The Forgotten Dreams of History-from-Below.

This article examines the evolving scholarly concept of "agency," particularly in social history and history-from-below, tracing its origins in mid-20th-century anticolonial thought and its later critiques, notably Walter Johnson's 2003 essay "On Agency." It highlights how early uses of agency challenged liberal, individuated notions of selfhood and sought a reciprocal relationship between past and present to empower marginalized groups, while later academic applications often reinforced liberal frameworks, limiting political impact. The article underscores the importance of recovering alternative subjectivities and collective forms of agency, especially in light of ongoing planetary crises and the limitations of Enlightenment-derived historical models. It concludes that while academic scholarship may not achieve broad political transformation alone, it remains valuable for fostering internal reflection and expanding understandings of agency beyond dominant paradigms.