Building on the book Power in Modernity (2020) Isaac A. Reed will elaborate on his definition of agency as “the ability to send an agent into the world, and bind said agent to act on behalf of the sender”, and his three concepts of actor, rector and other. Reed theorizes in dialogue with Jean Paul Sartre, Simone de Beauvoir, Edward Said and Julia Adams amongst others. His theorization has culminated in a research program that has particularly influenced historical sociology.
According to Omar Lizardo in his review of Reeds latest book from 2020 for the American Journal of Cultural Sociology: “Isaac Reed’s Power in Modernity is perhaps the most important social theory book published in a generation”
Isaac Reed is currently Professor of Political and Social Thought and Professor of Sociology at the University of Virginia. He was the previous Chair of the Theory section of the American Sociological Association.
Introduction: Mette Andersson, Vice-Chair, Norwegian Sociological Association (University of Oslo)
Comment by Bjørn Schiermer (University of Oslo). Bjørn teaches social theory at the University of Oslo and has written extensively on the topic. His most recent work is “Durkheim, Tarde, Latour.” In Joas, Hans (Eds.), The Oxford Handbook of Émile Durkheim (2024). He has also edited the book Ny kulturteori (2019). Currently, he researches how collective contexts influence creative action in different cultural fields.
Light refreshments, including coffee and fruit, will be available at the lecture.