The 9th Nordic-Baltic ISCAR 2022 conference will be held between 14 and 16 June 2022 in Helsinki, Finland. We have organized the conference to be in a hybrid format in which both online and in-person participation will be possible.
A defining feature of Cultural-Historical Activity Theory scholarship across the globe is exploring opportunities for future development: not what is, but rather what could be. This makes CHAT particularly poised to invigorate our imagination on possible futures for our communities and societies in times of enduring adversity and hardship. In such times, even the most spirited will requires rejuvenation, a re-instilling of a sense of hope and for it to be possible to move forward.
However, there should be no room for complacency. The CHAT community needs to be self-critical and acknowledge its own complicity and blind spots. When imagining new futures, it is vital to ask who is imagining and especially who is not. In order for CHAT to develop and regenerate, debates within CHAT as well as with other theoretical approaches and perspectives are vital. Only through these kinds of discussions can we start down the path of ensuring CHAT’s ability to answer timely societal needs.
In the spirit of our theme, we cordially invite scholars to contribute with their topical research and to join us in discussing what future directions our scholarly work offers for fostering more inclusive, equal and sustainable communities and societies globally for all. The CHAT community has a strong tradition of studying activities in all of their diversity, whether it be learning and play in early childhood, school, education and learning at various levels, youth activism and everyday life as well as working life and organizational learning processes. We welcome contributions on all of these topics
Keynote speakers at the event will be Professors Yrjö Engeström and Reijo Miettinen from the University of Helsinki, Finland and Professor Shirin Vossoughi from Northwestern University, USA.