Do I have Agency?

This question makes me think of estate agents, travel agents or even secret agents: i.e. an agent is someone who performs a service for you.
But the word “agency” has been used increasingly by politicians and the media in a related but different sense: the power to get things done. A previous the buzz word was “empowerment”. As in, “staff must be empowered”. I fear that in commerce this concept has gone out of the window, as we live in a brave new digital world where most workers are closely observed, monitored and measured at all times. They must keep to the rules and tick the boxes. If they feel “empowered”, they may step out of line and get fired.
Although there is talk of people having “agency”, it has become ever more difficult for many to get things done. A recent survey has shown that the British people feel disempowered: i.e. lack agency. Try as hard as you can, it can be difficult to make any progress. Hurdles everywhere.
Many are frustrated by politics, feeling that their voices are not heard and that political promises are not kept. Some back-bench MPs may feel the same.
Try phoning the GP surgery and you are told that you are number 14 in a queue. Even then you may not get to see a GP, but have to await a call back from a triage nurse at some time in the future.
Phone calls to banks or other commercial companies usually start with spiel about the wonders of their website and of their data protection policy. You then have to tell a robot what you want, and often it does not understand and keeps telling you what your balance is. If you’re lucky, you get to talk to human.
Payment at car parks can cause stress. In some of them you can only pay with a special app on a smart phone. I have seen queues of people trying to work out how to download the wretched app. If you don’t have a smart phone, you may decide to go home or visit a different town where you can use cash or card.
If you are skilled in using a computer or smart phone, the whole wide world opens up to you. Surely than you have agency, but beware: crafty algorithms can sell you things you don’t need, take you to places where good folk should not go, or give you an echo chamber to magnify your prejudices. This is agency, but not as we know it. This most powerful agency is held by the big corporates.

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