Lyubov Vetoshkina
University of Helsinki
Research supervisors: Dr Annalisa Sannino, Dr Yrjo Engestrom
One of the basic issues, which I am struggling in my research, is one that can be called “Agency and subjectness”. This problem is represented in different aspects which I will try to describe with two questions.
Do agency and subjectness represent the same phenomenon? Agency is an English term, subjectness субъектность) is Russian, they cannot be translated to another language straight. Anyway, they represent slightly same phenomenon from the first glance, but they were developed in different scientific traditions and in different countries. But do they? Are they the same and they can be just a substitute for one another? Are they just similar and can be complementary to each other?
What are the tools to trace subjectness in qualitative research? With the agency for me it is understandable, but with subjectness not. For me, subjectness can be studied within qualitative, phenomenological research, not with the use of standardized test. But the empirical studies of subjectness (which I have found) are mostly based on standardized tests or questionnaires, but the features of subjectness that these tests are studying are vaguely determined. So, for me it would be crucial to find theoretically based tools and methods to trace subjectness in empirical qualitative research.
Presentation “Subjectness and the revitalization of a traditional craft: activity-theoretical analysis of wooden ship and boat building”
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