NSAs Annual Lecture in Social Theory: Isaac A. Reed – “Three theories of agency and the question of modernity”

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 –
and it has culminated in a research program that has influenced new developments in
historical sociology.

You may find a fresh chapter by Reed on Rector-Actor-Other theory here:
https://static1.squarespace.com/static/63121a875059630b567efb8b/t/67114a161eaf2174697
e890b/1729186326448/Reed-Theorizing-Agency-Relations.pdf

Omar Lizardo states in his review of Reeds latest book from 2020 for the American Journal
of Cultural Sociology, that “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 previous the Chair of the Theory section of the American
Sociological Association.

Programme:
Introduction: Mette Andersson, Vice-Chair, Norwegian Sociological Association (University
of Oslo)
Comment by Bjørn Schiermer (University of Oslo). Bjørn teaches social theory at UiO, and
has written extensively on the topic, for instance the chapter “Durkheim, Tarde, Latour.” In
Joas, Hans (Eds.), The Oxford Handbook of Émile Durkheim (2024) and through editing the
book Ny kulturteori (2019). Currently, he researches how collective contexts influence
creative action in different cultural fields.