Date: Sat, 17 Jun 2000 14:44:39 +0200 (MET DST)
From: Arun-Kumar Tripathi <tripathi-AT-statistik.uni-dortmund.de>
Subject: [Historical Agency] For many years now, the relationship between


Greetings technology lists,

[Hi, following is received via "History-and-Theory" Listserv --thought
the "Call for Papers on Historical Agency" might interest you. Important
to the work of such pre-eminent figures as Giddens, Bourdieu, Taylor,
Searle, Nandy, and MacIntyre, and the relationship between human agents
and social and cultural structures has been a central concern of much
sociological, philosophical, literary, and psychological analysis 
and theoretical explorations have often had a significant historical
aspect, developing a sense of the changing and diverse  conceptions of
agency and the self that have existed over the centuries. Thank you.--Arun
Tripathi]
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Date: Wed, 14 Jun 2000 12:30:33
From: Julia Perkins <jperkins-AT-wesleyan.edu>
[--]

Hello from the History and Theory email list!
Historical Agency: A Call for Papers

For many years now, the relationship between human agents and social and 
cultural structures has been a central concern of much sociological, 
philosophical, literary, and psychological analysis. Important to the work 
of such pre-eminent figures as Giddens, Bourdieu, Taylor, Searle, Nandy, 
and MacIntyre, these theoretical explorations have often had a significant 
historical aspect, developing a sense of the changing and diverse 
conceptions of agency and the self that have existed over the centuries. 
The emergence of a particularly modern (usually Western) self with a 
distinct kind of agency has been a leitmotif of such thought.
	Nevertheless, historiography and agency have had a sometimes puzzling and 
ambivalent relationship. Along with causation, time, and perhaps society, 
nothing is as close to the practice of history writing and the explanation 
of history itself as is agency. It is so close, however, that entire 
influential sub-fields of history have nearly lost sight of it, and very 
few have engaged in extended consideration of its special but varied 
character. In fact, several prevalent and influential historical practices 
of the last thirty years have limited agency’s significance, preferring to 
focus on large-scale structures of society, culture, discourse, or ideas, 
seeing the human as the patient of History rather than its agent.
	Because agency is ubiquitous, theoretically rich, but of contested 
historical importance, History and Theory plans to devote the 2001 Theme 
Issue to this topic and is eager for submissions on any aspect of this 
complex subject, ranging from purely philosophical considerations on the 
nature of specifically historical agency to theoretically productive 
empirical studies that display critical approaches to the problem, 
including exposing the typical background assumptions by which historians 
operate.
	Some features that deserve consideration include delineating agency’s 
historiographical relevance. When does it matter? This naturally leads to 
the question of the relation of agency to larger forces: language, ideas 
and social structures. How does the relevance and meaning of historical 
agency shift from period to period and place to place? This has been 
occasionally explored in both the European context as well as in that of 
the colonial worlds. Both women’s and subaltern history have sometimes 
focused on agential notions such as freedom and experience in the attempt 
to give dignity and responsibility to those far from the imperial centers 
of power, but have found difficulty in balancing power and agency.
	Reflection on agency has become significant where ‘traditional’ political 
history has intersected with social and cultural concerns. The study of the 
World Wars and the question of culpability and responsibility for them and 
the Holocaust that ensued has been the richest field of reflection. 
Exploration of other circumstances that empirically link political 
responsibility and the experiences of selves would be welcome. This would 
allow further means to assess the questions of historical responsibility 
and the role of memory and experience in developing selves. The potent 
reflections on these subjects should raise, however, the role of narrative 
in fixing the importance of self, agency, and experience. Given its typical 
rhetorical tools could history ever give up agency and its apparently 
inalienable ethical and psychological attendants?
	There are other theoretical postures that might stimulate useful 
reflection. How different does agency look, for instance, through the eyes 
of counterfactual considerations, chaos theory, or rational choice? Each of 
these make powerful assumptions about the nature of the historical self and 
its degree of contingency, but the historiographical implications need 
closer consideration.
	History and Theory seeks submissions of no more than 8000 words, which 
should be submitted to Julia Perkins, Administrative Editor, History and 
Theory, 287 High Street, Middletown, CT, 06459-0507  no later than February 
15, 2001. Submissions should conform to the History and Theory style sheet, 
which is available on our website: <http://www.historyandtheory.org> 
click on "Submission Information." Please do not submit via fax or email.
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