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Journal ArticleDOI

Relational agency Relational sociology, agency and interaction

Ian Burkitt
- 01 Aug 2016 - 
- Vol. 19, Iss: 3, pp 322-339
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TLDR
In this paper, the authors explore how the concept of agency in social theory changes when it is conceptualized as a relational rather than an individual phenomenon, and how this emerges in the critical realist approach to agency typified by Margaret Archer.
Abstract
This article explores how the concept of agency in social theory changes when it is conceptualized as a relational rather than an individual phenomenon. It begins with a critique of the structure/agency debate, particularly of how this emerges in the critical realist approach to agency typified by Margaret Archer. It is argued that this approach, and the critical realist version of relational sociology that has grown from it, reify social relations as a third entity to which agents have a cognitive, reflexive relation, playing down the importance of interaction. This upholds the Western moral and political view of agents as autonomous, independent, and reflexive individuals. Instead, the article considers agency from a different theoretical tradition in relational sociology in which agents are always located in manifold social relations. From this, an understanding is created of agents as interactants, ones who are interdependent, vulnerable, intermittently reflexive, possessors of capacities that can onl...

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References
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Journal ArticleDOI

Locating the 17th Book of Giddens@@@The Constitution of Society: Outline of the Theory of Structuration.

TL;DR: Giddens as mentioned in this paper has been in the forefront of developments in social theory for the past decade and outlines the distinctive position he has evolved during that period and offers a full statement of a major new perspective in social thought, a synthesis and elaboration of ideas touched on in previous works but described here for the first time in an integrated and comprehensive form.
Book

The Constitution of Society. Outline of the Theory of Structuration

TL;DR: Giddens as discussed by the authors has been in the forefront of developments in social theory for the past decade and outlines the distinctive position he has evolved during that period and offers a full statement of a major new perspective in social thought, a synthesis and elaboration of ideas touched on in previous works but described here for the first time in an integrated and comprehensive form.
Journal ArticleDOI

Modernity and Self-Identity: Self and Society in the Late Modern Age

Mary Gluck
- 01 May 1993 - 
TL;DR: In this paper, the self: ontological security and existential anxiety are discussed, as well as the trajectory of the self, risk, and security in high modernity, and the emergence of life politics.
Book

Modernity and Self-Identity: Self and Society in the Late Modern Age

TL;DR: In the context of a post-traditional order, the self becomes a reflexive project as mentioned in this paper, which is not a term which has much applicability to traditional cultures, because it implies choice within plurality of possible options, and is 'adopted' rather than 'handed down'.
Book

Phenomenology of Perception

TL;DR: Carman as discussed by the authors described the body as an object and Mechanistic Physiology, and the experience of the body and classical psychology as a Sexed being, as well as the Synthesis of One's Own Body and Motility.
Trending Questions (3)
What are main arguments against edward's relational agency?

The provided paper does not mention Edward's relational agency.

What are the different ways that relational agency can be studied in interactions?

Relational agency can be studied by examining how individuals relate and interact directly with one another in different forms of social relations.

What are the different definitions of agency in sociology?

The article discusses different definitions of agency in sociology, including a relational view where agents are seen as interactants in social relations.