On May 10, 2011, at 12:21 PM, Arlo Bensinger wrote: > [Marsha] > Is this about an autonomous individual? > > [Arlo] > No. In this paragraph the author is stating the extremes, or poles, of > "structure" (determinism?) and "agency" (free will?). There have been other > terms for these, but within structuration theories (such as Giddens, Archer, > Parker and Bourdieu), these are recast not as antagonist forces, but mutually > enabling and mutually supportive. Agency is always enacted within structure, > and structure is always influenced by agency. Greater structure brings > greater agency, simplistically, rather than being inversely related. The > incredibly rapidity of world travel, and the ensuing "freedom" to move around > the globe, rests on a very complex structure of mechanics, navigation, flight > theory, schedules, airports, etc etc etc. If you remove the structure, the > agency of the individual to move around is severely diminished. Moreso, > Boudieu also considers the same duality regarding "words" which Mark seems to > suggest is a form of imprisonment. Assimilating language provides us with far > great er capacity to act than a feral human would have, albeit it at the same time (like roadways) channeling our thoughts in certain ways.
Marsha: Well, there is this statement ""agency" refers to the capacity of individuals to act independently and to make their own free choices." and this phrase "socialisation against autonomy". Yet many moons ago I read Peter Berger and Thomas Luckmann's book 'The Social Construction of Reality.' I loved the book, and it made it easier to accept the concept of cultural glasses. I am cautiously suspicious but wait to hear more. Thanks for the response. Marsha ___ Moq_Discuss mailing list Listinfo, Unsubscribing etc. http://lists.moqtalk.org/listinfo.cgi/moq_discuss-moqtalk.org Archives: http://lists.moqtalk.org/pipermail/moq_discuss-moqtalk.org/ http://moq.org/md/archives.html
