Agency is best theorized as accomplished social action, not individual autonomy.
Evidence
Numerous strands of social theory from Marxism to poststructuralism have rightly critiqued this notion of agency, but the litany of dubious qualities associated with the autonomous subject now functions more as caricature than critique of how agency is currently understood. Indeed, current researchers, particularly within sociocultural linguistics, have found ways of theorizing agency that circumvent the dangers identified by critics while exploiting its utility for work on identity. Sociocultural linguists are generally not concerned with calibrating the degree of autonomy or intentionality in any given act; rather, agency is more productively viewed as the accomplishment of social action (cf. Ahearn, 2001). — Mary Bucholtz and Kira Hall, Identity and Interaction, 114
Categorization
- DEFINE: Reframes agency as social action accomplished in interaction rather than a calibrated quantity of autonomy — a working definition useful for identity research.
- XREF: connects to: Agency is better understood as accomplished social action than as individual autonomous intent. — Mary Bucholtz and Kira Hall, Identity and Interaction: A…, 114; Social structure and individual agency are mutually constitutive, not opposed; Virtues that militate against autonomy can still constitute agency — Saba Mahmood, Politics of Piety: The Islamic Revival…, 1133 (+7 more)
Broader Connections
- Agency is better understood as accomplished social action than as individual autonomous intent.
#corroborates(0.99) — Mary Bucholtz and Kira Hall, Identity and Interaction, 114 - Social structure and individual agency are mutually constitutive, not opposed
#expands(0.85) - Social prescriptions can constitute the self rather than constrain it.
#expands(0.82) — Saba Mahmood, Politics of Piety, 1033 - The self is not a real self sealed off from social influence.
#corroborates(0.80) — W. David Marx, Status and Culture, 293 - Submission to external authority can constitute rather than constrain the self
#expands(0.79) - Virtues that militate against autonomy can still constitute agency
#exemplifies(0.78) — Saba Mahmood, Politics of Piety, 1133 - Agency should not be equated with history-making or self-empowerment
#expands(0.75) — Talal Asad, Formations of the Secular, 327 - Agency is a historical concept, not a natural category
#qualifies(0.74) — Talal Asad, Formations of the Secular, 354 - Agency includes acts neither voluntary nor involuntary but constituted by conflicting self-definitions.
#exemplifies(0.73) — Talal Asad, Formations of the Secular, 450 - Moral agency involves partial rather than absolute personal control over conduct
#qualifies(0.72) — Albert Bandura, Moral Disengagement, 327