Abstract
Throughout the course of everyday life individuals enter into interactions in which an intricate relationship between agency and subordination can be observed: they sometimes act agentively and at other times—via discursive and/or interpersonal processes—their agency is reduced to objectness. Thus, theoretically we can think of constant dynamics of transfer of agency. It is argued that the transfer of agency between persons (or groups) is a fundamental quality of the societal discourses in which all persons are constituted. This transfer of agency occurs constantly throughout social interaction and at different levels of social functioning as individuals live and make meaning of their experiences. In light of this perspective, it is suggested that social change movements that aim to interrupt the transfer of agency and instead fix agency with one person (or one group of people) are inadequate. Rather, these movements can actually subvert their own agenda by producing problematic tensions in discourse and subjectivity. The self-defense movement, a component of the movement to end violence against women, is presented as a case study. The problematic and tension-filled positions and meanings the movement (re)produces for women are explored as an effect of denying any transfer of agency between women and men around issues of violence and gender oppression.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Abbey, E. (2011). Beyond “women,” “mothers,” and “me”: Imagination, poetics, and why surpassing social norms means surpassing the self. In Cultural dynamics of women’s lives (pp. 95–106).
Abbey, E., & Falmagne, R. J. (2008). Modes of tension work within the complex self. Culture and Psychology, 14, 95–113.
Abbey, E., & Valsiner, J. (2005). Emergence of meanings through ambivalence. Forum: Qualitative Social Research, 6.
Ahearn, L. (2001). Language and agency. Annual Review of Anthropology, 30, 109–137.
Banyard, V. L., Plante, E. G., & Moynihan, M. M. (2004). Bystander education: bringing a broader community perspective to sexual violence prevention. Journal of Community Psychology, 32, 61–79.
Berns, N. (2001). Degendering the problem and gendering the blame: Political discourse on women and violence. Gender and Society, 15, 262–281.
Brecklin, L. R., & Ullman, S. E. (2005). Self-defense or assertiveness training and women’s responses to sexual attacks. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 20, 738–762.
Butler, J. (1997). The psychic life of power: Theories in subjection. Stanford: Stanford University Press.
Butler, J. (2011). Bodies that matter: On the discursive limits of sex. New York: Routledge.
Cahill, A. J. (2000). Foucault, rape and the construction of the feminine body. Hypatia, 15, 43–63.
Cahill, A. J. (2009). In defense of self defense. Philosophical Papers, 38, 363–380.
Calavita, K. (2001). Blue jeans, rape, and the “de-constitutive” power of law. Law & Society Review, 35, 89–116.
Campbell, A. (2005). Keeping the ‘lady’ safe: the regulation of femininity through crime prevention literature. Critical Criminology, 13, 119–140.
Cermele, J. (2010). Telling our stories: the importance of women’s narratives of resistance. Violence Against Women, 16, 1162–1172.
De Welde, K. (2003). Getting physical: subverting gender through self-defense. Journal of Contemporary Ethnography, 32, 247–278.
Duits, L., & van Zoonen, L. (2006). Headscarves and porno-chic: disciplining girls’ bodies in the European multicultural society. European Journal of Women’s Studies, 13, 103–117.
Falmagne, R. J. (2004). On the constitution of ‘self’ and ‘mind’: the dialectic of the system and the person. Theory and Psychology, 14, 822–845.
Foucault, M. (1990). The history of sexuality, vol. 1. New York: Vintage Books.
Freire, P. (1972). Pedagogy of the oppressed. New York: Continuum Publishing Company.
Giddens, A. (1984). The constitution of society: Outline of the theory of structuration. University of California Press.
Gilchrist, A., Bowles, M., Wetherell, M. (2010). Identities and social action: Connecting communities for change. ESRC report. Available at: http://www.open.ac.uk/socialsciences/identities/files/connectingcommunities.pdf.
Goodey, J. (1997). Boys don’t cry: masculinities, fear of crime and fearlessness. British Journal of Criminology, 37, 401–419.
Hall, R. (2004). “It can happen to you”: rape prevention in the age of risk management. Hypatia, 19, 1–19.
Hollander, J. A. (2001). Vulnerability and dangerousness: the construction of gender through conversations about violence. Gender and Society, 15, 83–109.
Jackson, S. (1993). Representing rape: model Mugging’s discursive and embodied performances. The Drama Review, 37, 110–141.
Josephs, I. E., & Valsiner, J. (1998). How does autodialogue work? Miracles of meaning maintenance and circumvention strategies. Social Psychology Quarterly, 61, 68–83.
Madriz, E. I. (1997). Images of criminals and victims: a study on women’s fear and social control. Gender and Society, 11, 342–356.
Mardorossian, C. M. (2003). Review of rethinking rape and rape on the public agenda and new versions of victims. Signs, 29, 265–269.
Martin, S. E. (2002). Review of rethinking rape. Violence Against Women, 8, 901–907.
Matthews, N. (1994). Confronting rape: The feminist anti-rape movement and the State. London: Routledge.
McCaughey, M. (1997). Real knockouts: The physical feminism of women’s self-defense. New York: NYU Press.
Noel, J. (2011, September 30). NYPD warns women about skirts in Brooklyn sex attack probe. NBC New York. Retrieved from http://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/Brooklyn-Sex-Attacks-Skirts-Women-NYPD-130863828.html.
Prato, F., Sidanius, J., & Levin, S. (2006). Social dominance theory and the dynamics of intergroup relations: taking stock and looking forward. European Review of Social Psychology, 17, 271–320.
Russell, D. (1975). The politics of rape. New York: Stein and Day Publishers.
Searles, P., & Berger, R. J. (1987). The feminist self-defense movement: a case study. Gender and Society, 1, 61–84.
Sewell, W. H. (1992). A theory of structure: duality, agency and transformation. The American Journal of Sociology, 98, 1–29.
Smith, D. (1990). Texts, facts and femininity: Exploring the relations of ruling. Ch. 6, femininity as discourse (pp. 159–208). London: Routledge.
Ullman, S. E. (2007). A 10-year update of “review and critique of empirical studies on rape avoidance”. Criminal Justice and Behavior, 34, 411–429.
Valsiner, J. (1999). I create you to control me: a glimpse into basic processes of semiotic mediation. Human Development, 42, 26–30.
Waldzus, S., Mummendey, A., Wenzel, M., & Weber, U. (2003). Towards tolerance: representations of superordinate categories and perceived ingroup prototypicality. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 39, 31–47.
Acknowledgments
The author gratefully acknowledges Jaan Valsiner for the support and insight he shared in our on-going conversations around the ideas presented here, and the insightful and helpful suggestions offered by two anonymous reviewers.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Frazier, K.E. Agency on the Move: Revisioning the Route to Social Change. Integr. psych. behav. 47, 354–366 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12124-013-9232-4
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12124-013-9232-4