Introduction | Will Work: New Anthropological Perspectives on Human Volition

ABSTRACT

This special issue aims to deepen and diversify anthropological explorations of human volition. While volition is a central theme in philosophy and theology, its anthropological dimensions are less explored. This edited collection seeks to reposition human volition as a pivotal element of anthropological inquiry. The investigation extends into the realms of ethics/morality, freedom, and experience, opening new avenues for research. Comprising four anthropological studies, we explore volition across varied ethnographic settings, providing a rich backdrop for examining how volition is differently conceptualised, exercised, and contested. This issue introduces a conceptual framework, which offers a new lens to understand the heterogeneity and dynamics of volition, emphasising the balance between personal interiorities and sociocultural exteriorities, and between universalist humanism and cultural relativism. By offering fresh insights into human volition, we contribute to ongoing dialogues in anthropology about human agency and the complex interplay of cultural and social influences on willing.

KEYWORDS:

• Agency
• experience
• freedom
• morality
• volition
• will

Acknowledgements

We would like to acknowledge our appreciation of Nigel Rapport and C. Jason Throop for delivering the two inspiring keynotes at a workshop at the University of Copenhagen in 2015 that helped lifting this collection off the ground. Special thanks are due to Julia Cassaniti for stopping over in Copenhagen to share her generous comments on an earlier version of this introduction. We are also heavily indebted to Ethnos co-editors-in-chief Nils Bubandt and Mark Graham, along with the anonymous reviewers, who provided valuable constructive criticism and new perspectives to this introduction.

Disclosure Statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).