Construction of dispositions and development of human activity: a theoretical framework illustrated by the case of a novice manager

Abstract

This article examines how ‘dispositions’ are constructed as vectors and elements in the production and development of human activity by analysing the transformations in the activity of a young manager in her new role as head of distribution in a small publishing firm. The transformations in her activity are revealed by action–disposition articulations: (1) from action to disposition, as she looks for regularity and generality in events and activities; (2) from disposition to action, in her productive actualisations; and (3) the trajectory that gradually emerges from the articulation of these articulations, signalling a development in her activity through appropriation and individuation.