9. Social Structure, Culture, and Human Agency: The Endogenous Processes of Persistence and Change

1992 ◽  
pp. 212-244
Keyword(s):  
Social Structure ◽  
Human Agency

James Buchanan on the nature of choice: ontology, artifactual man and the constitutional moment in political economy

2020 ◽  
Vol 44 (5) ◽  
pp. 1159-1179 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul Lewis ◽  
Malte Dold
Keyword(s):  
Political Economy ◽  
Social Structure ◽  
Social Ontology ◽  
Human Agency ◽  
Economic Thought ◽  
Constitutional Political Economy ◽  
Neoclassical Economics ◽  
James Buchanan ◽  
Human Choice ◽  
Human Agent

Abstract Historians of economic thought are paying greater attention to issues of social ontology (i.e. to the assumptions that economists make about the nature of social reality). We contribute to this burgeoning literature by exploring the hitherto neglected way in which James Buchanan invoked ontological considerations, concerning in particular the nature of human choice, both in criticising neoclassical economics and also in setting out his own contributions to constitutional political economy. We focus on Buchanan’s account of man as an artifactual being who has the capacity to choose the kind of person he wishes to become, in particular by selecting the kind of preferences he wishes to have and the kinds of rules under which he wishes to live. We discuss how Buchanan’s thinking on this issue was shaped by Frank Knight and G. L. S. Shackle and explain why Buchanan explicitly described his argument as ontological in nature. Finally, we contend that Buchanan’s approach would have benefited from further ontological elaboration, in two ways: first, because his arguments would have been stronger had he said more about the attributes of the human agent that help to secure their engagement in thinking creatively about themselves and the rules of society (‘the constitutional moment’), and second because his account would benefit from a deeper discussion of the interplay between human agency and social structure, especially with regard to the question of which structures might constrain or facilitate creative choices of the kind by which he set such great store.

The Usefulness of Indepth Life History Interviews for Exploring the Role of Social Structure and Human Agency in Youth Transitions

2000 ◽  
Vol 4 (4) ◽  
pp. 102-113 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gill Hubbard
Keyword(s):  
Life History ◽  
Social Structure ◽  
Rural Areas ◽  
Sociological Theory ◽  
Human Agency ◽  
Social Structures ◽  
Structure And Agency ◽  
Using Data ◽  
Youth Transitions

This paper discusses the usefulness of indepth life history interviews in illustrating the role of social structure and human agency in youth transitions. Drawing on sociological theory and youth transition research, the paper highlights how the role of structure and agency has been perceived by youth researchers. Whilst this literature acknowledges the interplay between structure and agency in transitional processes, the appropriateness of particular research methods for explicating structure and agency needs to be further elucidated. Using data from a study of youth transitions in rural areas of Scotland, a range of transitional experiences from two indepth life history interviews is presented here. This exploratory exercise suggests that life history interviews enable researchers to explore how far social structures provide opportunities and constraints for human agents at the same time as showing how individuals, with their own beliefs and desires, take actions despite the social structures that underlie the immediacy of their experiences.

Collective Human Agency in the Context of Organizational Participation

2017 ◽  
Vol 61 (2) ◽  
pp. 51-68 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wolfgang Georg Weber ◽  
Hans Jeppe Jeppesen
Keyword(s):  
Collective Efficacy ◽  
Social Cognitive ◽  
Work Motivation ◽  
Human Agency ◽  
Employee Participation ◽  
Ecological Approach ◽  
Cognitive Approach ◽  
Organizational Decision Making ◽  
Organizational Participation ◽  
The Social

Abstract. Connecting the social cognitive approach of human agency by Bandura (1997) and activity theory by Leontiev (1978) , this paper proposes a new theoretical framework for analyzing and understanding employee participation in organizational decision-making. Focusing on the social cognitive concepts of self-reactiveness, self-reflectiveness, intentionality, and forethought, commonalities, complementarities, and differences between both theories are explained. Efficacy in agency is conceived as a cognitive foundation of work motivation, whereas the mediation of societal requirements and resources through practical activity is conceptualized as an ecological approach to motivation. Additionally, we discuss to which degree collective objectifications can be understood as material indicators of employees’ collective efficacy. By way of example, we explore whether an integrated application of concepts from both theories promotes a clearer understanding of mechanisms connected to the practice of employee participation.

Commentary on Bandura's "human agency."

1991 ◽  
Vol 46 (2) ◽  
pp. 151-153 ◽  
Author(s):  
William T. Powers
Keyword(s):  
Human Agency
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