Summary
Overview
Key Readings
The relationship of social structure to individual and collective agency has been central to sociology from the outset. It remains so in period in which poststructuralists have challenged the idea of stable social structures and even the usefulness in social science of the concept of structure itself. The historical trajectory of the debate about the respective importance of structure and agency and the relationship between the two provides the narrative context of this collection of articles.
Structure and Agency is a collection of classic and contemporary readings on this central sociological theme. Readings from Marx, Weber and Durkheim are included as well as recent pieces by authorities including Margaret Archer, Pierre Bourdieu and Stuart Hall. These four volumes cover respectively the seminal sources of the structure/agency ...
Editor's Introduction: The Structure/Agency ‘Problem’
The relationship between social structure and agency, both individual and collective, is at the core of sociology and social theory. Arguably, it represents the big issue in defining sociology as a discipline and in shaping its development. Without some consensus on this question it becomes difficult to build an agreed framework of sociological practice and a cumulative and integrated body of knowledge. Accordingly, I will refer as appropriate to ‘the structure/agency problem’.
The issue of whether actions are ‘free’ or ‘determined’ long predates the rise of sociology. Historically, the question was engaged through philosophy and religion. The Reformation became entrenched partly around an irreconcilable split between Catholic belief in free will and Calvinist belief in divine determinism. Sociology has undergone its ...
Table of Contents
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Part 1: Modernity, Sociology and the Structure/Agency Debate
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Seminal Sources: Marx, Weber, and Durkheim
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1. On Class
Karl Marx | Friedrich Engels
1960
Images of Man: The Classic Tradition in Sociological Thinking
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2. Definitions of Sociology and Social Action
Max Weber
1997
Classical Sociological Theory: A Reader
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3. The Conflict between Methodology and Rationalization in the Work of Max Weber
Lars Udèhn
1981
Acta Sociologica
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4. The Social Element of Suicide
Emile Durkheim
1970
Suicide: A Study in Sociology
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American Structural-Functionalism
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5. Parsons's Action-System Requisite Model and Weber's Elective Affinity: A Convergence of Convenience
A. Treviño
2005
Journal of Classical Sociology
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Anthony King
2009
Journal of Classical Sociology
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7. Social Structure and Anomie
Robert Merton
1938
American Sociological Review
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8. The Oversocialized Conception of Man in Modern Sociology
Dennis Wrong
1961
American Sociological Review
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Symbolic Interactionism
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9. The Realization of the Self in the Social Situation
George Mead
1962
Mind, Self, and Society: From the Standpoint of a Social Behaviorist
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Peter Manning
2008
Organization Studies
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Peter Callero
2003
Annual Review of Sociology
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12. Alfred Schutz and the ‘Objectifying Attitude’
Austin Harrington
2000
Sociology
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Alan Dawe
1970
The British Journal of Sociology
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Structuralism, Poststructuralism and the Cultural Turn
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14. Desire and Drive in Researcher Subjectivity: The Broken Mirror of Lacan
Tony Brown
2008
Qualitative Inquiry
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15. The Power of the ‘Imaginary’ in Disciplinary Processes
John Roberts
2005
Organization
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16. Agency: The Internal Split of Structure
Yong Wang
2008
Sociological Forum
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17. Born-Again Functionalism? A Reconsideration of Althusser's Structuralism
Richard Appelbaum
1979
Critical Sociology
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18. Structures, Strategies, and the Habitus
Pierre Bourdieu
1981
Outline of a Theory of Practice
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19. Some Implications of Pierre Bourdieu's Works for a Theory of Social Self-Organization
Christian Fuchs
2003
European Journal of Social Theory
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20. Epistemology and Method: Althusser, Foucault, Derrida
P.L. Brown
1975
Philosophy & Social Criticism
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21. Agency and Change: Re-Evaluating Foucault's Legacy
Raymond Caldwell
2007
Organization
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22. Bourdieu, Critic of Foucault: The Case of Empirical Social Science against Double-Game-Philosophy
Staf Callewaert
2006
Theory, Culture & Society
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Part 2: Critical Theory; Structuration Theory; Critical Realism; and Identity Theory
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Critical Theory: Adorno, Habermas, Marcuse
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23. Reading Bourdieu with Adorno: The Limits of Critical Theory and Reflexive Sociology
Nedim Karakayali
2004
Sociology
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24. Pragmatism and Critical Theory
Larry Ray
2004
European Journal of Social Theory
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25. The Self-Empowered Subject: Habermas, Foucault and Hermeneutic Reflexivity
Hans Kögler
1996
Philosophy & Social Criticism
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Structuration Theory: The Dualism/Duality Debate
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26. Elements of the Theory of Structuration
Anthony Giddens
1984
The Constitution of Society: Outline of the Theory of Structuration
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27. A Theory of Structure: Duality, Agency, and Transformation
William Sewell
1992
American Journal of Sociology
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28. Institutional Responsibility and Hidden Meanings
Rick Iedema
1998
Discourse & Society
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29. Cultural Consumption Analysis: Beyond Structure and Agency
Volker Kirchberg
2007
Cultural Sociology
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30. Social and System Integration: Lockwood, Habermas, Giddens
Nicos Mouzelis
1997
Sociology
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31. Radically Reconstituting the Subject: Social Theory and Human Nature
Mike O'Donnell
2003
Sociology
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Critical Realism
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32. Morphogenesis versus Structuration: On Combining Structure and Action
Margaret Archer
1982
The British Journal of Sociology
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33. The Archers: A Tale of Folk (Final Episode?)
Frédéric Vandenberghe
2005
European Journal of Social Theory
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34. Challenging Dualism: Public Professionalism in ‘Troubled’ Times
Denis Gleeson | David Knights
2006
Sociology
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35. Refusing the Realism–Structuration Divide
Rob Stones
2001
European Journal of Social Theory
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Structure, Self, Agency and Identity
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36. Identity as an Analytic Problem: Who's who in ‘pro-ana’ Websites?
Martyn Hammersley | Peggy Treseder
2007
Qualitative Research
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37. Introduction: Who Needs ‘Identity’?
Stuart Hall
1996
Questions of Cultural Identity
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Alecia Jackson
2004
Qualitative Inquiry
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39. Narrating Human Actions: The Subjective Experience of Agency, Structure, Communion, and Serendipity
Amia Lieblich | Tammar Zilber | Rivka Tuval-Mashiach
2008
Qualitative Inquiry
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40. Contingency, Contestation and Hegemony: The Possibility of a Non-Essentialist Politics for the Left
Eduard Grebe
2009
Philosophy & Social Criticism
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Part 3: Structure/Agency Theories Applied
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Class
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41. Structure, Agency and Marx's Analysis of the Labour Process
Stephen Pratten
1993
Review of Political Economy
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42. With a Little Class: A Critique of Identity Politics
Martha Gimenez
2006
Ethnicities
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43. Violence and Revolutionary Subjectivity: Marx to Žižek
Christopher Finlay
2006
European Journal of Political Theory
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44. The Promising Future of Class Analysis: A Response to Recent Critiques
John Goldthorpe | Gordon Marshall
1992
Sociology
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Organizations and Employment
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45. Implications of Self-Reference: Niklas Luhmann's Autopoiesis and Organization Theory
Tor Hernes | Tore Bakken
2003
Organization Studies
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46. The New Structuralism in Organizational Theory
Michael Lounsbury | Marc Ventresca
2003
Organization
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Gender
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Sylvia Walby
1989
Sociology
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48. Structure and Agency in Socialist-Feminist Theory
Amy Wharton
1991
Gender & Society
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49. Agency, Anticipation and Indeterminacy in Feminist Theory
Lois McNay
2003
Feminist Theory
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50. Hegemonic Masculinity: Rethinking the Concept
R.W. Connell | James Messerschmidt
2005
Gender & Society
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‘Race', Ethnicity and Agency
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51. The Strategic Centrality of Class in the Politics of “Race” and “Difference”
Valerie Scatamburlo-D'Annibale | Peter McLaren
2003
Cultural Studies <=> Critical Methodologies
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Catherine Rothon
2008
Sociology
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53. The Social Geographies of White Masculinities
Steven Farough
2004
Critical Sociology
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The Lifecourse
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54. Identity and Agency in Emerging Adulthood: Two Developmental Routes in the Individualization Process
Seth Schwartz | James Côté | Jeffrey Arnett
2005
Arnett Youth & Society
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55. Women Growing Older: Agency, Ethnicity and Culture
Sharon Wray
2003
Sociology
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Disability
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Ronald Berger
2008
The Sociological Quarterly
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57. Love's Labours Lost? Feminism, the Disabled People's Movement and an Ethic of Care
Bill Hughes | Linda McKie | Debra Hopkins | Nick Watson
2005
Sociology
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The Body: Embodiment
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58. The Undersocialised Conception of the Embodied Agent in Modern Sociology
Chris Shilling
1997
Sociology
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59. ‘Sex’ and the Problem of the Body: Reconstructing Judith Butler's Theory of Sex/Gender
Samuel Chambers
2007
Body & Society
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Part 4: Network Theory, Globalisation Theory, Hegemony
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Networks
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60. The Network Society: From Knowledge to Policy
Manuel Castells
2006
The Network Society: From Knowledge to Policy
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61. Reflexivity as Non-Linearity
Scott Lash
2003
Theory, Culture & Society
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62. Internet and Self-Regulation in China: The Cultural Logic of Controlled Commodification
Ian Weber | Lu Jia
2007
Culture & Society
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Globalisation, Social Movements
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63. Simmel to Rokkan and Beyond: Towards a Network Theory of (New) Social Movements
Mario Diani
2000
European Journal of Social Theory
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64. The Gordian Knot of Agency–Structure in International Relations: A Neo-Gramscian Perspective
Andreas Bieler | Adam Morton
2001
European Journal of International Relations
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65. Culture, Identity and Hegemony: The Body in a Global Age
Lauren Langman
2003
Current Sociology
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66. Human Well-Being and Social Structures: Relating the Universal and the Local
Ian Gough
2004
Global Social Policy
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67. The Crisis of ‘identity’ in High Modernity
Mervyn Bendle
2002
The British Journal of Sociology
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Part 5: Conclusion/Continuation
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Conclusion/Continuation
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68. The Paradox of the ‘Two Sociologies’: Hobbes, Latour and the Constitution of Modern Social Theory
Robert van Krieken
2002
Journal of Sociology
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69. Alexander and the Cultural Refounding of American Sociology
Fuyuki Kurasawa
2004
Thesis Eleven
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70. “Agency” as a Red Herring in Social Theory
Steven Loyal | Barry Barnes
2001
Philosophy of the Social Sciences
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71. Beyond Reform: Agency ‘after theory’
John Schlueter
2007
Feminist Theory
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72. From Factors to Actors: Computational Sociology and Agent-Based Modeling
Michael Macy | Robert Willer
2002
Annual Review of Sociology
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73. What is Agency?
Mustafa Emirbayer | Ann Mische
1998
American Journal of Sociology
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