Toward an Agentic Approach to Activist Learning: The Interplay Between Agency and Learning in the Narrative of Polish Activist

Abstract

This article develops an agentic approach to activist learning and analyzes the interplay between agency and learning. The agentic approach derives from Alheit’s concept of biographical learning and Emirbayer and Mische’s concept of agency. The article builds on the case study of an activist’s narrative to show that the development of agency is not a linear process, and that no single unilateral relation was discernible between learning and agency. The interrelations between agency and learning are analyzed in the context of temporality, causation, and agentic dimensions. The article suggests a cycle of learning, action, and agency in activism as a framework for the study of activists learning.