Sociogenesis of Joint Action: Mutual Understanding between Individuals as a Precondition for Understanding Things. Interview (Carried out by V.T. Kudryavtsev)

This interview with V.V. Rubtsov, Rector of MSUPE, full member of the Russian Academy of Education, marks the opening of a new university project, “Psychology and Me. The Living Stories” (created and implemented by V.T. Kudryavtsev). The project is conceived as a series of video interviews with people who not only create new psychology today, but also find the source of meaning in this work, in their professional and personal growth, no matter what their achievements, status and regalia are. We are talking of such kind of growth and change that could inspire other psychologists, especially the young ones, to become part of this process of creating new psychology. The interview with Vitaly Rubtsov happened on the occasion of his 70th birthday celebrated on October 20, 2018. Professor Rubtsov talks about what brought him into psychology from physics, about people and events that shaped his research priorities, and tells the story of the establishment of social-genetic psychology, a special field of psychology which specifically accumulates the heuristic potential of cultural-historical and activity approaches and may well become the foundation for a new developmental educational practice that corresponds with the social and humanitarian perspectives of the 21st century.