Agency-Structure Integration

One of the most important developments in recent European social theory has been the move toward an integration of agency and structure theories and theorists. This development parallels the rise of interest found in (generally) American sociology in the micro-macro integration. There are, however, important differences to be noted.

Agency, although it generally refers to microlevel actors, can also refer to macrolevel collectives that act. In other words, any social being, whether an individual or a collective, can be considered to have agency. Similarly, structure, although it usually refers to macrolevel structures, can also refer to microlevel phenomena, such as human interaction. Thus, the definition of both structure and agency can refer to either micro- or macro-level phenomena.

The best way to illustrate what is meant by agency-structure integration is to give several examples of endeavors in this area. Perhaps the best-known effort is found in the work of Anthony Giddens (1984, 1989) and his structuration theory. Broadly, structuration theory is an attempt to theorize the relationship between agency and structure. Giddens draws on an exceptional number of theories, both critiquing them and drawing valuable resources from them. In the end, he rejects all theories with a strong agency or structure bias in favor of his theory, which he claims begins with “recurrent social practices” (Giddens 1989:252). He claims that agency and structure cannot and should not be thought of as separate forces, but rather as a duality existing in a dialectical relationship to one another. The two are indiscernible and coexisting in all forms of human activity.

Although the focus of Giddens's work begins with recurrent social practices, he is adamant that these practices are recursive. In other words, by engaging in activities as actors, or what he calls “practice,” people are simultaneously constructing their own individual consciousnesses as well as the overall structure. Both consciousness and structure are produced and reinforced by practice, and both affect the way in which practice is played out. Giddens also develops the idea of the “double hermeneutic” to describe the difference in the way actors and sociologists use language. He says we should be concerned with the disparity in the language by which actors describe their own actions and the language used by sociologists to describe those actions. The way in which sociologists articulate what they are studying can have an effect on that phenomenon and hence may alter their findings.

Margaret Archer (1982) has developed another form of agency-structure integration, which looks at the linkage between agency and culture. She uses the term “culture” to refer to nonmaterial phenomena and ideas as opposed to structure, which she defines as material phenomena and interests. Although she acknowledges that the distinction between culture and structure is a conceptual one, since they are largely intertwined in the real world, she still argues that the two are not interchangeable and should, in fact, be kept distinct.

Archer's theory focuses on morphogenesis, or the process whereby intricate interchanges in the system lead not only to change in the overall structure of that system but also to an end product of structural elaboration. The opposite of this, morphostasis, refers to an absence of change. The process of morphogenesis involves properties that emerge from actions and interactions but are also distinct from them. It also implies that existing structures can act back on actions and interactions in a dialectical fashion. Both morphogenesis and morphostasis are processes that occur over time and focus on the infinite number of potential structural changes, alterations in action and interaction, and structural elaboration that are possible.

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