Individual Agency Research Articles

Conspiratorial Storytelling and Environmental Crisis

ABSTRACT What happens when the narrative of conspiracy theory is used to represent the ecological crisis? Among climate scientists, conspiracy theories are often considered harmful, because they spread doubt about the global scientific consensus on climate change. In recent years, however, the rhetoric of conspiracy theory has become increasingly common among environmental filmmakers who use its narrative conventions to tell stories about complex environmental issues. This article explores this trend by analysing the Netflix documentary, Seaspiracy (2021), which portrays the oceanic crisis as the result of global corruption. The article demonstrates how the film’s high narrative velocity, its negotiation of individual agency, and its construction of ‘hierarchies of scale’ create an ambiguous depiction that is both overwhelming and reductive, yet also highly engaging and, potentially, empowering. Reflecting on this ambiguity, the article argues that this emergent subgenre provides insights into our shifting relations with the ecological crisis and its representational challenges.

Voluntary Geographies of Internationalism: The Contributions of a Radical Mexican Family to Global Pacifism, Feminism, and Anticolonialism

This article addresses geographies of internationalism, feminism, pacifism, and anticolonialism, by investigating the case of pacifist and feminist activist Clementina Batalla Torres de Bassols (1894–1987) and her son, geographer Ángel Bassols Batalla (1925–2012). Based in Mexico and involved in global conferencing on pacifism, women’s rights, and geography, this activist and scholarly family provided examples of voluntary commitment to internationalism as both an ethical stance and a political option. Although not extraneous to Cold War logics, as they explicitly sympathized with the Eastern Bloc between the 1950s and the 1980s, the Bassols Batallas acted independently from party logics, following their family history rooted in the independent socialist traditions of Cardenismo and of the Mexican Revolution. They voluntarily contributed to international circulation of ideas without seeking any leading role in the international associations with which they worked. This case allows for constructing ideas of voluntarism and individual agency as drivers for internationalism and informal diplomacy. Furthermore, although some aspects of their pacifism and feminism might seem outmoded, these scholars and activists fostered ideas of social and cultural struggles across plural axes through transnational, anticolonial, and multilingual engagement that can still inspire critical and decolonial geographies.

Democratic education as a matter of civility: retrieving Arendt’s institutionalism via Balibar

ABSTRACT In this paper, my aim is to reintroduce and reclaim the concept of civility for the ongoing debates on democratic education within the Arendt-inspired philosophy of education. I juxtapose a prominent interpretation related to theories of radical democracy and radical democratic education, referring to Gert Biesta’s work, which amends Arendt’s ideas with insights from Jacques Rancière. Conversely, I explore an alternative construction of what can be considered ‘an Arendtian perspective on democratic education’ coming from another French philosopher, Étienne Balibar. Within this perspective the role of institutions is redeemed, and the primary concern shifts from the political agency of individuals to the conditions that allow the space of politics to be constituted and preserved. The discussion includes an analysis of Marius von Mayenburg’s play ‘Martyr’ to illustrate importance of thinking about education, especially democratic education, as a matter of civility.

We Don’t Have a Health Problem, We Have a Village Problem

Post-industrial societies often lack the social embeddedness that citizens require to fully participate in the civic, environmental, and economic life of their communities. Such an erosion of the social fabric represents a health hazard. Growing awareness, among clinicians and their health allies, of this social malaise and its correlation with poor health outcomes has led to an increased focus on population health and community approaches. It has also given rise to new health programmes aimed at redirecting the emphasis towards socialisation, such as social prescribing, which centres around the referral of patients to community-based activities. The community-building approach advocated here views health as tied to socio-political, economic, and environmental conditions, and while not discounting the value of individual agency, it asserts the need for a collective approach to health creation and the pursuit of social and economic justice for all. Hence, the main argument here is that we do not have a health problem _per se_, but rather a village problem.

An unequal health policy landscape? Examining socioeconomic differences in acceptability and preferences for policies that aim to reduce socioeconomic inequalities in health

BackgroundThis study explores socioeconomic differences in acceptability and preferences for policies that aim to reduce socioeconomic health inequalities. The investigated policies range from structural policies, requiring no individual agency, to...

Regaining focus: Promoting attentional literacy in digital higher education

The attentional demands placed on digital learners have grown, with online and blended education increasingly impacted by hyperconnectivity and digital disarray. In this context, it is essential for educators to help learners develop attentional literacy (AL). Building on past research on AL which fused insights from the fields of digital literacies and contemplative pedagogy (CP), this Delphi study examined the concept of AL and associated practices in higher education. Starting with a working definition of AL, expert feedback was invited from a global panel of experienced CP practitioners across academic disciplines. Through three Delphi rounds, the AL definition was validated and refined, before an abbreviated version was produced to facilitate operationalisation by digital educators who may not have a CP background. The study further explored how AL can be integrated into online higher education curricula, identifying strategies for educators and students to develop AL practices and address barriers to these practices. Despite systemic and structural constraints, cultivating AL allows educators and students to exercise a greater degree of individual and collective agency over their own attention in a digital world. Implications for practice or policy: Students can be guided in developing AL through a series of stages involving awareness and noticing, focus and intentional choice, openness and curiosity, and consideration of the wider attentional ecosystem. Educators should develop their own AL first, approaching it holistically by integrating personal, pedagogical and professional development-related practices, along with complementary offline activities. Institutions can maximise scope for AL development by increasing technological support and, especially, reducing curricular time pressure on educators and students.

Transparent Citizenship: The Racialization of Privacy in Post–World War II Japanese American Fiction

Abstract Written in the wake of the Japanese incarceration and the emergence of new Cold War discourses around race, privacy, and democracy, Hisaye Yamamoto’s and John Okada’s works mark a shift from the specific targeting of Japanese Americans as individuals whose citizenship was contingent upon enforced transparency to the broader suspicion of the more generalized “Oriental” as a figure whose opacity becomes an excuse for racialized surveillance and policing in the name of national security. As formerly interned or imprisoned individuals, Yamamoto’s and Okada’s protagonists begin their stories already understanding the contingency of their right to privacy and the expectations of transparency that attend their reentry into the mainstream of US society. This article argues that Yamamoto’s and Okada’s depictions of this transparent citizenship not only critique the limitations and burdens of proof that it places on racialized (and otherwise minoritized) individuals, but also articulate ways to think differently about citizenship itself. What if US citizenship were understood as a formation that did not fetishize the role of individual agency in the process of self-determination? What if the goal of transparency was not to expose or condemn the individual but to better illuminate the parts that individuals play in the construction of our society, and the complexity of their connections to others? And how might transparent citizenship be reconceptualized to empower, rather than infantilize, citizens vis-à-vis the state, by giving us information we might need to imagine and remake the power dynamics of this relationship?

Rewriting the Future

This food-for-thought paper challenges traditional paradigms and proposes a metamodern framework for redefining the optics on the role of education in society, advocating for a new social contract rooted in shared values, inclusivity, and interdisciplinary collaboration. How can we democratize higher education and empower individuals to navigate the uncertainties of the 21st century? Is moving beyond fragmented knowledge and fostering skills-based education truly beneficial? Moving beyond postmodern fragmentation, metamodernism emphasizes cooperation and holistic development, presenting a blueprint for transforming society by bridging individual agency and collective progress. The Inner Development Goals (IDG) promotes skills-based and humanity-focused leadership that addresses the inner and outer dimensions of sustainable development. This transformative skills-based approach to leadership encourages educators and institutions to embrace complexity and ambiguity, preparing future leaders to leverage inherited chaos for meaningful change. This approach challenges traditional paradigms and calls for a dynamic interplay that aligns with the metamodern ethos.

Dialectic of the Event

This article aims to compare Gert Biesta’s, Hartmut Rosa’s and Thomas Kuhn’s perspectives on how transformative “events” emerge and become possible, and to relate their viewpoints to an educational context. The article shows how Biesta’s concept of subjectification, and Rosa’s idea of resonance, depend on viewing contemporary education as a state of status quo that is disrupted by a transformative event. Although their diagnoses of the contemporary and views on individual agency differ to some extent, Biesta and Rosa respectively place emphasis on the relationship between the subject and the world as the “space” where these events emerge. Subsequently, the article turns to Kuhn to propose another approach to understanding the dialectic of status quo and events. Through Kuhn, it is possible to introduce a more affirmative way of looking at how a state of status quo can underpin events, and how these events take place on a collective level, rather than in encounters between individual subjects and the world.

The Role of Sex and Other Personal Characteristics in the Effects of Symptoms Severity on Self-Care Agency in Individuals with Multiple Sclerosis.

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a chronic, autoimmune disease that attacks the central nervous system. The study was conducted to determine the role of sex and other personal characteristics in the impact of symptom severity on self-care in individuals with MS. The study was cross-sectional and was completed with 200 participants throughout Turkey. The data were collected through random and snowball sampling using the MS-related symptom checklist (MS-RS), the Fatigue Severity Scale (FSS), and the Exercise of Self-Care Agency (ESCA) form. The data obtained were analyzed using the SPSS 21. Statistical significance was evaluated at the level of p<0.05. The mean age of the participants was 37.97±10.6 years. The mean scores were 47.4±22.41 for MS-RS, 4.58±2.2 for FSS, and 94.65±24.76 for ESCA in females. The mean MS-RS score in males was 45±25.89, FSS was 4.33±2.5, and ESCA was 83.43±23.95. There were no significant differences between the sexes except that the ESCA scores were higher in females (p<0.05). According to a multiple linear regression analysis, the duration of diagnosis and sensory subdimension of MS-RS negatively affected the ESCA score in females, and this statistically significant model explained 22.6% of ESCA scores. The study found that both sexes had clinically significant fatigue, mildly severe symptoms, and moderate self-care agency. While being a female positively affected self-care agency, disease duration, and sensory symptoms negatively affected females' self-care agency.

“It's Enriched My Life.” Agency in the Digital World: Stories of Empowerment and Well‐Being

ABSTRACTDigital inclusion interventions are designed to address challenges related to digital technology access and use. The complex relationships between digital technologies and people's general well‐being are important when considering the development of digital services, practices, policies, and interventions. This research explores the impact of digital inclusion on individual agency and provides evidence of how agency emerges from the use of digital technologies to contribute to well‐being. We present a framework of Digital Inclusion for Well‐being drawing on evidence from interviews with participants of three digital inclusion interventions in Aotearoa New Zealand. While recognizing that digital inclusion is a continuum and that some of our research participants were more digitally engaged that others, we propose a preliminary framework of digital inclusion connecting our participants' digital engagement with outcomes impacting their agency, and thus their well‐being.

A.S. Madsen's Danish Translation of the Qur'an and the Ahmadiyya Mission in Scandinavia

This article discusses the publication history and different functions of the first complete translation of the Qur'an into the Danish language. First introduced in 1960 but published in its final form in 1967, Abdus Salam (Svend Åge) Madsen's (1928–2007) translation is also the first Scandinavian translation of the Qur'an with an explicit commitment to the Qur'anic truth claims and message. Embedded in the institutional and doctrinal framework of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Jama’at (AMJ), Madsen intended this translation to be instrumental to the Islamic, and in particular the Ahmadi, missionary program in Europe, in which converts such as himself had taken on important roles from the 1930s onwards. Madsen took inspiration from a number of sources, but he also exercised individual interpretative agency both in the inscribed interpretation in the translated text and in the discursive interpretation in his commentary, and his translation has been of major significance in the history of Scandinavian translations embedded in the AMJ, as well as the Scandinavian history of Qur'an translation in general.

Legal personhood and care for elderly parents in Indonesia

In one of her last articles, K. von Benda-Beckmann explores the notion of embeddedness of persons in their social world and how this relates to their duty of care (2021). She found that there may be different degrees of embeddedness; that some people are not only bounded to their social relations and environment, but also that their selves extended to include their social world. She suggested a differentiated analysis that could account for these differences and expects this to benefit in understanding care relations and, on a practical front, to offer unexpected strategies in dealing with injuries. This paper continues this framework by looking into legal pluralism and the relinquishing of legal personhood of elderly parents across different levels of social organizations, from the decision-making within families and into the courtrooms. What are the reasons for- and how are individuals being declared as no longer having agency or legal personhood (legal competency)? How does this relate to extending proper care to family members and (or in opposition to) others? And in more abstract terms, how is law translated from cognitive conception to become institutionalized or systematized? Through an analysis of court decisions and interviews, this paper demonstrates the relationship between social security and dependency. It studies the complex ways in which individual and collective human agency relates to social security structures and institutions.

Exploring Public, Practitioner and Policymaker Perspectives of Unhealthy Lifestyle Factors in the Context of Socioeconomic Deprivation: A Qualitative Study.

Unhealthy lifestyle factors, such as smoking, high alcohol intake, poor diet and physical inactivity, are key risk factors for premature mortality. How unhealthy lifestyle factors are viewed in the wider context of socioeconomic deprivation is rarely considered. Understanding key stakeholder views on lifestyle factors in the context of deprivation is critical to intervention development and reducing harm in more deprived populations. The aim of this study was to explore public, healthcare professional and policymaker views around unhealthy lifestyle factors in the context of deprivation. The aim was broad to facilitate iterative development of ideas, as the views of this wide range of stakeholders are rarely captured. Twenty-five adult members of the public in Scotland took part in four focus groups between August 2022 and June 2023. Eighteen semi-structured interviews were conducted with professionals: 12 primary-care practitioners and 6 public-health practitioners and policymakers. Reflexive thematic analysis was undertaken. Four main themes were developed: (1) Evolving complexity of lifestyle factors - the number of lifestyle factors that adversely impact health has grown, with increasingly complex interactions, (2) Social determinants of lifestyle - numerous links were made between socioeconomic conditions and unhealthy lifestyle factors by all participants, (3) Poverty as a fundamental social determinant - poverty was identified as a core factor for unhealthy lifestyle factors, and (4) Agency versus structure in relation to lifestyle - individual agency to address lifestyle factors was limited by structural constraints. Among professionals, understanding the challenging social determinants of unhealthy lifestyle factors was countered by a desire to support healthy change in those affected by deprivation. Public and professional views around lifestyle highlight an evolving understanding of the new and growing number of lifestyle factors as well as the increasingly complex interplay between lifestyle factors. Views of the social determinants of lifestyle and structural limits to agency strengthen arguments for reduced emphasis on individual-level responsibility for unhealthy lifestyle factors and for deeper integration of social determinants into lifestyle interventions. In addition to addressing poverty and socioeconomic inequalities directly, innovative policy, planning and legislation that incorporate wider approaches could tackle upstream determinants of numerous unhealthy lifestyle factors simultaneously. Members of the public who participated in this study have made contributions by sharing their views and perspectives. The National Health Service Research Scotland Primary Care Patient and Public Involvement (NRS PPI) Group contributed to the development of this work. The NRS PPI Group was consulted as part of the preparatory work for H. M. E. F.'s doctoral thesis funding application. The findings of the qualitative work were presented to them, and they informed the interpretation of those findings and related work presented at conferences and public engagement events.

Fighting Smart: Living Systems Theory in the US Army's Strategic Thought

This article analyzes the relationship between living systems theory (LST) and the army's military doctrine in the 1980s. General Donn Starry, Colonel Mike Malone, and Major James Cary worked with James G. Miller, the founder of LST, to make the army more efficient at fighting a Soviet invasion of Western Europe. LST conceptualized that living organisms organized matter and energy and that its components could function because they worked as a part of the whole to adapt to their environment. The article reveals how these officers employed LST as a framework to model a reciprocal relationship between individual agency and collective unity in the army's hierarchical organization. Situating this doctrinal reform in the years after the end of the draft and the mainstreaming of neoclassical economics in the 1980s, it finds that the army officers were using LST to replace Robert McNamara's mechanical strategic paradigm used in the Vietnam War.

An Analysis of Indonesian Islamic Higher Education Institutions in the Era of Globalization

This study aims to explore how globalization and religious conservatism shape institutional and individual identities within Indonesian Islamic Higher Education Institutions (IHEIs). Data were collected through in-depth semi-structured interviews with 30 experienced scholars, selected using purposive sampling from various IHEIs across Indonesia. The study found that globalization is perceived as a double-edged sword, offering opportunities for knowledge expansion and intercultural dialogue while also raising concerns about the erosion of cultural and religious identity. Religious conservatism manifested in a spectrum of responses, from traditionalist interpretations of Islam to advocacy for progressive and inclusive approaches. Participants’ responses varied, demonstrating IHEI agency in adapting curricula to integrate modern subjects while safeguarding Islamic principles. The study also highlighted individual agency within IHEIs, where scholars navigate personal beliefs and institutional expectations, advocating for social change within the boundaries of cultural and religious norms. However, this agency is often constrained by institutional structures and societal pressures. These findings underscored the need for context-specific policies that acknowledge diversity within IHEIs and empower both institutions and individuals to navigate the complexities of globalization and religious conservatism while preserving their unique identities.

From liberation to rights: the organized men’s movement in Norway, 1978–1980

ABSTRACT This research article investigates the historical and organizational dynamics of the Norwegian Men’s Liberation Movement, contrasting it with similar men’s movements in Western contexts. Emerging in the 1970s, men’s liberation movements in the United States and other Western countries initially sought to address male roles through feminist-inspired critiques but evolved into platforms expressing male grievances, leading to the rise of men’s rights activism. The study focuses on Norway’s ‘Mannebevegelsen’, which, unlike its counterparts, did not transition into a typical men’s rights agenda but was influenced by a specific demographic – fathers without custody – shaping its objectives and leading to its structural and ideological fragility. This shift underscores the significance of organizational structure in influencing the trajectory and longevity of men’s movements. Utilizing social movement theory and a detailed examination of the Norwegian context, this paper explores why the movement diverged from similar movements in Sweden and Denmark, and why the Norwegian experiment proved relatively short-lived. The findings highlight how different factors, beyond ideological shifts, such as individual agency and backing from ‘agency-laden institutions’, critically shape the evolution of men’s movements.

Opening the Metaverse: The Next Frontier in Sport and Leisure

The metaverse is at the forefront of digital innovations transforming sport and leisure. The metaverse, a shared digital environment accessible via the Internet, currently operates as separate entities, challenging the promise of an integrated space. This highlights a critical dilemma—the need to balance centralized control with individual agency. The purpose of this article is to examine the metaverse’s development at the intersection of technological innovation and user interaction. Guided by a uses and gratifications perspective, we underscore the critical role of collaboration between firms shaping the metaverse and the individuals enhancing it. Despite centralization challenges, maintaining a balance between firm-led initiatives and user contributions is instrumental for an interactive metaverse. Addressing this tension will help shape whether the metaverse evolves into a shared space or remains constrained by centralized control. Overall, the metaverse is poised to impact sport and leisure, making it a crucial area for exploration and development.

Peer-led self-advocacy for people with intellectual disability through the lens of “freedom through encounter”

ABSTRACT Background A peer-led self-advocacy group, Our Voice SA, is used as a case study to explore how the social engagement of people with intellectual disability contributed to their self-advocacy about things that are important to them. Method Secondary analyses of data (interviews, observations and program data) were thematically analysed using Clifford Simplican’s analytical lens of “freedom through encounter”. Results Social engagement encounters in peer-led self-advocacy led to individual and group agency for freedom. The findings explore becoming known, seen, and heard; freedom to express what matters; and unfreedom: silencing self-advocacy. Conclusion A “freedom through encounter” lens is a useful perspective on how people navigate social inclusion to participate and challenge expectations. Allies were critical for overcoming structural, interdependent barriers, and supporting capacity for leadership and rights awareness that helped elevate the confidence and skills of people with intellectual disability to speak up.

“Guiding University Students towards Sustainability”: A Training to Enhance Sustainable Careers, Foster a Sense of Community, and Promote Sustainable Behaviors

Professional development involves facing numerous challenges. It is a complex process, susceptible to personal aspects (e.g., health, happiness, productivity), but also contextual aspects (e.g., recognition of the complexity and unpredictability of the labor market, and of the need to have a positive impact on the community). The life design paradigm views individuals as active agents in their career construction. Although this approach strongly emphasizes individual agency, it also underscores the importance of addressing broader issues related to sustainability. Indeed, career counselling can stimulate actions that favor sustainable development, benefiting society and enhancing the well-being of all people. To this end, we developed a training to stimulate reflections on sustainable careers, sense of community, and sustainable behavior. The study involved 44 university students divided into an experimental (n = 22) and a control group (n = 22). The first group participated in 16 online activities, interspersed with three in-person meetings. After the training, the experimental group exhibited improvements in sustainable careers, sense of community, self-efficacy in implementing sustainable behavior, and the perceived importance of promoting sustainability. These findings suggest that career counselling activities can significantly increase the personal resources of university students, equipping them to contribute to society and promote a sustainable world.