The notion of relational agency derives from relational accounts of autonomy. According to feminist critiques, traditional accounts of autonomy are overly individualistic, insofar as they overlook or neglect the importance of interpersonal relationships in the development and sustenance of an autonomous individual. As Westlund (2009) points out, however, most traditional accounts are compatible with the feminist emphasis on interpersonal relationships as long as relationships and dependence on others are construed as being causally necessary for the development and sustenance of an individual agent. Autonomy is genuinely relational only if interpersonal relationships and dependence are constitutive of autonomy. On Westlund’s own view, autonomous agency requires an “irreducibly dialogical form of reflectiveness and responsiveness to others” (2009: 28). On this account, autonomy is an irreducibly relational kind of agency. (For more on this see the entry on feminist perspectives on autonomy.)