Material Agency

Abstract

Material agency denotes the possibility that things can act. The defining criterion for such agency has varied between theoretical strands, but generally entails the notion that material objects have an effect on the course of action that is irreducible to direct human intervention. The concept of material agency is part of the “material turn” that puts objects in the picture of the humanities and social sciences as more than simply passive instruments or empty shells for social symbols and meanings. It contributes to a broader challenging of the boundaries between ontological categories such as nature and culture, and opens new opportunities for collaboration between scientific and interpretive archaeologies.