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Journal Article•DOI•

Locating the 17th Book of Giddens@@@The Constitution of Society: Outline of the Theory of Structuration.

Alan Sica, Anthony Giddens
01 May 1986-Contemporary Sociology-Vol. 15, Iss: 3, pp 344
TL;DR: Giddens as mentioned in this paper has been in the forefront of developments in social theory for the past decade and outlines the distinctive position he has evolved during that period and offers a full statement of a major new perspective in social thought, a synthesis and elaboration of ideas touched on in previous works but described here for the first time in an integrated and comprehensive form.
Abstract: Anthony Giddens has been in the forefront of developments in social theory for the past decade. In "The Constitution of Society" he outlines the distinctive position he has evolved during that period and offers a full statement of a major new perspective in social thought, a synthesis and elaboration of ideas touched on in previous works but described here for the first time in an integrated and comprehensive form. A particular feature is Giddens' concern to connect abstract problems of theory to an interpretation of the nature of empirical method in the social sciences. In presenting his own ideas, Giddens mounts a critical attack on some of the more orthodox sociological views. "The Constitution of Society" is an invaluable reference book for all those concerned with the basic issues in contemporary social theory.
Citations
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Journal Article•DOI•
Global Standardization of Organizational Forms and Management Practices? What New Institutionalism and the Business‐Systems Approach Can Learn from Each Other*

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Anne Tempel1, Peter Walgenbach1•
University of Erfurt1
01 Jan 2007-Journal of Management Studies
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors focus on two institutionalist traditions in organization theory which make a significant contribution to this discussion: new institutionalism and the business-systems approach, emphasizing the adaptation of organizations to their institutional environments but come to very different conclusions as to the global standardization of organizational forms and management practices.
Abstract: The debate as to the effects of globalization on organizational forms and management practices is well known. Our paper focuses on two institutionalist traditions in organization theory which make a significant contribution to this discussion: new institutionalism and the business-systems approach. Both emphasize the adaptation of organizations to their institutional environments but come to very different conclusions as to the global standardization of organizational forms and management practices. Our paper aims to move them beyond the convergence-divergence dichotomy to account for signs of both global standardization and continued persistence of national differences. We do so by systematically comparing the two traditions, suggesting how they can be cross-fertilized and developing an agenda for future empirical research. We also highlight that they cannot learn from each other on the issue of agency and point to structuration theory as a way in which they can integrate agency into their accounts of the global standardization debate.

240 citations

Cites background from "Locating the 17th Book of Giddens@@..."

  • ...…notion of the duality of structure, the central domain of study of the social sciences according to structuration theory ‘is neither the experience of the individual actor nor the existence of any form of societal totality, but social practices ordered across space and time’ (Giddens, 1984, p. 2)....

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  • ...We show how both institutionalist traditions can benefit from the insights of structuration theory (Giddens, 1984) to investigate how actors deal with inconsistent demands from institutions operating at national and supranational levels (for a summary of our arguments, see Table II)....

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  • ...By drawing on structuration theory (Giddens, 1984), new institutionalists would be better able to investigate the processes through which actors interpret diffused practices into different business systems, while business systems proponents could shed more light on how actors synthesize local and…...

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  • ...The key aim of Giddens’ (1984) structuration theory is to overcome the dualism of structure and agency (for a criticism of structuration theory, see, for example, Archer, © Blackwell Publishing Ltd 2006 1982; Callinicos, 1985; Thompson, 1989)....

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  • ...We will therefore confine our discussion to proposing Giddens’ (1984) structuration theory as one possible theoretical framework which can help proponents of the two institutionalist traditions to include agency in their arguments....

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Remittances, Migration and Social Development: A Conceptual Review of Literature

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H. de Haas
01 Jan 2007
TL;DR: The designations employed in UNRISD publications do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of UNISD concerning the legal status of any country, territory, city or area or of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries as discussed by the authors.
Abstract: The designations employed in UNRISD publications, which are in conformity with United Nations practice, and the presentation of material therein do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of UNRISD concerning the legal status of any country, territory, city or area or of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries. The responsibility for opinions expressed rests solely with the author(s), and publication does not constitute endorsement by UNRISD. Contents Acronyms ii Acknowledgements ii Summary/Résumé/Resumen iii Summary iii Résumé iii Resumen iv

240 citations

Cites background from "Locating the 17th Book of Giddens@@..."

  • ...These shifts in thinking on migration and development seem deeply influenced by the paradigm shift in social theory in which social scientists, sometimes inspired by Giddens’ (1984) structuration theory, sought to harmonize actor- and structure-oriented approaches....

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Journal Article•DOI•
An institutional theory of organizational communication

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John C. Lammers1, Joshua B. Barbour1•
University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign1
01 Aug 2006-Communication Theory
TL;DR: The authors define institutions as constellations (i.e., relatively fixed arrangements) of formalized rational beliefs manifested in individuals' organizing behaviors, including membership, rational myths, isomorphism, and decision hierarchies.
Abstract: For many years, reviewers have argued that organizational communication research is overly concentrated on microphenomena to the neglect of macrophenomena, but macrophenomena have generally remained unspecified. An institutional theory of organizational communication is proposed to fill that gap. Drawing on institutional theory in organizational sociology and on concerns in organizational communication, we define institutions as constellations (i.e., relatively fixed arrangements) of formalized rational beliefs manifested in individuals’ organizing behaviors. Key concepts for the analysis of institutions include membership, rational myths, isomorphism, and decision hierarchies. Based on our definition and armed with these concepts, the paper formally specifies propositions of an institutional theory of organizational communication. Applying the propositions to a published case of organizational identification demonstrates how an institutional perspective offers additional explanatory power, especially concerning professional roles.

240 citations

Cites background from "Locating the 17th Book of Giddens@@..."

  • ...Giddens (1984), for example, saw institutions recursively implicated in human interaction yet nonetheless fixed....

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Journal Article•DOI•
Using Gender to Undo Gender: A Feminist Degendering Movement

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Judith Lorber1•
City University of New York1
01 Apr 2000-Feminist Theory
TL;DR: This paper argued that women's status in the Western world has improved enormously, but the revolution that would make women and men truly equal has not yet occurred, and argued that the reason is that gender divisions stil...
Abstract: Women’s status in the Western world has improved enormously, but the revolution that would make women and men truly equal has not yet occurred. I argue that the reason is that gender divisions stil...

238 citations

Journal Article•DOI•
Human niche construction in interdisciplinary focus

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Jeremy Kendal1, Jamshid J. Tehrani1, John Odling-Smee2•
Durham University1, University of Oxford2
27 Mar 2011-Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B
TL;DR: Niche construction theory potentially integrates the biological and social aspects of the human sciences, and modifies selection pressures in environments in ways that affect both human evolution, and the evolution of other species.
Abstract: Niche construction is an endogenous causal process in evolution, reciprocal to the causal process of natural selection. It works by adding ecological inheritance, comprising the inheritance of natural selection pressures previously modified by niche construction, to genetic inheritance in evolution. Human niche construction modifies selection pressures in environments in ways that affect both human evolution, and the evolution of other species. Human ecological inheritance is exceptionally potent because it includes the social transmission and inheritance of cultural knowledge, and material culture. Human genetic inheritance in combination with human cultural inheritance thus provides a basis for gene–culture coevolution, and multivariate dynamics in cultural evolution. Niche construction theory potentially integrates the biological and social aspects of the human sciences. We elaborate on these processes, and provide brief introductions to each of the papers published in this theme issue.

238 citations

References
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Book•
Urban social segregation

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Ceri Peach
01 Jan 1975

98 citations

Related Papers (5)
Giddens's Structuration Theory

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01 Jan 2006
Derek Layder
Anthony Giddens's Theory of Structuration

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01 Jan 1984-Ctheory
H. F. Dickie-Clark
Review Articles : Central Dilemmas in Giddens's Theory of Structuration

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01 Aug 1993-Thesis Eleven
Craig Browne
Review Article : The Theory of Structuration: Prospects and Problems*

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01 Oct 1984-Acta Sociologica
Margareta Bertilsson
Structuration as critical theory

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01 Jan 1986
Richard J. Bernstein