centro de Investigaciones y Estudios Superiores en Antropologia Social, Ciudad de México
• May Britt Postholm, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Trondheim, Norway

2024-2027

• See the information on the current Executive Board.

ISCAR International Congresses

• 2005 Sevilla
• 2008 San Diego
• 2011 Rome
• 2014 Sydney
• 2017 Quebec
• 2021 Natal (online)
• 2024 Rotterdam
• 2027 Cape Town