Showing papers on "Structure and agency published in 1991"
TL;DR: This paper examined how various feminist approaches to gender inequality have incorporated assumptions about structure and agency, and suggested that existing perspectives could be improved by linking gender as a structural property of social organization and as a property of actors.
Abstract: A long-standing debate in social theory concerns the relative merits of structural approaches versus those that highlight the social actor. This article examines how various feminist approaches to gender inequality have incorporated assumptions about structure and agency, and suggests that existing perspectives could be improved by linking gender as a structural property of social organization and as a property of actors. Suggestions for an alternative conception of gender that acknowledges both dimensions of social life are discussed.
61 citations
TL;DR: In this article, an evaluation of Giddens' theory of structuration is focused on two related issues: first, the degree to which Gaddens provides a theory of action which transcends the structure/agency dualism and, second, whether such a transcendence is possible.
Abstract: In this paper an evaluation of Giddens’theory of structuration is focused on two related issues: first, the degree to which Giddens provides a theory of action which transcends the structure/agency dualism and, second, whether such a transcendence is possible. In the first instance, it is demonstrated that Giddens exaggerates the powers of agents at the expense of structural constraints. Second, it is argued that transcendence of structure/agency dualism and the specification of a definitive ontology of action is not possible and that the merit of structuration theory lies in its use as a sensitizing device for empirical research.
53 citations
Book•
10 Apr 1991
TL;DR: In this paper, a cross-section of the body of social theory and empirical research being produced by scholars employing class analysis is surveyed. And the contributors address continuing debates over the relationship between structure and agency, the centrality of class realism and the dynamics of class formation, class culture and class consciousness.
Abstract: In recent years, the study of class has shaped and been shaped by the flurry of "post-structuralist", "post-Marxist" and "state-centred" approaches that have emerged in historical and sociological scholarship. Yet class analysis has sustained itself as a powerful, refined working tool in helping scholars to understand the complexities of social and historical processes. This volume of original essays provides a cross-section of the body of social theory and empirical research being produced by scholars employing class analysis. The contributors address continuing debates over the relationship between structure and agency, the centrality of class realism and the dynamics of class formation, class culture and class consciousness.
49 citations
TL;DR: In this article, structural and individual factors are influential at all levels of the occupational hierarchy, but the strength of influence varies at different points in the hierarchy, supporting the axiom of structuration theory which asserts that structure and activity are deeply implicated in each other in the process of social reproduction.
Abstract: The paper attempts to link theoretical ideas concerning the relation of agency and structure with empirical research on the transition from school to work. In particular, some of the propositions of structuration theory are assessed in terms of their applicability to empirical research which investigates the impact of individual and structural variables on movement into the labour market, and the way the variables combine to determine entry into labour market segments. The data suggests that structural and individual factors are influential at all levels of the occupational hierarchy, but that the strength of influence varies at different points in the hierarchy. This supports the axiom of structuration theory which asserts that structure and activity are deeply implicated in each other in the process of social reproduction. However, the data further suggests the `duality of structure' principle has to be considerably modified in order to apprehend phenomena such as labour market processes. In this respec...
28 citations