Theory and language: locating agency between free will and discursive marionettes

Abstract

This article outlines a research methodology that embraces individual narratives, yet recognizes that individual narratives are nested within a backdrop of broader social and cultural understandings of who we are and how we come to understand our world. This dialectical move requires an epistemological shift, focusing on the utility of reconceptualizing the 'environment', not only as the social, political, or economic conditions in society, but also as language. Reconceptualizing the environment as language makes it epistemologically possible to construct a bridge between varying levels of analysis, namely, between individual accounts and life stories and the cultural, social, and historical worlds from which those accounts emerge.

Situating occupation in social relations of power: Occupational possibilities, ageism and the retirement 'choice'

“…This is a key theoretical, and methodological, challenge facing occupational scientists and therapists committed to transforming socio-political practices, systems and structures. As well, it is acknowledged that findings of critical narrative work are contextually specific, but that the insights regarding how power operates via discursive means have analytical utility beyond the context in which a particular study is conducted 44 .…”

“…While not deterministic, the identities and occupations promoted through dominant discourses progressively come to be viewed as normal, natural, ethical, and ideal, thereby bounding identity and occupational possibilities 33,43 . The basic underlying assumption being made about the inter-relationship of discourses and narratives is that the narratives people tell are bounded within the broader discourses to which they have access within a specific social, historical and political context 43,44 . Given that individuals are exposed to a multiplicity of discourses and actively negotiate these within everyday life, narratives provide a means to study the 'in between', that is, how individuals' choices are situated within structural features that enact power by setting boundaries and possibilities, while also acknowledging that individuals actively negotiate their occupations with varying power and resources to do so 43,44 .…”

“…According to Hardin 44 , this requires reading between the language of personal narratives and broader discourses to move between individual and sociocultural levels. As well, given the multiplicity of discourses individuals may negotiate, for example, in relation to age, gender, social class and other social positions, Hardin also suggests that it is necessary, within a particular analysis, to strategically temporarily fix a set of meanings and analyse how these meanings are contextually deployed 44 . Thus, I strategically focused on how subjects positioned themselves in relation to age.…”

Willingness and Its Relevance to Nursing

“…Paradoxically, oppressive organizational contexts can generate emancipative change. 19,20 When suffering can no longer be rationalized, the status quo can no longer be tolerated. At this juncture, an opportunity arises to move beyond complacency and comfort zones.…”

Academic Talk About Dementia Caregiving: A Critical Comment on Language

“…Once assumed to be a neutral representation of observed reality, language is now seen to be a powerful mediator and creator of meanings that are conveyed through both talk and text (Hardin, 2001;Muller & Dzurec, 1993;van Dijk, 1997). In other words, how we write, speak, or communicate in general are both shaped by and shape, in turn, the larger social and political context within which we live our personal and professional lives.…”