Collective Agency and Ecological Relationships

This presentation is divided into two parts. In the first, the author introduces Collective Agency Theory and the Layered Model of Agency (Mendoza-Collazos, 2025) as a tool for studying the normativity of agents and promoting systemic structural changes through the arts and design. In the second part, the author presents his work with vulnerable communities, formulating the idea of the ecology of relationships as an alternative to approaches that deny or underestimate human agency (Mendoza-Collazos, 2022). This talk was organized by Peace and Mobilities and presented at the University of Bielefeld (Germany) on April 28, 2026. References Mendoza-Collazos, Juan. 2025. «Agencia Colectiva: Una Capacidad Aumentada de Acción Conjunta». En Miradas Múltiples de la Semiótica Latinoamericana, editado por Neyla Pardo y Baal Delupi, 299–322. Centro de Estudios Avanzados. Córdoba, Argentina: Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. ISBN 978-631-91259-3-1 | English version also available here: https://doi.org/10.31235/osf.io/2jxue_v2 Mendoza-Collazos, Juan. 2022. Agency and artefacts: A cognitive semiotic exploration of design. Lund: Lund University. ISBN 978-91-89415-51-5.