Room for Maneuver, Capacity, and Potency to Act: Rethinking the Notion of Agency

Abstract:

This article aims to theoretically discuss the concept of agency, as we understand it, in the sense of a capacity to act or room for maneuver. A historical notion in theories inspired by feminist movements, it has recently gained significant notoriety in the field of gender and sexuality studies. In close dialogue with performativity, a new theory of the capacity to act has made it possible to think of ways to construct oneself as a subject by overcoming the dichotomies between domination and resistance. In this view, a construction of the self is privileged in the hybrid of subjection, adaptation, and freedom, where norms are not only contested but also incorporated.

Keywords:
Agency; Feminist Theory; Gender Studies; Performativity; Subjectivity