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Activity Analysis Network #1: A Decade of Reflection, A Decade of Vision

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Activity Analysis Network #1: A Decade of Reflection, A Decade of Vision
Photo by János Venczák / Unsplash

Welcome to Activity Analysis Network

by Oliver Ding

Ten years ago, I encountered Activity Theory and discovered its power to bridge the Theory-Practice gap. In 2021, I launched ActivityAnalysis.net with a vision: to create 100 Activity Analysis Centers worldwide, forming a collaborative network connecting researchers and practitioners.

But life, as it often does, took me on a different path first. While I worked on Activity Theory-related curation, application, and creation, I also worked on building the Ecological Practice Approach, Curativity Theory, Creative Life Theory, Thematic Space Theory, and expanded my interest from Knowledge Engagement to Theoretical Sociology.

In June 2025, I developed the World of Activity toolkit (v1, 2025) and applied one of its frameworks to reflect on an autobiography I wrote in 2015 while I was on a trip in Fuzhou, China. Later, I wrote a Chinese book draft and an English book titled Homecoming: A Thematic Trip and the World of Activity Approach.

To follow the development of the World of Activity approach, my activity theory-inspired creation is renamed the "Life-as-Activity" approach.

Now, with the Life-as-Activity approach and the World of Activity approach, I'm ready to return to that original vision with renewed energy and deeper resources.

This marks the transformation of ActivityAnalysis.net from a static archive into a dynamic meta-center supporting an entire network of centers and initiatives. The next decade is about manifestation: moving from theory development to network building, from individual research to collaborative action.

While the vision is ambitious, we can start with a simple biweekly newsletter. Today, I renamed the old category "A Blog" to "Activity Analysis Network," which will serve as the archive for the future newsletter.

Starting today, subscribers will no longer receive every update from ActivityAnalysis.net. Instead, all the newest updates will be summarized in the newsletter. In addition, I will send important issues about the center's activities to subscribers.

Looking toward the next decade, I hope the connection formed through the newsletter can grow to diverse forms, supporting potential collaborations and forming a global-local network for developing and applying social science frameworks for research, learning, reflection, and social change.

Each subscriber is a potential founder, collaborator, or catalyst in this emerging global-local network.

Let's unfold the journey together.

The following section is organized with the "Flow - Focus - Center - Circle" schema, which is the primary model of the World of Activity Toolkit (v1, 2025).

FLOW

The Historical Development of the Activity Analysis Center

I began studying Activity Theory around 2015. In 2020, I worked on the Activity U project, resulting in two book drafts and the initial development of the Project Engagement approach. From 2021 to 2022, I created the Anticipatory Activity System (AAS) framework and applied it to explore life strategy. In 2023, I designed the Activity Analysis & Intervention (AAI) Program. By 2024, I revisited and refined the Project Engagement approach, developing its v3.1.

I have reflected on the journey of engaging with Activity Theory several times, as shown in the links below:

If you are interested in how I developed the Activity Analysis Center as a knowledge center and related concepts, don't miss a case study I conducted in June 2025:

FOCUS

The Thematic Foci of the Activity Analysis Center

My recent mental focus is on two thematic objects. One is Clay Spinuzzi's new book Triangles and Tribulations: Translations, Betrayals, and the Making of Cultural-Historical Activity Theory. It gave me a valuable opportunity to learn more about the Sociology of Translation and ANT. While reading the book, I reflected on how social science frameworks work in general. Eventually, I made a new thematic card for the "Frame for Work" center: Social Science Frame Dialogue.

I also started thinking about Clay Spinuzzi's creative life as a case study, by focusing on the "Social Science Frame Dialogue" theme. Below is a note about this project I made on August 17, 2025.

The second thematic object is a diagram I made for managing my recent works. The center of the diagram is a sign that represents the World of Activity, while the surroundings are eight theoretical companions of the approach.

While the diagram above was created on August 4, the original idea was born early in my recent trip to Fuzhou. In a post dated July 5, I noted four theoretical approaches that could provide resources for the World of Activity approach. Likewise, the World of Activity approach could offer insights for those other four theoretical approaches.

The diagram also shows the cover image that represents a writing project I worked on while staying in Fuzhou. Red dots highlight several creative ideas I developed while working on the Freesouls in Foochow project.

After returning to the U.S., I focused on writing an English book titled Homecoming: A Thematic Trip and the World of Activity Approach. The book was released as a Kindle book on September 7, 2025. The book primarily focused on the "Flow-Focus-Center-Circle" schema.

Around the date of publishing the book, I also wrote articles on other themes mentioned in the diagram. Here are links to these articles for reference:

In the coming months, I will continue to use this diagram as a Predictive Model to guide my work.

CENTER

The Core of the Activity Analysis Center

The evolution of the Activity Analysis Center reveals a pattern I call dual-center structure: Knowledge Curation vs. Knowledge Creation. It also refers to two types of actions:

  • Create: Making concrete things to represent abstract knowledge
  • Curate: Organize pieces of knowledge-related experience into a meaningful mental element

In the current stage, the dual-center structure appears as a new form:

  • Activity-centered creations
  • Non-activity-centered creations

The journey of engaging with Activity Theory has led to many creations, including book drafts, knowledge frameworks, diagrams, digital boards, and more. On December 4, 2024, I used “World of Activity” to name my activity-centered creations as a theoretical toolkit, marking the end of a creative journey of theoretical exploration. 

However, in June 2025, I developed "World of Activity" as an independent concept for further growth, resulting in the World of Activity approach, which connects several theoretical frameworks I am working on – some of which are not based on activity-centered creations.

In September 2025, I decided to reuse "Life-as-Activity" to name my activity-centered creations. This idea dates back to 2020, when, during the Activity U project, I developed version 0.3 of the Life-as-Activity framework.

Since my primary interest lies in individual development and creative life, I use Life-as-Activity to highlight my direction of exploration in the field of activity-centered social theories. More details can be found in The Life as Activity Approach (2025).

The World of Activity Approach belongs to the section of non-activity-centered creations because the concept of "World of Activity" is defined as an independent concept, not tied to any theoretical tradition. The major difference between the World of Activity Approach and the traditional Activity Theory is that the former emphasizes the individual subject perspective, while the latter ignores it.

However, we can see the Life-as-Activity approach and the World of Activity approach as two sides of the same coin, because the individual and the social are inseparable. Since these two approaches have different sub-frameworks, I continue to use two names to organize these creations and reduce information overload.

In the coming months, we will see a new form of dual-center emerging:

  • Website content building
  • Knowledge system building

These two types of activities refer to two key functions of a knowledge center.

CIRCLE

The Context of the Activity Analysis Center

As mentioned earlier, in the past several years, I worked on several theoretical projects, such as the Ecological Practice Approach, Curativity Theory, Creative Life Theory, and Thematic Space Theory.

Inspired by creativity researcher Howard Gruber's idea of "Network of Enterprises," I used the "Knowledge Center" approach to manage this large knowledge system. Each knowledge center hosts one or two related theoretical approaches.

  • CALL (Creative Action Learning Lab): the Ecological Practice Approach and Creative Life Theory
  • Curativity Center: Curativity Theory
  • TALE (Thematic Analysis Learning Engagement): Thematic Space Theory
  • Frame for Work: A theory about Knowledge Frameworks

In addition, I launched Possible Press in 2024 to publish non-traditional knowledge creations at the early discovery stage. It currently publishes the following types of creations:

  • Thematic Cards: Highlight a creative theme with a thematic brief
  • Footbooks: Focus on one theme or concept with at least three real examples
  • Conceptual Decks: A large presentation file that introduces concepts and frameworks, providing high-level insights into a subject
  • Possible Books: More than just a 250-page document—it's a creative container designed to capture the outcomes of knowledge projects.

In the coming 12 months, the Activity Analysis Center will serve the whole network as a meta-center, and we will see more collaborations aong these centers.

World

Me, You, and We

My name is Oliver Ding. I am the founder of the Activity Analysis Center. I am based in Houston, Texas, US.

Where are you?

v1.0: 1679 words - September 15, 2025