Hello again,
I found this:
"The debate concerning the primacy of either structure or agency with regard to
human behavior is a central ontological issue in sociology, political science,
and the other social sciences. In this context, "agency" refers to the capacity
of individuals to act independently and to make their own free choices.[1]
"Structure", by contrast, refers to the recurrent patterned arrangements which
seem to influence or limit the choices and opportunities that individuals
possess.[1] The structure versus agency debate may therefore be understood
simply as the issue of socialisation against autonomy. This discussion may
itself be contrasted with the "nature versus nurture" debate (i.e. "the natural
versus the social")."
http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Structure_and_agency&printable=yes
Is this about an autonomous individual?
On May 10, 2011, at 11:42 AM, MarshaV wrote:
>
> Hi Arlo,
>
> Would you please define 'agency' as you are using it so there is no quibbling
> about the term.
>
>
> Marsha
>
>
>
>
>
> On May 9, 2011, at 12:02 PM, Arlo Bensinger wrote:
>
>> [Mark]
>> Freedom is a rig full of gas, a wide open road, a stack of audio CDs, and
>> some sweet rock and roll. Oh, yeah, and truck stops full of coffee. Just
>> watch out for the ones full of Vampires...
>>
>> [Arlo]
>> A nice metaphor for "freedom", since the agency one is able to act upon
>> above is constrained by many structures; the road, the availability of gas,
>> the adherence to "rules of the road", acts of weather (my "freedom" was
>> constrained one night in South Dakota by heavy rains that led to the
>> temporary closing of the Interstate), one's health, etc.
>>
>> The key is seeing that these structures both enable the agency of the driver
>> as well as constrain it. Our range of agency is not merely constrained by
>> structure, the structure provides the opportunity for agency as well.
>>
>> The road allows us to move, at the same time it limits our directions.
>> Without the road, the best we could manage is perhaps a 5-10 mph romp on a
>> moon rover across unpaved terrain. The road lets us get anywhere on the
>> continent fairly quickly, but the price we pay for this "freedom" is that we
>> follow the road.
>>
>> Someone once suggested to me its like corrective lenses. You "have" to wear
>> them to see, but this "loss of freedom" is combined with the "freedom" that
>> seeing enables. So we are constrained by the road, but at the same time the
>> road enables us to travel.
>>
>> Of course, all this (structure and agency) are not "fixed", but evolving
>> mutually, structures change and adapt as agency is applied, and in turn
>> agency changes and adapts as structures change.
>
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