Local Agency: A Theoretical and Empirical Approach on the Example of Warsaw Cover Image

Podmiotowość lokalna: ujęcie teoretyczne i empiryczne na przykładzie Warszawy
Local Agency: A Theoretical and Empirical Approach on the Example of Warsaw

Author(s): Katarzyna Górniak, Barbara Lewenstein
Subject(s): Human Geography
Published by: EUROREG - Uniwersytet Warszawski, Regional Studies Association - Sekcja Polska
Keywords: Local community; Agency; Local activity; Local development

Summary/Abstract: This article analyzes local agency as a category describing the relationship between individuals and their local community. Agency is conceptualized as a two-dimensional phenomenon, encompassing a subjective sense of agency, responsibility, and the ability to influence one’s immediate (referred to in the sociological literature as the sense of agency), and a behavioral dimension, expressed in residents’ actual engagement in activities aimed at changing or maintaining the local social order. The article focuses on the interrelationships between these two dimensions of agency and on the socioeconomic determinants of its behavioral dimension. The text highlights the interconnections between local agency and social capital and their importance for local development. The empirical basis of the study is a representative sample of 1,000 Warsaw residents representing a metropolitan local community characterized by high heterogeneity and weakened social ties.

  • Issue Year: 24/2026
  • Issue No: 103
  • Page Range: 93-108
  • Page Count: 16
  • Language: English, Polish
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