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Understanding Agency: Social Theory and Responsible Action
Paperback
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ISBN10: 0761963685
ISBN13: 9780761963684
Publisher: Sage Publications Ltd
Published: Jan 28 2000
Pages: 176
Weight: 0.56
Height: 0.38 Width: 6.14 Depth: 9.21
Language: English
ISBN13: 9780761963684
Publisher: Sage Publications Ltd
Published: Jan 28 2000
Pages: 176
Weight: 0.56
Height: 0.38 Width: 6.14 Depth: 9.21
Language: English
Is human freedom and choice exaggerated in recent social theory? Should agency be the central in sociology? In this, penetrating and assured book, one of the leading commentators in the field asks where social theory is going. Barnes argues that social theory has taken the wrong turn in over-stating individual freedom. The result is that social contexts in which all individual actions are situated, is dangerously under-theorized. Barnes calls for a form of social theory that recognizes that sociability is the essential characteristic of human life. It is our capacity to communicate with each other, and plan for each other′s welfare, that makes us truly human. Once this is allowed, notions of agency, freedom, and choice lose their connotation with free-floating individualism. Instead the embedded character of agency is starkly revealed. This is a model of well-informed and balanced analysis. It will be of interest to students of sociology, philosophy and social theory.
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