Agency

A FEMINIST TAOIST VOICE PART 2: MY DIALOGUE WITH ELISA FON, ACUPUNCTURIST, TAOIST, FEMINIST AND FRIEND by Sara Frykenberg

by Feminism and Religion

Originally published on the Feminism and Religion project

Taoism is a philosophy that, for me, has been around so long because it is meant to move and change with society…more Taoism is a philosophy that, for me, has been around so long because it is meant to move and change with society…

Acupuncturist, healer and friend, Elisa Fon and I began a discussion of Taoism and feminism in Part 1 of this interview.  Elisa defined her vision of feminism and Taoism, explained Taoism’s relational and yet, individual emphasis on what is particular in each of our experiences and considered the basic relationship of yang and yin.  Part 2 picks up where she and I left off, returning to the discussion of yin, yang and supposed dualisms.

Sara: I was wondering if you could talk a little about the complementarity of yin and yang?

Body, Nature, Ancestors by Carol P. Christ

by Feminism and Religion

Originally published on the Feminism and Religion project.

Some years ago, womanist theologian Karen Baker–Fletcher asked about ancestors following a lecture I gave on the body... more Some years ago, womanist theologian Karen Baker–Fletcher asked about ancestors following a lecture I gave on the body and nature.  I have since come to realize that ancestors are a missing link between the two:  we cannot speak adequately of embodiment and interdependence in the web of life without recognizing the ancestors whose lives made ours possible.  Our mothers quite literally gave us our bodies.  All of our ancestors gave us their genes.  Care and callousness with origins going back longer than conscious memory was imprinted on the psyches of our parents and grandparents and transmitted to us.  All of our ancestors give us connections to place.  While many black people in America can recite oral histories that begin with slavery in the United States, I come from a family where stories of origin for the most part were not valued or told.

Autonomy and Desire in Machines and Cognitive Agent Systems

by Kevin Magill

Co-authored with Yasemin J. Erden, published 'Online First' in 'Cognitive Computation', 2012, DOI DOI 10.1007/s12559-012-9140-9. Available through subscribing institutions. Drop me a line if you can't access.
Substantially revised from 2011 paper of same title.

The development of cognitive agent systems relies on theories of agency, within which the concept of desire is key.... more The development of cognitive agent systems relies on theories of agency, within which the concept of desire is key. Indeed, in the quest to develop increasingly autonomous cognitive agent systems, desire has had a significant role. We argue, however, that insufficient attention has been given to analysis and clarification of desire as a complex concept. Accordingly, in this paper, we will draw on some key philosophical accounts of the nature of desire, including what distinguishes it from other mental and motivational states, in order to identify some key characteristics of desire as a complex concept. We will then draw on these in order to investigate the role, definition and adequacy of concepts of desire within applied theoretical models of agency and agent systems.

The Role of Agency In Self and Other Regulation Jillianne R. Code, John C. Nesbit, Olusola Adesope, & Mingming Zhou Faculty of Education, Simon Fraser …

by Jillianne Code

Transforming identities and enacting agency: the discourses of participatory development in training South African adult educators

by Caroline Kerfoot

Sense of control and sense of agency

by Elisabeth Pacherie

Pacherie, E. (2007). Sense of control and sense of agency. Special issue on the Phenomenology of Agency, S. Siegel (Ed.), Psyche.

The now growing literature on the content and sources of the phenomenology of first-person agency highlights the... more The now growing literature on the content and sources of the phenomenology of first-person agency highlights the multi-faceted character of the phenomenology of agency and makes it clear that the experience of agency includes many other experiences as components. This paper examines the possible relations between these components of our experience of acting and the processes involved in action specification and action control. After a brief discussion of our awareness of our goals and means of action, it will focus on the sense of agency for a given action, understood as the sense the agent has that he or she is the author of that action. I argue that the sense of agency can be analyzed as a compound of more basic experiences, including the experience of intentional causation, the sense of initiation and the sense of control. I further argue that the sense of control may itself be analysed into a number of more specific, partially dissociable experiences.

Self-Agency

by Elisabeth Pacherie

Pacherie, E. (2010). Self-Agency. In S. Gallagher (Ed.), The Oxford Handbook of the Self. Oxford: Oxford University Press, pp. 440-462.

Nonconceptual representations for action and the limits of intentional control

by Elisabeth Pacherie

Pacherie, E. (2011). Nonconceptual representations for action and the limits of intentional control. Social Psychology. 42(1): 67-73.

In this paper I argue that, to make intentional actions fully intelligible, we need to posit representations of action... more In this paper I argue that, to make intentional actions fully intelligible, we need to posit representations of action the content of which is nonconceptual. I further argue that an analysis of the properties of these nonconceptual representations, and of their relation- ships to action representations at higher levels, sheds light on the limits of intentional control. On the one hand, the capacity to form nonconceptual representations of goal-directed movements underscores the capacity to acquire executable concepts of these movements, thus allowing them to come under intentional control. On the other hand, the degree of autonomy these nonconceptual representations enjoy, and the specific temporal constraints stemming from their role in motor control, set limits on intentional control over action execution.

Looking for the agent: an investigation into consciousness of action and self-consciousness in schizophrenic patients

by Elisabeth Pacherie

Daprati, E. Franck, N. Georgieff, N. Proust, J. Pacherie, E. Dalery, J. & Jeannerod, M. (1997). Looking for the agent: an investigation into consciousness of action and self-consciousness in schizophrenic patients. Cognition, 65: 71-86.

The abilities to attribute an action to its proper agent and to understand its meaning when it is produced by someone... more The abilities to attribute an action to its proper agent and to understand its meaning when it is produced by someone else are basic aspects of human social communication. Several psychiatric syndromes, such as schizophrenia, seem to lead to a dysfunction of the awareness of one’s own action as well as of recognition of actions performed by others. Such syndromes offer a framework for studying the determinants of agency, the ability to correctly attribute actions to their veridical source. Thirty normal subjects and 30 schizophrenic patients with and without hallucinations and/or delusional experiences were required to execute simple finger and wrist movements, without direct visual control of their hand. The image of either their own hand or an alien hand executing the same or a different movement was presented on a TV-screen in real time. The task for the subjects was to discriminate whether the hand presented on the screen was their own or not. Hallucinating and deluded schizophrenic patients were more impaired in discriminating their own hand from the alien one than the non-hallucinating ones, and tended to misattribute the alien hand to themselves. Results are discussed according to a model of action control. A tentative description of the mechanisms leading to action consciousness is proposed.

Agency, Simulation and Self-identification

by Elisabeth Pacherie

Jeannerod, M. & Pacherie, E. (2004). Agency, Simulation and Self-identification. Mind & Language, 19, 2: 113-146.

This paper is concerned with the problem of self-identification in the domain of action. We claim that this problem... more This paper is concerned with the problem of self-identification in the domain of action. We claim that this problem can arise not just for the self as object, but also for the self as subject in the ascription of agency. We discuss and evaluate some proposals concerning the mechanisms involved in self-identification and in agency- ascription, and their possible impairments in pathological cases. We argue in favor of a simulation hypothesis that claims that actions, whether overt or covert, are centrally simulated by the neural network, and that this simulation provides the basis for action recognition and attribution.

The phenomenology of action: A conceptual framework

by Elisabeth Pacherie

Pacherie, E. (2008). The phenomenology of action: A conceptual framework. Cognition, 107, 1:179-217.

After a long period of neglect, the phenomenology of action has recently regained its place in the agenda of... more After a long period of neglect, the phenomenology of action has recently regained its place in the agenda of philosophers and scientists alike. The recent explosion of interest in the topic highlights its complexity. The purpose of this paper is to propose a conceptual framework allowing for a more precise characterization of the many facets of the phenomenology of agency, of how they are related and of their possible sources. The key assumption guiding this attempt is that the processes through which the phenomenology of action is generated and the processes involved in the specification and control of action are strongly interconnected. I argue in favor of a three-tiered dynamic model of intention, link it to an expanded version of the internal model theory of action control and specification, and use this theoretical frame- work to guide an analysis of the contents, possible sources and temporal course of comple- mentary aspects of the phenomenology of action.

Narrators and comparators: the architecture of agentive self-awareness

by Elisabeth Pacherie

Bayne, T. & Pacherie, E. (2007). Narrators and comparators: The architecture of agentive self-awareness. Synthese, 159:475–491.

This paper contrasts two approaches to agentive self-awareness: a high- level, narrative-based account, and a... more This paper contrasts two approaches to agentive self-awareness: a high- level, narrative-based account, and a low-level comparator-based account. We argue that an agent’s narrative self-conception has a role to play in explaining their agentive judgments, but that agentive experiences are explained by low-level comparator mech- anisms that are grounded in the very machinery responsible for action-production.

How to stay safe online: Self-esteem advice for girls

by Amy Hasinoff

Draft of chapter 2 for my book

While legal authorities have taken a punitive approach to addressing individual sexting incidents, prevention-based... more While legal authorities have taken a punitive approach to addressing individual sexting incidents, prevention-based messages directed at teens often encourage girls to avoid creating sexting images altogether. Chapter 2 examines the discourses of self-esteem and girl power in the advice produced for girls about sexting and online safety from 2005 to 2010. Through an analysis of nationally distributed US public service announcements (PSAs) imploring teenage girls to “think before you post” as well as informal in print and television news coverage about sexting, I argue that the guidance mass media and PSAs offer girls devalues their digital media production, treating it not as creative self-expression or a form of “safer sex” but as a symptom of low self-esteem and an invitation for male sexual violence. Advice to girls counsels sexual self-control as a strategy for achieving and demonstrating high self-esteem, unfairly holding girls responsible for preventing male sexual violence and harassment. I argue that online safety messages would be more evenhanded and effective if they were built on an alternative model of agency promoting collective action and social justice rather than encouraging girls to censor themselves and exercise extreme caution.

Social Constraints, Agency, Inter-organizational Tie Formation and Knowledge Diffusion

by Maria Christina Binz-Scharf

Co-authored with Jason Greenberg, David Lazer, and Ines Mergel

Social capital is currently one of social structure‘s most prominent and debated manifestations. However, we have a... more Social capital is currently one of social structure‘s most prominent and debated manifestations. However, we have a limited understanding of how social ties as the basis of social capital form in the first place. From one perspective social capital is viewed as: "investment in social relations with expected returns in the marketplace" (Lin 2001, p. 19). A second perspective on social capital formation stresses contextual and environmental features beyond the control of individuals that may yield benefits. Both perspectives are based on premises implicating various motives and structural constraints pertaining to relationship formation including: exchange, power, and dependency; legitimacy seeking or preferential attachment based on status or prestige; homogeneity or homophily and related selection processes; propinquity; or cultural or institutional forces. These categories of mechanisms do not, however, specify a model of how social relationships as social capital are formed in the first place.

If social capital results from "investment strategies," it is important to determine what these strategies are. If social capital originates from structural factors beyond individual control it is important to clarify what mechanisms lead to tie formation within social structures.

The objective of this research is to specify mechanisms of social tie formation and reinforcement by peering inside the black-box of foci (Feld 1981) in which social ties are formed. We do so by focusing on the structural contexts within which individual (micro-level) corporate actors form social relationships for knowledge acquisition that results in macro-level knowledge sharing. A mixed-method analytical approach is employed to this end. Findings illustrate how the subtleties of social structure define the parameters within which social relationships are (strategically) formed.

Can Pikachu save Fannie Mae? Negotiating value and creativity in the Pokéconomy

by Max Haiven

Forthcoming in the journal 'Cultural Studies,' 2012

I argue that Pokémon offers a demonstrative and constitutive moment of the financializaion of contemporary cultural... more I argue that Pokémon offers a demonstrative and constitutive moment of the financializaion of contemporary cultural life in ways that signal an intensification of finance, risk, debt and cognitive labour as global imperatives. I suggest that children's play with Pokémon cards can help us revisit tenacious debates within Cultural Studies over structure and agency by focusing on the social production of value (in this case, the way children produce common forms of value for their card collections) and how this is connected to economic value in an age of speculative capital. In particular, I argue that Pokémon emblematizes emerging trends in the way the financialized economy develops and depends on commodified social practices that offer resources for the development of financialized subjectivities and engineered forms of agency.

Understanding teacher agency: The importance of relationships

by Mark Priestley

Priestley, M., Biesta, G.J.J. & Robinson, S. (2012). Understanding teacher agency: The importance of relationships. A paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Educational Research Association, Vancouver, Canada, 13-17 April 2012.

In this paper we provide an overview of a theory of teacher agency, and we draw upon empirical data from two schools –... more In this paper we provide an overview of a theory of teacher agency, and we draw upon empirical data from two schools – both secondary – participating in our Teacher Agency and Curriculum Change project (ESRC reference: RES-000-22-4208). Our aim is to understand why agency is achieved differently in different settings by teachers who have broadly similar values, beliefs and levels of experience in common. In the paper, we first set out how we define and theorise agency, and what this means for understanding and researching the factors that contribute to teacher agency. We present our view of agency as an emergent phenomenon rather than as a capacity residing in individuals. We then relate this concept to the work of teachers, thereby setting out a framework for understanding teacher agency. Against this background, we present findings from our research that highlight the impact of relational dimensions on the achievement of agency by teachers as they enact Scotland's new Curriculum for Excellence within different contexts of the Scottish school system.

Machine Love: the companionship of technology

by Paul Boshears

Published at 'In Media Res', January, 2012

In Media Res challenges authors to find a media object online and curate this object within a weekly theme. Authors... more In Media Res challenges authors to find a media object online and curate this object within a weekly theme. Authors have only 400 words in which to communicate their thinking about the media.
For my submission I introduce Heidegger's theory of object relations using Roxxxy the sexbot. This was appropriate to the weekly theme which asks "What Are Theses Technological Things?" in honor of the annual International Consumer Electronics Show (where Roxxxy made its debut in 2010).

Critique of an Argument for the Reality of Purpose

by Danny Frederick

Forthcoming, Prolegomena: Journal of Philosophy

Schueler has argued, against the eliminativist, that human purposive action cannot be an illusion because the concept... more Schueler has argued, against the eliminativist, that human purposive action cannot be an illusion because the concept of purpose is not theoretical. He argues that the concept is known directly to be instantiated, through self-awareness; and that to maintain that the concept is theoretical involves an infinite regress. I show that Schueler’s argument fails because all our concepts are theoretical in the sense that we may be mistaken in applying them to our experience. As a consequence, it is conceivable that direct introspection of an event as a purposive action may be mistaken. I indicate ways in which the eliminativist may be able to explain why our perception and introspection is afflicted with systematic error.

Ng I, Parry G, Smith L, Maull R & Briscoe G (2012) Transitioning from a Goods-Dominant to a Service-Dominant Logic: Visualising the Value Proposition of Rolls-Royce. Journal of Service Management, Iss 3, forthcoming. Interim location: WMG Service Systems Research Group Working Paper Series, paper number 05/12, ISSN 2049-4297.

by Irene C L Ng

Abstract
• Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to provide a comprehensive understanding of current... more Abstract
• Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to provide a comprehensive understanding of current literature on value. In exploring perspectives on economics, choice, consumption and evaluation of value, assumptions and limitations of extant approaches are highlighted and an integrative framework of value is proposed. It is suggested that this integrative perspective on value has a number of implications for marketing theory and research.
• Methodology/approach
This paper conducts an extensive review and assimilation of value from management, marketing, philosophy and economics.
• Findings
The paper categorises the existing value literature into six themes of value understanding; utility, economic worth, perceived satisfaction, net benefit, means end and phenomenological experience. In so doing, the paper identifies implicit assumptions in philosophy, chronology and consciousness of value and offers an integrative value framework that brings in the literature to understand the contextual invariances of value creation within a phenomenon (i.e. offering, affordance, context, agency and individual resources), as well as reconciling that creation with choice and evaluation of the value ex-ante and ex-post. Our paper also proposes the paradox of value – the value that which can be assessed, measured and even judged by an individual cannot be the value created.
• Research limitations/ implications (if applicable)
In shifting value away from exchange towards use it is suggested that marketing positioning, segmentation and targeting strategies may need to consider five elements identified in the integrative value framework. New business models are achieved from understanding value creation in context as proposed by the framework.
• Originality/value of paper
This paper extends existing literature on value through reconciliation of various theoretical literatures in management, marketing, philosophy and economics. Notably, it highlights implicit assumptions in philosophy, chronology and consciousness of value and their potential limitations. It proposes an integrative framework that can be used for understanding the future of marketing and new business models.

Synthesis and fragmentation in social theory: a progressive solution

by John Holmwood

Postmodern claims for the lack of general coherence in social life and therefore in social research are merely a... more Postmodern claims for the lack of general coherence in social life and therefore in social research are merely a version of recurrent attempts to accept incoherence as adequate in explanations. Incoherence, however, is less sharply distinguishedfrom the synthetic and generalizing theories that it is held to have replaced than its proponents and critics suppose. Generalizing approaches, in fact, were built around contradictions
that contributed to their instability and facilitated postmodern fragmentation. In this paper we demonstrate the central contradictions in social theory, showing their common occurrence in apparently opposed positions. Both postmodernism and what it seeks to replace are features of a conservative and unproductive social science. We trace the
contradictory continuities through major modern schools of social theory in order to clear the ground for a progressive social science which accepts contradictions as problems that must be solved creatively in the practice of social research.