Item Detail
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26966
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0
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5
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English
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Reconceptualizing Agency
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Element : A Journal of Mormon Philosophy and Theology
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Fall 2009
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5
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2
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Orem, UT
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The Society for Mormon Philosophy and Theology
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69-85
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In order to work through some of the problematics of the feminist theoretical category of agency when applied to the lives of traditional religious women, I conducted an ethnographic study of American women in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. If one of the purposes of ethnography is to demonstrate how theory either holds up or crumbles when placed next to the actions of humans, then my rationale for engaging the feminist theoretical idea of agency is that, thus far, theories of agency based solely on resistance are woefully inadequate to address the behaviors of the women I worked with. Latter-day Saint women offer an interesting framework in which to examine agency because they adhere to an unapologetically patriarchal religion and they use the category as an indigenous concept, although there are some key differences between the LDS view of agency and the way in which the term is generally used in feminist writings. This does not mean that the feminist theoretical category of agency must "match" the LDS definition of agency in order to be useful, but it must at least be able to adequately describe their actions, including religious practices. Since a majority of traditional women's behaviors are grounded in sustaining, not resisting, religious prescriptions, the feminist theoretical use of agency needs to be reconceptualized. [Author's abstract]
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By the Hand of Mormon : The American Scripture that Launched a New World Religion
Contemporary Mormonism : Social Science Perspectives
Divine Revelations/Delusions Revealed : Historical Understandings of Revelation in Debates Over Mormonism
Promises Made to the Fathers : Mormon Covenant Organization
Women and Authority : Re-emerging Mormon Feminism