agency
agencyThe term agency is often juxtaposed to structure and is often no more than a synonym for action, emphasizing implicitly the undetermined nature of human action, as opposed to the alleged determinism of structural theories. If it has a wider meaning, it is to draw attention to the psychological and social psychological make-up of the actor, and to imply the capacity for willed (voluntary) action.
Sociological theories are often characterized according to the relative emphasis they place on agency or structure—and in terms, therefore, of an agency versus structure debate. Some recent theorists have intervened in the debate in a conscious attempt to transcend this dualism. The French sociologist Pierre Bourdieu is a good example. His insistence that the objective and subjective aspects of social life are inescapably bound together leads him to challenge the dualism of...
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