Butler, Judith. Subjects of Desire. New York: Columbia UP, 1987. Print.
Work that exemplifies human being as transcending the natural and which occasions the recognition of the Other is termed historical action. As the efficacious transformation of biological or natural givens, historical action is the mode through which the world of substance is recast as the world of the subject.
Confronting the natural world, the historical agent takes it up, marks it with the signature of consciousness and sets it forth in the social world to be seen. This process is evident in the creation of a material work, in the linguistic expression of a reality, in the opening up of dialogue with other human beings: historical action is possible within the spheres of interaction and production alike. 68