ABSTRACT
In this chapter, the author shows what extent case analysis is a useful pathway to trace the possible connections between law, culture and individual preferences. She focuses on socio-legal investigation from the plane of perceptions and representation of the law to that of actions, analysing the stories told by powerless people, such as certain categories of foreigners. In terms of sociological analysis, the concept of agentivity was first elaborated by sociologists and linguists, for the purpose of illustrating how human actions can have an impact on the institutions. It was then further developed by researchers belonging to the school of pragmatism, whose aim was to study language, so as to highlight the performative dimension of language in context. More generally, it can be framed in a socio-constructivist perspective of the study of reality, which considers laypeople’s ability to define the paths taken by their lives and actions, within the bounds of specific limits, both legal and cultural.
