Political activism and deferred agency.
Item
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Title
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Political activism and deferred agency.
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Identifier
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AAI3284485
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identifier
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3284485
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Creator
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Sukhov, Michael J.
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Contributor
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Adviser: Stanley Aronowitz
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Date
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2007
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Language
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English
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Publisher
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City University of New York.
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Subject
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Sociology, General | Sociology, Theory and Methods | Political Science, General | Sociology, Individual and Family Studies
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Abstract
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This dissertation explores the apparent discrepancy between concern and political action as an instance of what I refer to as deferred agency , by which I mean the separation of the perception of a problem from the recognition of it as an occasion for self-organized action. I examine the deferral of agency through the theoretical prism of the work of Jurgen Habermas, comparing and contrasting his approach with that of social movement theory, postmodernism, and ethnomethodology. I explore this apparent discrepancy through the analysis of the data provided by nine in-depth interviews, using the analysis of one interview as a template to compare and contrast the other eight respondents' accounts of the relationship between their concerns about global issues and their responses to them. My analysis suggests that significant factors influencing the deferral of agency in situations of potential action may include the individual's development of the capacity for independent moral judgment; the tendency to delay or defer decisions about whether to engage in political action under the complex, often uncertain conditions of modern life; the extent to which an individual's orientation towards such situations is characterized by existential or expressive, as opposed to goal-oriented (or instrumentally-rational) value commitments; the existence of a personal connection with others who already are involved in efforts to address the problems the individual is concerned about; and the individual's biographical availability for involvement in such issues. Through a detailed analysis of the accounts which my respondents give of their decision-making processes with regard to situations of potential action, I explore the extent to which behavior that often appears to be non-rational behavior on the part of individual social actors can, under some interpretations of what actors say and do, be understood as rational. What makes that behavior rational is that, in terms of most of the data analyzed here, my respondents' exercise of political agency is not absent, but rather deferred; that is, my respondents appear to be no less "active" than those who already are participating in social movement organizations or activities, and thus already are committed to a particular mode of political involvement.
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Type
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dissertation
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Source
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PQT Legacy CUNY.xlsx
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degree
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Ph.D.
