This study aims to determine the relationship between agency and freedom and it has developed a Tri-Modal Theory of Agency that explains an agent’s decisions with a focus on freedom. Here, based on Berlin’s (1958) ideas we have conceptualised positive and negative sides of freedom with a focus on agency. Meanwhile, agency is defined and measured in three following modes: (A) the conative mode is developed based on Sen’s (2007) capability approach, (B) the cognitive mode is conceptualised based on Weber’s (1993) rationality types and Bakhtin’s (1935) dialogism, and (C) the affective mode is developed based on Weiner’s (2010) attribution theory of emotion. A Tri-Modal Theory of Agency is tested and developed in five empirical studies that include 21 in-depth interviews, two surveys on career choice of 1063 employees and a university major selection of 4086 students in Iran, and finally the theory is applied to one case study that explains an entrepreneur’s agency-freedom relationship after a business failure. In summary, the Tri-Modal Theory of Agency establishes that freedom matters but having agency to give up freedom in pursuit of one’s values ought to be the primary aspiration. This study can be exploited in the field of social psychology, appraisal psychology and organisational behaviour to understand an agent’s decisions in a social context with a focus on her freedom.

The aim of this study is to explore the importance of community based social mobilisation strategies in advancing human rights, in particular, strategies that could be used advance exercise of the right to legal capacity for persons with psychosocial disabilities in the face of societal barriers in the African context. The results of the study are aimed at providing useful and practical considerations in addressing the gap that exist in human rights implementation, between the promises of the law and its impact in reality. To this end, secondary desk top data was collected from existing text on the CRPD, mental illness and social mobilisation strategies. The latter was based on an analysis of the mobilisation strategy employed by Tostan in West Africa to successfully challenge female genital mutilation/cutting. Primary data was obtained through focus groups held in Lusaka and at Nsadzu Mental Health Rehabilitation Centre in Chadiza, in rural Zambia. The significance of legal capacity in Zambia was established and three main categories of concern emerged as barriers to the exercise of legal capacity: a) lack of state and community based supports and social networks; b) inadequate training of health and justice system officials; and c) stigma of mental illness and stereotypes. The benefits of social mobilisation in addressing these barriers are manifold, as demonstrated through the Tostan model. / Mini Dissertation (MPhil)--University of Pretoria, 2017. / Centre for Human Rights / MPhil / Unrestricted