The subversive agent: Anatomy of personal ideological change

Abstract

The first part of the paper is dedicated to a theoretical discussion of the Western individual, the Althusserian subject and its more active counterpart, the agent. The agent is endowed with a logic that is not fully predictable and can be creative, in which case it may become subversive. The second part of the article is devoted to an application of the theoretical framework to a case in Israeli culture. The organization da'at emet attempts to address the native logic of the ultra-orthodox yeshiva student, and to foster in him a curious agent who will put his logic to work in processing the new data provided to him by the pamphlets of the organization. The student is expected to become a subversive agent who will embrace secular logic and practices. It is claimed that theories of the individual or the subject alone cannot capture the scenario described. The agent, with his creative logic, is needed to fully account for it.