Models of Agency in the Social Sciences: A study on the Possibility of the Social Human as an Independent Agent Model for Explaining Social Phenomena (Homo Sociologicus)

Abstract

The relationship between the individual and the social structure represent one of the most significant theoretical issues in sociology. Sociological interpretations of social phenomena have historically been divided into two principal orientations: one of them is that emphasizes social structures and institutions as the primary determinants of individual behaviour, and another that stresses the role of the social actor and his or her capacity for initiative and influence in shaping social reality. Within the context, the present study addresses the argument that the human being should not be viewed merely as a passive element subjected to social structures or external conditions. Rather, the individual can be understood as a social actor who possesses the capacity to influence society and interpret social phenomena through their actions and decisions. Individuals within society possess s degree of awareness and agency that enables them to adopt attitudes and behaviours that contribute to shaping social reality or to its transformation. From this perspective, social phenomena cannot be fully understood solely through large-scale social laws or structures such as the economic or political systems, instead of, it also necessary to consider the role of individuals as relatively autonomous social actors who participate, through their interactions and everyday practise, in the production of these phenomena. The social individual interprets events and interacts with them on the basis of personal values, experience, and interactions with others. This perspective also highlights the importance of social actions and interpersonal interaction in the constructions of social meanings through which individuals seeks to achieve specific goals within society. Accordingly, viewing the social human being as an independent active model contributes to a deeper understanding of social phenomena. As it highlights the role of the individual in shaping society and demonstrates that social reality is the product of a continuous interactions between individuals and the social structures to which they belong.

On this basis, the present research seeks to examine the possibility of conceptualizing the social human being as an independent active model in the interpretation of social phenomena. This will be accomplished through an analysis of the prominent sociological approaches that the addressed the nature of the relationship between the social actor and the social structure. The study also aims to explore the limits of individual autonomy within society and to identify the nature of the role that individuals can play in understanding and interpreting various social phenomena.

Furthermore, the research seeks to demonstrate that the interpretation of social phenomena cannot rely on a single-dimensional perspective that focuses exclusively either on the individual or on society as a total structure. Rather, it requires the adoption of a comprehensive analytical approach that considers the dynamic and continuous interactions between individuals and the social structures within which they operate.

In this sense, the present study forms part of broader scholarly efforts aimed at deepening the theoretical understanding of the dialectical relationship between the individual and society, while highlighting the role of the human being as a conscious social actor in the production of social reality and in the interpretation of the phenomena that emerge within its context.