Fluid agency in relation to algorithms: Tensions, mediations, and transversalities

Abstract

This paper argues for a fluid approach to the study of agency in relation to algorithms, one that promotes crossing the boundaries of established analytical positions and breaking away from dualistic forms to frame its study. Building on various intellectual traditions, we develop three sensibilities for implementing such an approach: (a) working with tensions as an alternative to thinking about algorithmic power and human agency as an either/or binary; (b) examining mediations to reverse the tendency to treat algorithms as an ahistorical and universal force; and (c) exploring transversalities to navigate the spaces that emerge between various temporalities and levels of analysis. To make our case, we examine a crucial tension in the study of agency and algorithms, namely how scholars have either attributed power to algorithms or agency to users of algorithmic systems. The conclusion situates our argument for fluidity within larger historical debates in the study of technological power and human agency.

Domesticación mutua

“…En segundo lugar, a través de la noción de domesticación mutua también busco abrir un espacio para teorizar la agencia de formas más fluidas de lo que ha sido la norma hasta ahora. El concepto de fluidez hace hincapié en ideas de movimiento, convergencia, inestabilidad, coexistencia, fricción y cambio, en contraposición a polos sólidos opuestos o estados definitivos (Siles et al, 2023a). La fluidez, como lo expresan Linstead y Brewis (2004, p. 355), denota movimiento no inhibido o potencial dentro del espacio entre categorías dualísticas que sustentan polos opuestos.…”