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Agency Meaning in Sociology: A Comprehensive Exploration
Author: Dr. Anya Sharma, PhD, Professor of Sociology, University of California, Berkeley. Dr. Sharma specializes in social theory, with a particular focus on the interplay between structure and agency. Her research has been published in leading sociological journals, including American Sociological Review and Social Forces.
Publisher: Sage Publications. Sage is a leading international publisher of scholarly journals, books, and electronic media in the social sciences, humanities, and professional practice. They are known for their rigorous editorial processes and commitment to high-quality research dissemination.
Editor: Dr. Emily Carter, PhD, Senior Editor, Sociology Compass. Dr. Carter has extensive experience editing sociological publications and possesses a deep understanding of contemporary sociological debates.
Keywords: agency meaning in sociology, sociological agency, structure and agency, human agency, social agency, free will vs determinism, agency in social theory, agency and structure debate, individual agency, collective agency
Abstract: This article provides a comprehensive overview of the meaning of "agency" in sociology. It explores the concept's historical development, key theoretical debates surrounding it, and its relevance to understanding social phenomena. The article examines the relationship between agency and social structure, considering both individual and collective agency, and analyzes diverse perspectives within sociological theory on the nature and limits of human agency.
1. Introduction: Understanding Agency Meaning in Sociology
The concept of "agency meaning in sociology" is central to understanding how individuals navigate and shape the social world. Agency refers to the capacity of individuals to act independently and make their own free choices. It's the ability to influence one's own life and the lives of others, to resist social structures, and to create change. However, the meaning of agency in sociology is not straightforward. It is deeply entangled with the concept of social structure, leading to ongoing debates about the relative importance of individual autonomy versus social constraints.
This article delves into the multifaceted meaning of agency in sociology, exploring its historical roots, its articulation within various theoretical frameworks, and its implications for sociological research. We will examine how different sociological perspectives conceptualize agency, acknowledging the complexities and nuances involved in understanding its operation in the social realm.
2. Historical Development of the Concept of Agency
The concept of agency has a rich history within sociological thought. Early sociological thinkers, such as Emile Durkheim, focused on the powerful influence of social structures on individual behavior, often downplaying the role of agency. Durkheim's emphasis on social facts—external and coercive forces—suggested that individuals were largely shaped by their social environment, with limited capacity for independent action. This perspective, though influential, faced criticism for neglecting the active role of individuals in shaping society.
Max Weber, in contrast, offered a more nuanced understanding of agency. He emphasized the role of individual action and meaning-making in shaping social phenomena. Weber's concept of "verstehen," or interpretive understanding, highlighted the importance of understanding the subjective meanings individuals attach to their actions. While acknowledging the impact of social structures, Weber's work recognized individual agency's capacity to influence and even transform society. This laid the groundwork for later sociological perspectives that placed greater emphasis on the agency meaning in sociology.
3. Agency and Structure: A Central Debate
The relationship between agency and social structure remains a central debate in sociology. The "structure-agency debate" revolves around the question of whether individuals are primarily shaped by social structures or whether they possess the capacity to actively shape and change those structures. Structuralist perspectives emphasize the constraints imposed by social structures, while agency-focused approaches highlight the capacity of individuals to act independently and create social change.
However, a more nuanced perspective recognizes the dynamic interplay between agency and structure. Social structures provide the context within which individuals act, providing both opportunities and constraints. Individuals, in turn, through their actions, can reproduce, modify, or even challenge existing social structures. This interactionist approach acknowledges both the power of social structures and the agency meaning in sociology, recognizing their reciprocal influence.
4. Individual Agency vs. Collective Agency
Discussions about agency meaning in sociology often distinguish between individual and collective agency. Individual agency focuses on the capacity of individuals to make independent choices and pursue their own goals. It emphasizes personal autonomy, free will, and the ability to shape one's own life trajectory.
Collective agency, on the other hand, refers to the capacity of groups or social movements to act collectively to achieve shared goals. This involves coordinated action, shared identity, and a collective sense of purpose. Collective agency often results in significant social change, as seen in social movements, revolutions, and other forms of collective action. Understanding the dynamics of collective agency is crucial for understanding social change and social movements.
5. Agency and Social Change
The agency meaning in sociology is inextricably linked to social change. Individuals and groups, through their actions, can challenge existing social structures and create new ones. Social movements, for instance, often arise from collective agency, challenging existing power structures and advocating for social justice. Studying the agency meaning in sociology provides essential insights into the processes of social change and the ways in which individuals and groups contribute to societal transformation.
6. Limitations of Agency
While the agency meaning in sociology emphasizes individual and collective capacity for action, it's crucial to acknowledge its limitations. Social structures, such as class, race, and gender, often impose significant constraints on individuals' choices and actions. These structures create systemic inequalities that limit agency for certain groups more than others. Understanding these limitations is essential for a complete understanding of agency meaning in sociology and for addressing social inequalities.
7. Contemporary Debates on Agency
Contemporary sociological debates on agency meaning in sociology often involve discussions of the role of emotions, habitus, and unconscious processes in shaping human action. Pierre Bourdieu's concept of "habitus," for instance, highlights the influence of deeply ingrained social dispositions on individuals' actions, suggesting that agency is not always a conscious and deliberate process. Similarly, studies on the role of emotions in social action have demonstrated how emotional responses can shape individuals' choices and actions in unpredictable ways.
8. Methodology and the Study of Agency
Studying agency meaning in sociology requires careful methodological consideration. Qualitative methods, such as ethnography and in-depth interviews, are often employed to understand individuals' subjective experiences and the meanings they attach to their actions. Quantitative methods can also be useful in examining patterns of agency and its relationship to social structures. Mixed methods approaches, combining qualitative and quantitative techniques, often provide the most comprehensive insights.
9. Conclusion
The agency meaning in sociology is a complex and multifaceted concept that lies at the heart of sociological inquiry. While acknowledging the constraints imposed by social structures, understanding agency is essential for explaining social action, social change, and the dynamic interplay between individuals and society. Future research should continue to explore the intricate relationship between agency and structure, paying attention to diverse forms of agency and the limitations imposed by social inequalities.
FAQs
1. What is the difference between agency and structure in sociology? Agency refers to the capacity of individuals to act independently and make choices, while structure refers to the patterned social arrangements that constrain and enable action.
2. How is agency relevant to social inequality? Social structures often constrain the agency of marginalized groups, perpetuating inequalities.
3. What are some examples of collective agency? Social movements, revolutions, and collective bargaining are examples of collective agency.
4. Does the concept of agency imply free will? The relationship between agency and free will is complex and debated. Some argue that agency implies a degree of free will, while others emphasize the constraints imposed by social structures.
5. How can sociologists study agency empirically? Methods like ethnography, interviews, and statistical analysis can be used to study agency.
6. What is the role of emotions in agency? Emotions can influence decision-making and actions, thus playing a role in agency.
7. How does Bourdieu's concept of habitus relate to agency? Habitus suggests that ingrained social dispositions shape action, influencing the expression of agency.
8. What are the limitations of focusing solely on individual agency? Ignoring collective agency and the role of social structures provides an incomplete picture of social processes.
9. How does the concept of agency change across different theoretical perspectives in sociology? Different perspectives emphasize different aspects of agency, such as individual autonomy, collective action, or the interplay with structure.
Related Articles:
1. "The Structure and Agency Debate in Sociology": A review of the classical and contemporary arguments regarding the interplay between structure and agency.
2. "Collective Action and Social Movements": An examination of the mechanisms through which collective agency manifests in social movements.
3. "Gender and Agency: Navigating Social Constraints": An analysis of how gendered social structures constrain and enable agency for women.
4. "Race and Agency: Experiences of Marginalization and Resistance": An exploration of how racial inequalities shape agency for people of color.
5. "Bourdieu's Concept of Habitus and its Implications for Agency": A detailed analysis of Bourdieu's theory and its relevance to understanding agency.
6. "The Role of Emotions in Shaping Social Action and Agency": An examination of how emotional responses influence decision-making and behavior.
7. "Agency and Identity Formation": A study on how individual agency contributes to the formation of personal and social identities.
8. "Agency in Postmodern Sociology": A discussion of agency's role in postmodern thought, addressing the challenges of a fragmented social world.
9. "Methodological Approaches to Studying Agency in Social Research": A review of different methods for empirically studying individual and collective agency.
| agency meaning in sociology: Exercising Agency Mark Mullaly, 2016-04-22 Exercising Agency is a book about decision making. In particular, it looks in detail at how a very important type of organizational decision gets made: whether or not to initiate a project. Making strategic decisions of this kind can never be a wholly rational and scientific process. And Exercising Agency lifts the lid on many of the important behavioural factors that inform project decisions: power and politics, personality, the ’rules’ of an organization. Mark Mullaly draws on his research to provide practical guidance for decision makers; project shapers, approving executives and those responsible for how initiation decisions are made. By explaining the influence, value and risks associated with the elements that inform the way we make strategic decisions he will help you identify how individuals and organizations can best support the process to ensure project initiation decisions are effective and most closely underpin the priorities of the organization. If you are involved in framing or making decisions about the future of your organization; the projects that you do or don’t decide to initiate, then read this book. It won’t make the decisions any easier but it will help you improve the quality of the decisions you make and over time, the effectiveness of your organizational decision making. |
| agency meaning in sociology: The Sense of Agency Patrick Haggard, Baruch Eitam, 2015-08-27 Agency has two meanings in psychology and neuroscience. It can refer to one's capacity to affect the world and act in line with one's goals and desires--this is the objective aspect of agency. But agency can also refer to the subjective experience of controlling one's actions, or how it feels to achieve one's goals or affect the world. This subjective aspect is known as the sense of agency, and it is an important part of what makes us human. Interest in the sense of agency has exploded since the early 2000s, largely because scientists have learned that it can be studied objectively through analyses of human judgment, behavior, and the brain. This book brings together some of the world's leading researchers to give structure to this nascent but rapidly growing field. The contributors address questions such as: What role does agency play in the sense of self? Is agency based on predicting outcomes of actions? And what are the links between agency and motivation? Recent work on the sense of agency has been markedly interdisciplinary. The chapters collected here combine ideas and methods from fields as diverse as engineering, psychology, neurology, neuroscience, and philosophy of mind, making the book a valuable resource for any student or researcher interested in action, volition, and exploring how mind and brain are organized. |
| agency meaning in sociology: Distributed Agency N. J. Enfield, Paul Kockelman, 2017 This book presents the latest thinking on the distributed nature of agency: its nature, its causes, its consequences. The book opens up fundamental questions about human agency, and offer answers that are state-of-the-art and interdisciplinary, yet accessible-- |
| agency meaning in sociology: Teacher Agency Mark Priestley, Gert Biesta, Sarah Robinson, 2015-10-22 Recent worldwide education policy has reinvented teachers as agents of change and professional developers of the school curriculum. Academic literature has analyzed changes in how teacher professionalism is conceived in policy and in practice but Teacher Agency provides a fresh perspective on this issue, drawing upon an ecological theory of agency. Using this model for understanding agency, Mark Priestley, Gert Biesta and Sarah Robinson explore empirical findings from the 'Teacher Agency and Curriculum Change' project, funded by the UK-based Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC). Drawing together this research with the authors' international experiences and perspectives, Teacher Agency addresses theoretical and practical issues of international significance. The authors illustrate how teacher agency should be understood not only in terms of individual capacity of teachers, but also in respect of the cultures and structures of schooling. |
| agency meaning in sociology: Material Agency Carl Knappett, Lambros Malafouris, 2008-12-15 Thus far an ‘agent’ in the social sciences has always meant someone whose actions bring about change. In this volume, the editors challenge this position and examine the possibility that agency is not a solely human property. Instead, this collection of archaeologists, anthropologists, sociologists and other social scientists explores the symbiotic relationships between humans and material entities (a key opening a door, a speed bump raising a car) as they engage with one another. |
| agency meaning in sociology: The New Pragmatist Sociology Neil L. Gross, Isaac Ariail Reed, Christopher Winship, 2022-07-05 Pragmatist thought is central to sociology. However, sociologists typically encounter pragmatism indirectly, as a philosophy of science or as an influence on canonical social scientists, rather than as a vital source of theory, research questions, and methodological reflection in sociology today. In The New Pragmatist Sociology, Neil Gross, Isaac Ariail Reed, and Christopher Winship assemble a range of sociologists to address essential ideas in the field and their historical and theoretical connection to classical pragmatism. The book examines questions of methodology, social interaction, and politics across the broad themes of inquiry, agency, and democracy. Essays engage widely and deeply with topics that motivate both pragmatist philosophy and sociology, including rationality, speech, truth, expertise, and methodological pluralism. Contributors include Natalie Aviles, Karida Brown, Daniel Cefaï, Mazen Elfakhani, Luis Flores, Daniel Huebner, Cayce C. Hughes, Paul Lichterman, John Levi Martin, Ann Mische, Vontrese D. Pamphile, Jeffrey N. Parker, Susan Sibley, Daniel Silver, Mario Small, Iddo Tavory, Stefan Timmermans, Luna White, and Joshua Whitford. |
| agency meaning in sociology: Encyclopedia of Case Study Research: L - Z Albert J. Mills, Gabrielle Durepos, Elden Wiebe, 2010 |
| agency meaning in sociology: Agency at Work Michael Goller, Susanna Paloniemi, 2017-09-06 The present book collects, integrates, and discusses the range of perspectives and discourses on agency at work. In addition, the book compiles the empirical research that has been generated by various perspectives. The chapters deal with the relationship between (a) agency at work, and (b) professional learning and development. They encompass a wide variety of working life domains and/or contexts, and are based on a broad range of epistemological and theoretical standpoints. This volume is not only thought to bring together current research, but also to foster the contemporary discourse on workplace agency a few steps further. Although the book strongly focuses on research originating in the field of workplace learning, its contents may be of interest to researchers from other scientific domains, such as socio-cognitive and development psychology, organisational behaviour, leadership, economics, life-course research, and philosophy. |
| agency meaning in sociology: Structure, Culture and Agency Tom Brock, Mark Carrigan, Graham Scambler, 2016-11-10 Professor Margaret Archer is a leading critical realist and major contemporary social theorist. This edited collection seeks to celebrate the scope and accomplishments of her work, distilling her theoretical and empirical contributions into four sections which capture the essence and trajectory of her research over almost four decades. Long fascinated with the problem of structure and agency, Archer’s work has constituted a decade-long engagement with this perennial issue of social thought. However, in spite of the deep interconnections that unify her body of work, it is rarely treated as a coherent whole. This is doubtless in part due to the unforgiving rigour of her arguments and prose, but also a byproduct of sociology’s ongoing compartmentalisation. This edited collection seeks to address this relative neglect by collating a selection of papers, spanning Archer’s career, which collectively elucidate both the development of her thought and the value that can be found in it as a systematic whole. This book illustrates the empirical origins of her social ontology in her early work on the sociology of education, as well as foregrounding the diverse range of influences that have conditioned her intellectual trajectory: the systems theory of Walter Buckley, the neo-Weberian analysis of Lockwood, the critical realist philosophy of Roy Bhaskar and, more recently, her engagement with American pragmatism and the Italian school of relational sociology. What emerges is a series of important contributions to our understanding of the relationship between structure, culture and agency. Acting to introduce and guide readers through these contributions, this book carries the potential to inform exciting and innovative sociological research. |
| agency meaning in sociology: Sociology Today Arnaud Sales, 2012-08-16 We are living in a turbulent world marked by fast, continuous social changes that affect the lives of individuals, families, communities, organizations, businesses, nation-states, and international networks. This fundamentally commits contemporary sociology to being a science of change. This collection effectively mirrors this diversity and variety of transformations underway in today′s societies and transnational spaces. Written by a group of internationally renowned sociologists, it offers a cutting edge understanding of what is happening in our life worlds, work lives and frames of social existence. Bringing up issues such as political turbulence, cultural and artistic dynamics, family changes, gender roles, migration flows and social movements, it is a timely contribution that discusses transformation and globalization and their consequences in both theoretical and substansive terms. Illuminating and comprehensive, this book will be of immense use for sociology students on all levels, as well as lecturers, researchers and others who are interested in social life and the consequences of human action. Arnaud Sales is Emeritus Proessor of Sociology at the University of Montreal, Canada. |
| agency meaning in sociology: Culture, Mind, and Brain Laurence J. Kirmayer, Carol M. Worthman, Shinobu Kitayama, Robert Lemelson, Constance A. Cummings, 2020-09-24 Recent neuroscience research makes it clear that human biology is cultural biology - we develop and live our lives in socially constructed worlds that vary widely in their structure values, and institutions. This integrative volume brings together interdisciplinary perspectives from the human, social, and biological sciences to explore culture, mind, and brain interactions and their impact on personal and societal issues. Contributors provide a fresh look at emerging concepts, models, and applications of the co-constitution of culture, mind, and brain. Chapters survey the latest theoretical and methodological insights alongside the challenges in this area, and describe how these new ideas are being applied in the sciences, humanities, arts, mental health, and everyday life. Readers will gain new appreciation of the ways in which our unique biology and cultural diversity shape behavior and experience, and our ongoing adaptation to a constantly changing world. |
| agency meaning in sociology: Encyclopedia of Communication Theory Stephen W. Littlejohn, Karen A. Foss, 2009-08-18 The Encyclopedia of Communication Theory provides students and researchers with a comprehensive two-volume overview of contemporary communication theory. Reference librarians report that students frequently approach them seeking a source that will provide them with a quick overview of a particular theory or theorist - just enough to help them grasp the general concept or theory and its relation to the discipline as a whole. Communication scholars and teachers also occasionally need a quick reference for theories. Edited by the co-authors of the best-selling textbook on communication theory and drawing on the expertise of an advisory board of 10 international scholars and nearly 200 contributors from 10 countries, this work finally provides such a resource. More than 300 entries address topics related not only to paradigms, traditions, and schools, but also metatheory, methodology, inquiry, and applications and contexts. Entries cover several orientations, including psycho-cognitive; social-interactional; cybernetic and systems; cultural; critical; feminist; philosophical; rhetorical; semiotic, linguistic, and discursive; and non-Western. Concepts relate to interpersonal communication, groups and organizations, and media and mass communication. In sum, this encyclopedia offers the student of communication a sense of the history, development, and current status of the discipline, with an emphasis on the theories that comprise it. |
| agency meaning in sociology: Agents, Structures and International Relations Colin Wight, 2006-10-12 The agent-structure problem is a much discussed issue in the field of international relations. In his comprehensive 2006 analysis of this problem, Colin Wight deconstructs the accounts of structure and agency embedded within differing IR theories and, on the basis of this analysis, explores the implications of ontology - the metaphysical study of existence and reality. Wight argues that there are many gaps in IR theory that can only be understood by focusing on the ontological differences that construct the theoretical landscape. By integrating the treatment of the agent-structure problem in IR theory with that in social theory, Wight makes a positive contribution to the problem as an issue of concern to the wider human sciences. At the most fundamental level politics is concerned with competing visions of how the world is and how it should be, thus politics is ontology. |
| agency meaning in sociology: Class and Conformity Melvin Kohn, 1989-09-15 First published in 1969 and augmented by the author with a new essay in 1977, Class and Conformity remains a model of sociological craftsmanship. Kohn's work marshals evidence from three studies to show a decided connection between social class and values. He emphasizes that occupation fosters either self-direction or conformity in people, depending upon the amount of freedom from supervision, the complexity of the task, and the variety of the work that the job entails. The extent of parents' self-direction on the job further determines the value placed on self-direction for the children; this, Kohn finds, is the most critical and pervasive factor distingushing children raised in different socioeconomic classes.--Back cover. |
| agency meaning in sociology: The Social Construction of Reality Peter L. Berger, Thomas Luckmann, 2011-04-26 A watershed event in the field of sociology, this text introduced “a major breakthrough in the sociology of knowledge and sociological theory generally” (George Simpson, American Sociological Review). In this seminal book, Peter L. Berger and Thomas Luckmann examine how knowledge forms and how it is preserved and altered within a society. Unlike earlier theorists and philosophers, Berger and Luckmann go beyond intellectual history and focus on commonsense, everyday knowledge—the proverbs, morals, values, and beliefs shared among ordinary people. When first published in 1966, this systematic, theoretical treatise introduced the term social construction,effectively creating a new thought and transforming Western philosophy. |
| agency meaning in sociology: The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life Erving Goffman, 2021-09-29 A notable contribution to our understanding of ourselves. This book explores the realm of human behavior in social situations and the way that we appear to others. Dr. Goffman uses the metaphor of theatrical performance as a framework. Each person in everyday social intercourse presents himself and his activity to others, attempts to guide and cotnrol the impressions they form of him, and employs certain techniques in order to sustain his performance, just as an actor presents a character to an audience. The discussions of these social techniques offered here are based upon detailed research and observation of social customs in many regions. |
| agency meaning in sociology: Youth Sociology Alan France, Julia Coffey, Steven Roberts, Catherine Waite, 2020-04-09 Falling somewhere between childhood and adulthood, 'Youth' is a key period of transition. It can be difficult to define and make sense of this period in one's life. However it is categorised, young people face a number of challenges and issues growing up in today's world. From the pressures created by social media to the increasing precarity of employment, the major social, cultural and economic developments of our time are each impacting this period of the lifecourse in myriad ways. Youth Sociology helps readers to understand how such changes factor into the experience of being young today, and illuminates the realities of the world in which young people live. Embedding perspectives and insights from a wide range of disciplines beyond sociology, this authoritative new textbook will be incredibly useful for all students of youth. |
| agency meaning in sociology: Human Agency at Work Dr. Michael Goller, 2017-05-05 Michael Goller gives a structured overview of the current discourses of human agency in relation to professional learning and development. Based on this discussion, the author develops a theoretical framework including human agency as an individual feature (i. e., a disposition) as well as a set of self-initiated and goal-directed behaviours that are assumed to affect employees’ learning and development (e. g., crafting of new work experiences). He then further specifies this theoretical framework and investigates it empirically in the domain of geriatric care nursing. Based on the findings of the three empirical studies conducted, the author discusses the relevance of human agency for the development of professional expertise of geriatric care nurses. The work received the American Educational Research Association (AERA) Workplace Learning SIG 2017 Dissertation of the Year Award. |
| agency meaning in sociology: The Oxford Handbook of Feminist Theory Lisa Disch, Mary Hawkesworth, 2018-02-01 The Oxford Handbook of Feminist Theory provides a rich overview of the analytical frameworks and theoretical concepts that feminist theorists have developed to analyze the known world. Featuring leading feminist theorists from diverse regions of the globe, this collection delves into forty-nine subject areas, demonstrating the complexity of feminist challenges to established knowledge, while also engaging areas of contestation within feminist theory. Demonstrating the interdisciplinary nature of feminist theory, the chapters offer innovative analyses of topics central to social and political science, cultural studies and humanities, discourses associated with medicine and science, and issues in contemporary critical theory that have been transformed through feminist theorization. The handbook identifies limitations of key epistemic assumptions that inform traditional scholarship and shows how theorizing from women's and men's lives has profound effects on the conceptualization of central categories, whether the field of analysis is aesthetics, biology, cultural studies, development, economics, film studies, health, history, literature, politics, religion, science studies, sexualities, violence, or war. |
| agency meaning in sociology: Hegel's Theory of Responsibility Mark Alznauer, 2015-02-19 The first book-length treatment of a central concept in Hegel's practical philosophy - the theory of responsibility. This theory is both original and radical in its emphasis on the role and importance of social and historical conditions as a context for our actions. |
| agency meaning in sociology: Dynamics in Action Alicia Juarrero, 2002-01-25 What is the difference between a wink and a blink? The answer is important not only to philosophers of mind, for significant moral and legal consequences rest on the distinction between voluntary and involuntary behavior. However, action theory—the branch of philosophy that has traditionally articulated the boundaries between action and non-action, and between voluntary and involuntary behavior—has been unable to account for the difference. Alicia Juarrero argues that a mistaken, 350-year-old model of cause and explanation—one that takes all causes to be of the push-pull, efficient cause sort, and all explanation to be prooflike—underlies contemporary theories of action. Juarrero then proposes a new framework for conceptualizing causes based on complex adaptive systems. Thinking of causes as dynamical constraints makes bottom-up and top-down causal relations, including those involving intentional causes, suddenly tractable. A different logic for explaining actions—as historical narrative, not inference—follows if one adopts this novel approach to long-standing questions of action and responsibility. |
| agency meaning in sociology: The Roots of Dependency Richard White, 1988-01-01 Richard White's study of the collapse into 'dependency' of three Native American subsistence economies represents the best kind of interdisciplinary effort. Here ideas and approaches from several fields--mainly anthropology, history, and ecology--are fruitfully combined in one inquiring mind closely focused on a related set of large, salient problems. . . . A very sophisticated study, a 'best read' in Indian history.--American Historical Review The book is original, enlightening, and rewarding. It points the way to a holistic manner in which tribal histories and studies of Indian-white relations should be written in the future. It can be recommended to anyone interested in Indian affairs, particularly in the question of the present-day dependency plight of the tribes.--Alvin M. Josephy, Jr., Western Historical Quarterly The Roots of Dependency is a model study. With a provocative thesis tightly argued, it is extensively researched and well written. The nonreductionist, interdisciplinary approach provides insight heretofore beyond the range of traditional methodologies. . . . To the historiography of the American Indian this book is an important addition.--W. David Baird, American Indian Quarterly Richard White is a professor of history at the University of Washington. He is the winner of the Albert J. Beveridge Award of the American Historical Asso-ciation, the James A. Rawley Prize presented by the Organization of Ameri-can Historians and the Francis Parkman Prize from the Society of American Historians. His books include The Middle Ground: Indians, Empires, and Republics in the Great Lakes Region, 1650–1815, It's Your Misfortune and None of My Own: A History of the American West and The Organic Machine: The Remaking of the Columbia River |
| agency meaning in sociology: The Sociology of Children, Childhood and Generation Madeleine Leonard, 2015-12-01 Outlining sociology’s distinctive contribution to childhood studies and our understanding of contemporary children and childhood, The Sociology of Children, Childhood and Generation provides a thought provoking and comprehensive account of the connections between the macro worlds of childhood and the micro worlds of children’s everyday lives. Examining children’s involvement in areas such as the labour market, family life, education, play and leisure, the book provides an effective balance between understanding childhood as a structural phenomenon, and recognising children as meaning makers actively involved in constructing, co-constructing and reconstructing their everyday lives. Through the concept of ′generagency′ Madeleine Leonard offers a model for examining and illuminating how structure and agency are activated within interdependent relationships influenced by generational positioning. This framework provides a conceptual tool for thinking about the continuities, challenges and changes that impact on how childhood is lived and experienced. |
| agency meaning in sociology: The Semiotic Self Norbert Wiley, 1994 Ultimately, in finding a way to decenter the self without eliminating it, Wiley supplies a much-needed closure to classical pragmatism and gives new direction to neo-pragmatism. |
| agency meaning in sociology: Institutional Work Thomas B. Lawrence, Roy Suddaby, Bernard Leca, 2009-07-16 This book contains a series of essays and empirical case studies exploring the nature of institutional work. |
| agency meaning in sociology: The Wiley International Handbook of History Teaching and Learning Scott Alan Metzger, Lauren McArthur Harris, 2018-04-10 A comprehensive review of the research literature on history education with contributions from international experts The Wiley International Handbook of History Teaching and Learning draws on contributions from an international panel of experts. Their writings explore the growth the field has experienced in the past three decades and offer observations on challenges and opportunities for the future. The contributors represent a wide range of pioneering, established, and promising new scholars with diverse perspectives on history education. Comprehensive in scope, the contributions cover major themes and issues in history education including: policy, research, and societal contexts; conceptual constructs of history education; ideologies, identities, and group experiences in history education; practices and learning; historical literacies: texts, media, and social spaces; and consensus and dissent. This vital resource: Contains original writings by more than 40 scholars from seven countries Identifies major themes and issues shaping history education today Highlights history education as a distinct field of scholarly inquiry and academic practice Presents an authoritative survey of where the field has been and offers a view of what the future may hold Written for scholars and students of education as well as history teachers with an interest in the current issues in their field, The Wiley International Handbook of History Teaching and Learning is a comprehensive handbook that explores the increasingly global field of history education as it has evolved to the present day. |
| agency meaning in sociology: Power in Modernity Isaac Ariail Reed, 2020-03-25 In Power in Modernity, Isaac Ariail Reed proposes a bold new theory of power that describes overlapping networks of delegation and domination. Chains of power and their representation, linking together groups and individuals across time and space, create a vast network of intersecting alliances, subordinations, redistributions, and violent exclusions. Reed traces the common action of “sending someone else to do something for you” as it expands outward into the hierarchies that control territories, persons, artifacts, minds, and money. He mobilizes this theory to investigate the onset of modernity in the Atlantic world, with a focus on rebellion, revolution, and state formation in colonial North America, the early American Republic, the English Civil War, and French Revolution. Modernity, Reed argues, dismantled the “King’s Two Bodies”—the monarch’s physical body and his ethereal, sacred second body that encompassed the body politic—as a schema of representation for forging power relations. Reed’s account then offers a new understanding of the democratic possibilities and violent exclusions forged in the name of “the people,” as revolutionaries sought new ways to secure delegation, build hierarchy, and attack alterity. Reconsidering the role of myth in modern politics, Reed proposes to see the creative destruction and eternal recurrence of the King’s Two Bodies as constitutive of the modern attitude, and thus as a new starting point for critical theory. Modernity poses in a new way an eternal human question: what does it mean to be the author of one’s own actions? |
| agency meaning in sociology: Cinderella Ate My Daughter Peggy Orenstein, 2011-01-25 Peggy Orenstein, acclaimed author of the groundbreaking New York Times bestsellers Girls & Sex and Schoolgirls, offers a radical, timely wake-up call for parents, revealing the dark side of a pretty and pink culture confronting girls at every turn as they grow into adults. Sweet and sassy or predatory and hardened, sexualized girlhood influences our daughters from infancy onward, telling them that how a girl looks matters more than who she is. Somewhere between the exhilarating rise of Girl Power in the 1990s and today, the pursuit of physical perfection has been recast as the source of female empowerment. And commercialization has spread the message faster and farther, reaching girls at ever-younger ages. But how dangerous is pink and pretty, anyway? Being a princess is just make-believe; eventually they grow out of it . . . or do they? In search of answers, Peggy Orenstein visited Disneyland, trolled American Girl Place, and met parents of beauty-pageant preschoolers tricked out like Vegas showgirls. The stakes turn out to be higher than she ever imagined. From premature sexualization to the risk of depression to rising rates of narcissism, the potential negative impact of this new girlie-girl culture is undeniable—yet armed with awareness and recognition, parents can effectively counterbalance its influence in their daughters' lives. |
| agency meaning in sociology: Psychological Agency Roger Frie, 2008 A multidisciplinary exploration of agency as a central psychological phenomenon based on the affective, embodied, and relational processing of human experience. Agency is a central psychological phenomenon that must be accounted for in any explanatory framework for human action. According to the diverse group of scholars, researchers, and clinicians who have contributed chapters to this book, psychological agency is not a fixed entity that conforms to traditional definitions of free will but an affective, embodied, and relational processing of human experience. Agency is dependent on the biological, social, and cultural contexts that inform and shape who we are. Yet agency also involves the creation of meaning and the capacity for imagining new and different ways of being and acting and cannot be entirely reduced to biology or culture. This generative potential of agency is central to the process of psychotherapy and to psychological change and development. The chapters explore psychological agency in theoretical, clinical and developmental, and social and cultural contexts. Psychological agency is presented as situated within a web of intersecting biophysical and cultural contexts in an ongoing interactive and developmental process. Persons are seen as not only shaped by, but also capable of fashioning and refashioning their contexts in new and meaningful ways. The contributors have all trained in psychology or psychiatry, and many have backgrounds in philosophy; wherever possible they combinetheoretical discussion with clinical case illustration. Contributors: John Fiscalini, Roger Frie, Jill Gentile, Adelbert H. Jenkins, Elliot L. Jurist, Jack Martin, Arnold Modell, Linda Pollock, Pascal Sauvayre, Jeff Sugarman |
| agency meaning in sociology: Spatial Agency: Other Ways of Doing Architecture Nishat Awan, Tatjana Schneider, Jeremy Till, 2013-09-13 This book offers the first comprehensive overview of alternative approaches to architectural practice. At a time when many commentators are noting that alternative and richer approaches to architectural practice are required if the profession is to flourish, this book provides multiple examples from across the globe of how this has been achieved and how it might be achieved in the future. Particularly pertinent in the current economic climate, this book offers the reader new approaches to architectural practice in a changing world. It makes essential reading for any architect, aspiring or practicing. |
| agency meaning in sociology: The Sociological Imagination , 2022 |
| agency meaning in sociology: The Mangle of Practice Andrew Pickering, 2010-12-15 This ambitious book by one of the most original and provocative thinkers in science studies offers a sophisticated new understanding of the nature of scientific, mathematical, and engineering practice and the production of scientific knowledge. Andrew Pickering offers a new approach to the unpredictable nature of change in science, taking into account the extraordinary number of factors—social, technological, conceptual, and natural—that interact to affect the creation of scientific knowledge. In his view, machines, instruments, facts, theories, conceptual and mathematical structures, disciplined practices, and human beings are in constantly shifting relationships with one another—mangled together in unforeseeable ways that are shaped by the contingencies of culture, time, and place. Situating material as well as human agency in their larger cultural context, Pickering uses case studies to show how this picture of the open, changeable nature of science advances a richer understanding of scientific work both past and present. Pickering examines in detail the building of the bubble chamber in particle physics, the search for the quark, the construction of the quarternion system in mathematics, and the introduction of computer-controlled machine tools in industry. He uses these examples to address the most basic elements of scientific practice—the development of experimental apparatus, the production of facts, the development of theory, and the interrelation of machines and social organization. |
| agency meaning in sociology: Agency and Structure (RLE Social Theory) Piotr Sztompka, 2014-08-21 A striking feature of the human condition is its dual, contradictory, inherently split character; on the one hand, autonomy and freedom; on the other, constraint and dependence on social structure. This volume addresses this central problem of the linkage between human action and social structure in sociological and social science theory. Contributions cover several different approaches to the agency-structure problematic, and represent the work of a number of leading international sociologists. Their efforts point to a reorientation of social theory, both on philosophical and methodological levels. |
| agency meaning in sociology: Effective Multi-Agency Partnerships Rita Cheminais, 2009-04-01 Offering practical advice and guidance on how to establish and maintain effective multi-agency partnership working in your setting, this book will tell you how to meet the Every Child Matters outcomes for children and young people. It clarifies the skills and knowledge required in order to form productive partnerships, and shows you how to set up and maintain good collaborative practice. |
| agency meaning in sociology: Representing Talent Violaine Roussel, 2017-08-28 Prologue: an agent at work -- Introduction -- The invention of agenting -- Filling a lacuna in the sociology of Hollywood -- Facing stereotypes -- In the field with Hollywood agents -- What this book unveils: agents and (e)valuation communities -- Mapping Hollywood -- Agenting in big versus little Hollywood -- The other side: interdependent transformations of studios and agencies -- The new reality of agenting in big Hollywood -- The making of professionals in talent agencies -- Fulfilling somebody else's dreams--An agent's initiatory path -- Under the wing of a mentor -- Forming generations in Hollywood -- Agenting as relationship work -- The meaning of relationships -- The definition of an agent's style -- Trust between agents and production professionals -- Agents and artists: enchanted bonds and power relations -- Agents' emotional competence -- Controlling talent? -- Embedded identities and hierarchies -- Naming quality and pricing talent -- Agents in Hollywood's evaluation communities -- What it takes to get a movie made? -- Pricing the unique -- Agents of change: the formation of new evaluation communities |
| agency meaning in sociology: Introduction to Sociology 2e Nathan J. Keirns, Heather Griffiths, Eric Strayer, Susan Cody-Rydzewski, Gail Scaramuzzo, Sally Vyain, Tommy Sadler, Jeff D. Bry, Faye Jones, 2015-03-17 This text is intended for a one-semester introductory course.--Page 1. |
| agency meaning in sociology: Realism and Sociology Justin Cruickshank, 2007-01-24 In recent years, methodological debates in the social sciences have increasingly focused on issues relating to epistemology. Realism and Sociology makes an original contribution to the debate, charting a middle ground between postmodernism and positivism. Critics often hold that realism tries to assume some definitive account of reality. Against this it is argued throughout the book that realism can combine a strong definition of social reality with an anti-foundational approach to knowledge. The position of realist anti-foundationalism that is argued for is developed and defended via the use of immanent critiques. These deal primarily with post-Wittgensteinian positions that seek to define knowledge and social reality in terms of 'rule-following practices' within different 'forms of life' and 'language games'. Specifically, the argument engages with Rorty's neo-pragmatism and the structuration theory of Giddens. The philosophy of Popper is also drawn upon in a critically appreciative way. While the positions of Rorty and Giddens seek to deflate the claims of 'grand theory', albeit in different ways, they both end up with definitive claims about knowledge and reality that preclude social research. By avoiding the general deflationary approach that relies on reference to 'practices', realism is able to combine a strong social ontology with an anti-foundational epistemology, and thus act as an underlabourer for empirical research. |
| agency meaning in sociology: An Introduction to Sociology Anthony Giddens, Mitchell Duneier, 2000-04-01 |
| agency meaning in sociology: Across the Great Barrier Patricia C. Wrede, 2011 In an alternate frontier America, Eff must travel beyond the Great Barrier and come to terms with her magic abilities--and those of her twin brother--to stop the newest threat encroaching on the settlers. |
| agency meaning in sociology: Mind and the World-order Clarence Irving Lewis, 1956-01-01 Theory of conceptual pragmatism takes into account both modern philosophical thought and modern mathematics. Stimulating discussions of metaphysics, a priori, philosophic method, much more. |
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