Agency: Social Construction And Relational Action
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
2-1-1999
Published In
Theory And Psychology
Abstract
Fisher's reading of social constructionist and relational theory is unfortunate. In the first instance, he fails to see that constructionism makes no attempt to establish a foundational ontology in which either agency or its absence is declared real or true. The relational alternative to the traditional account of agency as internal origination is not offered as a truth posit but a contribution to societal practice. On this view, agency is not 'empirically' available, as Fisher contends, but is a constitutive achievement of relationships. In this light, Fisher's concern with the function of the traditional conception of agency in maintaining the moral order is salutary.
Recommended Citation
Kenneth J. Gergen.
(1999).
"Agency: Social Construction And Relational Action".
Theory And Psychology.
Volume 9,
Issue 1.
113-115.
DOI: 10.1177/0959354399091007
https://works.swarthmore.edu/fac-psychology/322
