Agency (philosophy)

About: Agency (philosophy) is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 10461 publications have been published within this topic receiving 350831 citations. The topic is also known as: Thought & Human agency.

The Problem of Human Agency in Organizational Analysis

Abstract: This paper explores the manner in which 'the problem of agency' has been reflected in the development of organizational analysis as a field of study and as an intellectual practice. The development of the latter is seen to be shaped by successive attempts to come to terms with the former in four interrelated aspects. First, as an intellectual leitmotif directing the trajectory of the historical development of organizational analysis. Second, as an analytical and methodological conundrum focussing theoretical and technical debate within the field. Third, as a moral preoccupation shaping a wider ethical debate over the implications of organized action for individual conduct. Fourth, as an ideological discourse within which conflicting views concerning the socio-political relevance of complex organizations can be expressed. The general implications of this exploration for the present condition and future development of organizational analysis are also considered.

The Terrorist in Search of Humanity: Militant Islam and Global Politics

Abstract: Faisal Devji argues that new forms of militancy, such as the actions of al-Qaeda, are informed by the same desire for agency and equality that animates other humanitarian interventions, such as environmentalism and pacifism. To the militant, victimized Muslims are more than just symbols of ethnic and religious persecution--they represent humanity's centuries-long struggle for legitimacy and agency. Acts of terror, therefore, are fueled by the militant's desire to become a historical actor on the global stage. Though they have yet to build concrete political institutions, militant movements have formed a kind of global society, and as Devji makes clear, this society pursues the same humanitarian objectives that drive more benevolent groups.

Community organizational learning: Case studies illustrating a three-dimensional model of levels and orders of change

Abstract: We present a three-dimensional cube framework to help community organizational researchers and administrators think about an organization’s learning and empowerment-related structures and processes in terms of firstorder (incremental or ameliorative) and second-order (transformative) change at the individual, organizational, and community levels. To illustrate application of the framework, case studies of three different types of exemplary nonprofit organizations (a participatory neighborhood planning organization, a grassroots faith-based social action coalition, and a larger community-based human service agency) were based on qualitative interviews and participant observations. Our analysis, rooted in organizational learning theory, suggests that organizations that empower staff and volunteers through opportunities for learning and participation at the individual level are better able to succeed in terms of organizational-level learning and transformation. Community-level change is particularly difficult but must be made a more explicit goal. Learning that can lead to second-order change at each level must help participants engage in critical AR T ICLE

Shifting dementia discourses from deficit to active citizenship

Abstract: Within western cultures, portrayals of dementia as 'a living death' are being challenged by people living with the diagnosis. Yet dementia remains one of the most feared conditions. The sociological lens of citizenship provides a conceptual framework for reviewing the role of society and culture in repositioning dementia away from deficit to a discourse of agency and interdependence. Awareness of cognitive change, and engaging with the diagnostic process, moves people into a transitional, or 'liminal' state of uncertainty. They are no longer able to return to their previous status, but may resist the unwanted status of 'person with dementia'. Drawing on qualitative studies on social participation by people with dementia, we suggest that whether people are able to move beyond the liminal phase depends on acceptance of the diagnosis, social capital, personal and cultural beliefs, the responses of others and comorbidities. Some people publicly embrace a new identity whereas others withdraw, or are withdrawn, from society to live in the shadow of the fourth age. We suggest narratives of deficit fail to reflect the agency people with dementia can enact to shape their social worlds in ways which enable them to establish post-liminal citizen roles. (A Virtual Abstract of this paper can be viewed at: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC_979cmCmR9rLrKuD7z0ycA).

Governing emotionally vulnerable subjects and ‘therapisation’ of social justice

Abstract: In numerous countries, pessimism about enduring social and educational inequalities has produced a discernible therapeutic turn in education policy and practice, and a parallel rise in therapeutic understandings of social justice. Focusing on developments in England and Finland, this article explores the ways in which radical/critical conceptualisations of social justice privilege attention to psycho-emotional vulnerabilities. Extending older forms of psychologisation, therapeutic understandings of social justice in many contemporary radical/critical accounts resonate powerfully with the wider therapisation of popular culture and everyday life. Using theories of discursive power, we explore the new forms of governance, subjectivity and agency in mainstream therapeutic programmes, and evaluate their implications for pedagogies rooted in radical/critical notions of social justice.