The “Relational Turn” of Agency and Autonomy and Its Associated Issues

Abstract

The conception of relational autonomy assumes a agent embedded in social relationships and environments and has been proposed as an alternative to the traditional individualistic conception of autonomy. In recent years this conception has attracted much attention in the social context of the rapid development of science and technology. Herein, I consider the changes in the view on agency and autonomy and the transformation of the social environment that surrounds them as a “relational turn” and examine its implications for social policy as well as some problems that ensue. The conception of relational autonomy provides the positive significance of supporting autonomy to the influence of the new social environment on the agent, while simultaneously stimulating debate on external intervention. The “relational turn” of agency and autonomy promotes the interpenetration of agent and environment, thus the distinction between the two, which modern society has assumed, is increasingly losing its relevance. Now social policy needs to be reconfigured from this perspective.