BRADFORD SCHOLARS

    • Sign in
    View Item 
    •   Bradford Scholars
    • Social Sciences
    • Social Sciences Publications
    • View Item
    •   Bradford Scholars
    • Social Sciences
    • Social Sciences Publications
    • View Item
    JavaScript is disabled for your browser. Some features of this site may not work without it.

    Browse

    All of Bradford ScholarsCommunitiesAuthorsTitlesSubjectsPublication DateThis CollectionAuthorsTitlesSubjectsPublication Date

    My Account

    Sign in

    HELP

    Bradford Scholars FAQsCopyright Fact SheetPolicies Fact SheetDeposit Terms and ConditionsDigital Preservation Policy

    Statistics

    Most Popular ItemsStatistics by CountryMost Popular Authors

    Relational agency: Relational sociology, agency and interaction

    • CSV
    • RefMan
    • EndNote
    • BibTex
    • RefWorks
    Thumbnail
    View/Open
    Burkitt_European_Journal_of_Social_Theory.pdf (659.2Kb)
    Download
    Publication date
    2016
    Author
    Burkitt, Ian
    Keyword
    Relational sociology; Social relations; Agency; Interaction; Interactants
    Rights
    © 2015 The Authors. Published by SAGE. Reproduced in accordance with the publisher's self-archiving policy.
    Peer-Reviewed
    yes
    
    Metadata
    Show full item record
    Abstract
    This article explores how the concept of agency in social theory changes when it is conceptualised as a relational rather than an individual phenomenon. I begin with a critique of the structure/agency debate, particularly of how this emerges in the critical realist approach to agency typified by Margaret Archer. It is argued that this approach, and the critical realist version of relational sociology that has grown from it, reifies social relations as a third entity to which agents have a cognitive, reflexive relation, playing down the importance of interaction. This upholds the Western moral and political view of agents as autonomous, independent, and reflexive individuals. Instead of this I consider agency from a different theoretical tradition in relational sociology in which agents are always located in manifold social relations. From this I create an understanding of agents as interactants, ones who are interdependent, vulnerable, intermittently reflexive, possessors of capacities that can only be practiced in joint actions, and capable of sensitive responses to others and to the situations of interaction. Instead of agency resting on the reflexive monitoring of action or the reflexive deliberation on structurally defined choices, agency emerges from our emotional relatedness to others as social relations unfold across time and space.
    URI
    http://hdl.handle.net/10454/7391
    Version
    published version paper
    Citation
    Burkitt I (2016) Relational agency: Relational sociology, agency and interaction. European Journal of Social Theory. 19(3): 322-339.
    Link to publisher’s version
    http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/1368431015591426
    Type
    Article
    Collections
    Social Sciences Publications

    entitlement

     
    DSpace software (copyright © 2002 - 2023)  DuraSpace
    Quick Guide | Contact Us
    Open Repository is a service operated by 
    Atmire NV
     

    Export search results

    The export option will allow you to export the current search results of the entered query to a file. Different formats are available for download. To export the items, click on the button corresponding with the preferred download format.

    By default, clicking on the export buttons will result in a download of the allowed maximum amount of items.

    To select a subset of the search results, click "Selective Export" button and make a selection of the items you want to export. The amount of items that can be exported at once is similarly restricted as the full export.

    After making a selection, click one of the export format buttons. The amount of items that will be exported is indicated in the bubble next to export format.