Personally i believe that life in general, and humans in particular, can posses agency if not particularly free will. It seems like a lot of discussion in this thread is grounded in philosophy and basic principles of the West, which is sort of a uni-linear approach.
more inclined toward a holistic understanding of the human experience (undergraduate anthropologist), i tend to think of the way information is distributed and culture is shared. certainly living creatures are able to have an effect on the environment and i'd say that life, by virtue of existing, is evidence of living agency.
jesus. hard to formulate my thoughts on this without writing a fucking giant paper. determinism is a hotly debated subject in the discipline on a cross-cultural scale. either way i think that personal experience and participant observation with different people is more beneficial to an understanding of the free will vs fate argument as opposed to the armchairish philosophising based on rich greek dudes with too much time on their hands. especially in more regimented societies
