History, foundational concepts and contemporary perspectives in cultural psychology

The aim of this paper is to examine contemporary cultural psychology back to its historical roots in the Gttingen School of Human Sciences (1770s), Wundt, Vygotsky, and Bronfenbrenner. We identify foundational concepts that were developed at each stage. We indicate differences between cultural psychology and cross-cultural psychology. We conclude by describing contemporary strands within cultural psychology. These include activity theory, micro cultural psychology, and macro cultural psychology. We discuss how contemporary trends relate to foundational concepts, sometimes complementing them, while sometimes transforming them. A central theme of this paper will be the dialectical unity and continuity of psychology and culture. We use the historical concepts of cultural psychology to elucidate this unity. We explain why psychology is cultural and why culture includes psychology.