Not all that glitters is Marx: Analysis of Stalinist critiques of Vigotski within the Soviet science

Abstract

In Brazil, there has been remarkable growth of the "activity theory", whose foundation is associated especially to the Russian researcher Leontiev (1903-1979). This has been done in direct connection with the notion that Vigotski, Luria and Leontiev composed a troika, responsible for Cultural-Historical Theory as well as Activity Theory. The purpose of this article is to start a discussion on the truthfulness of this narrative from an analysis of the context in which it is arranged: (1) the content of the Stalinist criticism of Vigotski 1931-7, (2) the construction of the Stalinist Science by the Soviet regime, (3) the political and cultural contrasts between the 1920s and 1930s - especially regarding the establishment of Marxism-Leninism and pragmatism as main features of Stalinist regime. The text is intended to highlight the vigotskian ideas and lines of work condemned by the Stalinists critics and their potential impact in Soviet psychology developed in the 1930s.