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The Evolution of Agency: Spectra of Bioagency and Cyberagency 

Author: Kenneth R. Fleischmann a
Affiliation:   a College of Information Studies, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland, USA
DOI: 10.1080/01972240701572897
Publication Frequency: 5 issues per year
Published in: journal The Information Society, Volume 23, Issue 5 October 2007 , pages 361 - 371
Formats available: HTML (English) : PDF (English)
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Abstract

This article examines nonhuman agency, or the capacity of nonhumans to carry out goal-directed action. The central argument is that agency should be conceptualized not as a binary (someone/something does or does not have agency) but rather as a spectrum, with degrees of agency. Based upon an empirical study of the design and use of frog dissection simulations (cyberfrogs) in high school biology classes, the author develops two parallel spectra of agency, bioagency and cyberagency, to describe the degrees of agency experienced by biological life forms and technologies. These spectra put agency into an evolutionary perspective, comparing how humans evolved agency over time to how technologies are now evolving agency. The article concludes with challenges for future research to further explore the validity and implications of a notion of cyberagency that evolves over time, can be represented on an analog spectrum, and is independent of human agency.
Keywords: actor-network theory; boundary objects; educational software; information technology; nonhuman agency; social worlds; technological agency
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