ABSTRACT
This discussion of agency forges a relationship between the individual person (the ultimate vector of agency) and the evolving story in which that person is embedded. This kind of agency is typically construed as bottom-up social activism. The argument is made, however, that citizen-led agency is necessary but not sufficient to transform the incumbent metanarrative; that an elite vanguard for change is called for to complement the bottom-up work of practical people to achieve planetary sustainability. The chapter closes with an examination of optimism and hope, concluding that Havel’s conception of hope as ‘making sense’ of a given situation is the most useful posture to adopt with respect to the environmental problem.
