Product details
- ISBN 9780761963677
- Weight: 470g
- Dimensions: 156 x 234mm
- Publication Date: 24 Nov 1999
- Publisher: SAGE Publications Inc
- Publication City/Country: US
- Product Form: Hardback
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In this penetrating and assured book, one of the leading commentators in the field argues that social theory is moving in the wrong direction in its reflections on human freedom and autonomy. It has borrowed notions of ′agency′ and ′choice′ from everyday discourse, but increasingly it puts a misconceived individualistic gloss upon them. Against this, Barnes unequivocally identifies human beings as social agents in a profound sense, and emphasises the vital importance of their sociability. Notions of ′agency′, ′freedom′ and ′choice′ have to be understood by reference to their role in communicative interaction; they are key components of the discourse through which human beings identify each other, and have effects upon each other, as social agents.
These are central themes in all the social sciences. And Understanding Agency addresses them in a more focused way than any other book. It is a refreshingly different look at social theory that will be widely debated. Barnes′ account is a model of well-informed and wide-ranging analysis.
