This article aims, through a process of literature review, analytically investigate the origins, bases and structure of activity theory, understood as a form of dialectical relationship between man and the concrete historical reality, whose materiality is a crucial element to the formative process of the human psyche. This theory derives from Vygotsky studies, being systematized in its conceptual apparatus by Leontiev. Moreover, we bring in the body of text the principles of the debate on the validity of the theory activity and this possible fountain of epistemological and ideological criticisms of this conceptual apparatus, aiming to transform this clash in a debate, deeply committed to a critical and transformation psychology.
activity theory; psychology; psyche