Showing papers on "Structure and agency published in 2002"
Book•
01 Jan 2002
TL;DR: In this paper, structural, agential, and ideational factors in the analysis of political change are identified as structural, structural, and agential factors in political change, and a common language for conceptualizing power is used to describe the faces of power controversy.
Abstract: Conclusion the limits of political science and the ethics of political analysis --3 Beyond Structure versus Agency, Context versus Conduct -- What is - and what is not - at stake in the structure- agency debate? -- Conceptualising structure and agency -- Operationalising structure and agency: the rise of fascism in Germany in the 1930s -- Positions in the structure-agency debate -- The centrality of structure and agency to political explanation -- Beyond structure versus agency --4 Continuity and Discontinuity in the Analysis of Political Change -- Time for change? -- Analytical strategies for conceptualising change -- Time, timing and temporality -- Conclusion: structural, agential and ideational factors in the analysis of political change --5 Divided by a Common Language? -- Conceptualising Power -- The 'faces of power' controversy -- Power: analytical and critical perspectives -- Foucault and the 'microphysics of power' --6 The Discursive and the Ideational in Contemporary --^
675 citations
15 Jul 2002
TL;DR: This paper explored the mutual implication of critical realism and semiosis and showed how critical realism can integrate semiosis into its accounts of dialectic of structure and agency through an evolutionary approach to structuration.
Abstract: This paper explores the mutual implication of critical realism and semiosis (or the intersubjective production of meaning). It argues that critical realism must integrate semiosis into its account of social relations and social structuration. This goes well beyond the question of whether reasons can be causes to include more basic issues of the performativity of semiosis and the relationship between interpretation (verstehen) and causal explanation (erklA¤ren). The paper then demonstrates how critical realism can integrate semiosis into its accounts of dialectic of structure and agency through an evolutionary approach to structuration. It also demonstrates how critical semiotic analysis (including critical discourse analysis) can benefit from critical realism. In the latter respect we consider the emergence of semiotic effects and extra-semiotic effects from textual practices and give two brief illustrations of how this works from specific texts. The paper concludes with more general recommendations about the articulation of the discursive and extra-discursive aspects of social relations and its implications for critical realism.
384 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, an empirical exploration of the attraction system model, based on a survey of over 6,000 tourists to cultural attractions, is presented, which provides strong support both for the general structure of the model and for the idea that tourists are "pushed" towards attractions by their motivations.
292 citations
TL;DR: This paper looks at ANT from the perspective of the social realism of Margaret Archer, and explores the value of incorporating concepts from ANT into a social realist approach, but argues that the latter offers a more productive way of approaching information systems.
Abstract: Actor-network theory (ANT) has achieved a measure of popularity in the analysis of information systems. This paper looks at ANT from the perspective of the social realism of Margaret Archer. It argues that the main issue with ANT from a realist perspective is its adoption of a `flat' ontology, particularly with regard to human beings. It explores the value of incorporating concepts from ANT into a social realist approach, but argues that the latter offers a more productive way of approaching information systems.
174 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors synthesise structuralist and agent-centric theory to analyse the relationship between the state and globalisation, and apply this approach to the case of Singapore, a small state that has perhaps the most globalised economy in the world.
Abstract: Across the social sciences the last decade has witnessed a proliferating interest in the relationship between the state and globalisation. By the early 1990s a range of writers working within what we label a structuralist approach asserted that globalisation is, if not challenging the viability of the sovereign state, then at least forcing it to adapt its policies to conform to the new global reality— being ‘hollowed out’, as the phrase had it. The pendulum then swung the other way when an ‘agent-centric’ backlash emerged, insisting that states have what we call agential power, such that they can mitigate and even shape global structures. In this article we build upon an emergent third way, or ‘structurationist’ perspective, between these two antinomies, in which we synthesise structuralist and agent-centric theory. We begin in Part I by taking stock of the central issues in the state/globalisation debate and examine the various structuralist and agent-centric approaches, while Part II sketches the theoretical outlines of a structurationist approach and conceptualises what we call the spatial promiscuity of the state. In Part III we apply this approach to the case of Singapore. We choose Singapore only because it provides an excellent litmus test for critically appraising the various positions on globalisation, including our own, not least because Singapore is a small state that has perhaps the most globalised economy in the world.
101 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, a recent model of human agency presented by Hogge is considered and the implications of this model for the discipline of social policy. But the model is not considered in this paper.
Abstract: Social policy writers appear to be increasingly concerned with theories of human agency and their implications for the discipline. This article considers a recent model of agency presented by Hogge...
87 citations
TL;DR: The notion of the knowledge base as a central aspect of professional activity is flawed, and it is more useful to see social work as a continuous process of constructing and reconstructing professional knowledge as discussed by the authors.
Abstract: • Summary: This article argues that the notion of the knowledge base as a central aspect of professional activity is flawed, and that it is more useful to see social work as in a continuous process of constructing and reconstructing professional knowledge.• Findings: Culture is an area that has attracted widespread attention in academia and the social professions. However, there has been little examination of culturally sensitive social work practice from a realist perspective, or one that starts from the view that oppressive structures, as encoded within social class, are essential determinants of cultural experience. Following a critique of postmodern perspectives on culture, the work of Pierre Bourdieu on culture and power is explored.• Applications: Three of Bourdieu’s key constructs - habitus, field and capital - are utilized to develop a model for culturally sensitive social work practice that attends to the interplay of agency and structure in reproducing inequalities within the social world.
83 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors argue that a comprehensive approach to treaty reform requires both a more inclusive and longer-term perspective, and re-conceptualize agency and structure in the process of treaty reform.
Abstract: This article argues that a comprehensive approach to treaty reform requires both a more inclusive and longer-term perspective. We re-conceptualize agency and structure in the process of treaty reform; examine theoretically as well as empirically the respective roles of interests, ideas and institutions in treaty reform; and seek to reconcile agency and structure, as well as ideas, interests and institutions, in a temporal perspective on treaty reform.
55 citations
Posted Content•
TL;DR: In this article, the authors argue that the study of legal regulation can be further developed through an analysis of emotions because it can bring into sharper focus the social nature of regulation, and discuss the notion of regulatory law as an emotional process.
Abstract: This article argues that the study of legal regulation can be further developed through an analysis of emotions because it can bring into sharper focus the social nature of regulation. The article illustrates this point by discussing the notion of regulatory law as an emotional process. It then suggests various ways in which an analysis of emotions can promote understanding of a key issue in legal regulation, the role of structure and agency. The article concludes with a brief discussion of how existing social science research methods can be adapted to the study of emotions.
42 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the relationship between material practices, social identity categories and the duality of structure is investigated in a case study of Britain in the fourth and early fifth centuries AD, where some of the relationships between practices and institutionalized identities can be discerned.
Abstract: The central theme of this article is the relationship between material practices, social identity categories and the duality of structure. The latter concept, linking structure and agency in Giddens’ structuration theory, is here understood as dependent upon the negotiation of categories, such as ethnicity/community, social status, religion and gender, through practices like dwelling, eating and appearing. Such practices can be interpreted from the material patterns that emerge from multi-dimensional and multi-scalar analyses of archaeological data. These ideas are worked through in a case study of Britain in the fourth and early fifth centuries AD, wherein some of the relationships between practices and institutionalized identities (such as those associated with the military) can be discerned. An emphasis on the negotiation of identities in practice also places the theme of temporality at centre-stage, offering a new perspective on the balance between reproduction and transformation in the ongoing consti...
TL;DR: In this article, the authors examine the implications of New Labour's approaches to crime and disorder on CCTV implementation, focusing on the usage of CCTV as one of the government's many initiatives, which are intended to address crime, including the fear of crime, and the impact of the 1998 Crime and Disorder Act (CDA) on the generation of such strategies.
Abstract: This paper examines the implications of New Labour's approaches to crime and disorder on CCTV implementation. It concentrates on the usage of CCTV as one of the government's many initiatives, which are intended to address crime and disorder, including the fear of crime. In particular, the impact of the 1998 Crime and Disorder Act (CDA) - the cornerstone of this government's approach to crime reduction - on the generation of such strategies is examined. The paper revisits neo-Marxist and Foucauldian analyses of the so-called surveillance society through an appraisal of the complex relationship between structure and agency in the formulation and implementation of anti-crime and disorder strategies. Drawing on fieldwork data the paper considers the activities of practitioners at a local level by focusing on the influence of central government, local communities and 'common sense' thinking based on certain criminological theories. It is argued that a myriad of micro-level operations, obligations, processes, managerial concerns (particularly conflict resolution and resource issues), structures and agency - as well as the indirect influence of central government - shape CCTV policy. Ultimately, the creation of new local policy contexts under the CDA emphasise the need to consider incremental and malleable processes concerning the formulation of CCTV policy. In turn, this allows a re-examination of theoretical accounts of surveillance, and their attendant assumptions of sovereign or disciplinary power.
Book•
14 Nov 2002
TL;DR: Theoretical Self Functionalist Perspectives Theorizing Systems and Structures Marxism Theorising Capitalism - Debates and Developments The Action Perspective as discussed by the authors Theoretically Self Feminist Approaches Theorized Patriarchy and Oppression Anthony Giddens Theorised Agency and Structure Postmodernism Theorization Fragmentation and Uncertainty
Abstract: Introduction The Theoretical Self Functionalist Perspectives Theorizing Systems and Structures Marxism Theorizing Capitalism - Debates and Developments The Action Perspectives Theorizing Social Action and Self Feminist Approaches Theorizing Patriarchy and Oppression Anthony Giddens Theorizing Agency and Structure Postmodernism Theorizing Fragmentation and Uncertainty
TL;DR: In this article, the authors argue that the study of legal regulation can be further developed through an analysis of emotions because it can bring into sharper focus the social nature of regulation, and discuss the notion of regulatory law as an emotional process.
Abstract: This article argues that the study of legal regulation can be further developed through an analysis of emotions because it can bring into sharper focus the social nature of regulation. The article illustrates this point by discussing the notion of regulatory law as an emotional process. It then suggests various ways in which an analysis of emotions can promote understanding of a key issue in legal regulation, the role of structure and agency. The article concludes with a brief discussion of how existing social science research methods can be adapted to the study of emotions.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors examine the processes that bring about the creation of new public-space CCTV schemes and identify the role of agency as a particularly strong, yet relatively neglected, influence on its implementation.
Abstract: This paper examines the processes that bring about the creation of new public-space CCTV schemes. Through an appraisal of the grounded activities of the practitioners who make decisions over CCTV, the role of agency is identified as a particularly strong, yet relatively neglected, influence on its implementation. Moreover, beyond dichotomised notions of central structures and local agency, an understanding is developed of the complex interaction between the individual actors involved in CCTV dissemination and the political context in which they operate. In doing so, public policy is identified as the vehicle through which camera surveillance systems become installed and disseminated throughout public space. Moreover, these various forces of structure and agency become filtered through identifiable networks of policy-makers, comprising 'responsibilised' actors who oversee the deployment of CCTV. This analysis is used to revisit a range of administrative and theoretical understandings of surveillance, including: citations of CCTV as an evaluated response to crime; the attribution of power- and interest-based agendas to its implementation; and accounts which locate CCTV expansion within various evolving societal processes. Drawing on qualitative fieldwork data gathered during doctoral research, the paper considers the activities of practitioners at a local level and identifies crucial contexts, drivers and negotiations on which expanding surveillance is contingent. Ultimately, it is argued that the process of CCTV installation – from conception to material implementation – is disrupted and mediated by a range of micro-level operations, obligations, processes, managerial concerns (particularly conflict resolution and resource issues), structures and agency, and the indirect influence of central government. These not only arbitrate over whether the CCTV becomes installed, but also generate a range of additional uses for the cameras, many of which are performed before they are even switched on. This emphasises the need to consider the processes that enable and constrain the actions of those making decisions over CCTV and demonstrates how no single interest becomes solely participant in the deployment of surveillance. Finally, because of the centrality and contingency of both human agency and the structural contexts in which it operates in determining the installation of CCTV, questions arise concerning the importance of integrative sociological theories in understanding the deployment of surveillance.
TL;DR: A critical appraisal of the theoretical accounts of globalisation/regionalisation provided by the left structuralist or hyperglobalist approach and the new constitutionalist version of the neo-Gramscian approach is provided in this paper.
Abstract: This article has two main objectives. First, it provides a critical appraisal of the theoretical accounts of globalisation/regionalisation provided by the left
structuralist or ‘hyperglobalist’ approach and the new constitutionalist version of the neo-Gramscian approach. It is argued that both approaches have been essentially negative in their evaluation of the role and position of organised labour in the changing IPE. Such pessimism is particularly marked (perhaps not surprisingly) in the left structuralist approach, but nevertheless (and more
surprisingly) still pervades the new constitutionalism. I argue that in both cases pessimism is to a significant degree misplaced and I seek to show the various
points at which, in my view, each approach has gone wrong. Generally speaking, however, I would suggest that the problems highlighted have rather less to do with the general theoretical perspectives deployed (for both left structuralism and neo-Gramscian analysis have a great deal to offer the study of IPE) than with the specific treatments of these approaches critiqued here. Briefly stated, these treatments suffer from a common failure to conceptualise changing world orders in terms of the dialectic of structure and agency. Second, the article focuses on a more empirical analysis of (mainly British) labour movement agency within the context of European integration since the mid 1980s, concentrating particularly,
although not exclusively, on trade union responses to and understandings of economic and monetary union (EMU). This is designed partly as a corrective to the new constitutionalists’ emphasis on elite agency. I argue that the evidence indicates a significant galvanisation of labour agency at the European Union (EU) level. This needs to be understood partly in terms of a (negative/defensive)
response to economic globalisation but also as a positive engagement with the globalisation/regionalism, structure/agency dialectic which reveals broader and
more positive trade union purposes and objectives grounded in what Robert Cox has called ‘critical theory’ and directed at forms of social transformation.4 This
engagement has, in turn, been partly facilitated by the EU’s own determination of the structure/agency dialectic evident in the changing and politically contested (as opposed to elite-determined) governance structures of the EU. I argue that the starting theoretical assumptions of European labour movement agency are positive in their assertion of feasible alternatives to neoliberal economic governance at the EU level. This corresponds to the more optimistic version of neo-Gramscianism that has informed the work of Alain Lipietz
TL;DR: In facing up to the problem of structure and agency social theorists are not just addressing crucial theoretical problems in the study of society, they are also confronting the most pressing social problem of the human condition.
Abstract: In facing up to the problem of structure and agency social theorists are not just addressing crucial theoretical problems in the study of society, they are also confronting the most pressing social problem of the human condition.
TL;DR: This article proposed ethnomethodology as a theoretical approach for resolving the structure-agency binary and for treating the activities of writers in organizations as simultaneously embedded in the same structure-agent binary.
Abstract: This article proposes ethnomethodology as a theoretical approach for resolving the structure-agency binary and for treating the activities of writers in organizations as simultaneously embedded in ...
TL;DR: This paper examined the experience of a small number of unemployed youngsters taking part in the government's New Deal for Young People programme and discussed in the light of their responses the ways in which New Deal represents an individualisation of unemployment, to the neglect of structural factors.
Abstract: This paper examines the experience of a small number of unemployed youngsters taking part in the government's New Deal for Young People programme and discusses in the light of their responses the ways in which New Deal represents an individualisation of unemployment, to the neglect of structural factors. The ways in which different individuals are able to utilise different elements of the programme are considered and the paper draws on Bourdieu's notion of habitus as a way of understanding the links between agency and structure and the importance of the young person's own horizon for action.
TL;DR: In this article, a case study in a third-year basic engineering course at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology supports the idea that social change as a phenomenon should be paid more heed.
Abstract: Norwegian higher education has for a long time been strongly committed to individual strategies for development and change. A case study in a third-year basic engineering course at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology supports the idea that social change as a phenomenon should be paid more heed. After discussing this study, the paper turns to the kinds of challenges we face in higher education in general, and how these challenges can be met, theoretically and practically. Anthony Giddens' structuration theory is discussed in this context. It is not an educational theory, but has great potential for analysing situations of change. According to this theory it is the recursive social practices that help us to conceive both stability and change. Hence, structures in Giddens' sense not only represent barriers, but also enable change and development to take place.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors consider three rival approaches to comparative research can be identified, and suggest an alternative model based upon a set of fundamental assumptions about the nature of human cognition.
Abstract: Broadly speaking, three rival approaches to comparative research can be identified. One suggests that the study of different countries and their regions is unproblematic, and is best exemplified by scholarship in mainstream (particularly neoclassical) economics. Stress is placed on an integrated theoretical perspective emphasizing apparent similarities while explaining differences by reference to the heritage of nations and places. By way of contrast a second approach, which owes much to anthropology, relies on case studies and presumes the existence of profound differences between countries and regions. Stress is placed upon the local cultural, social and political factors that sustain persistent difference. A third approach is rooted in new institutional economics and argues for the significance of national institutional frameworks, supposing that those frameworks shape and structure the actions of agents. Whatever their differences and origins, idealism drives each method of comparative study. In this article, we consider these rival theories of comparative study, and suggest an alternative model based upon a set of fundamental assumptions about the nature of human cognition. These assumptions are the building blocks for our analysis, which has global applicability. We focus in particular upon consciousness and reflexivity, the interplay between agency and structure, and the connection between intention and rationality. Implications are then drawn for the practice of comparative studies. In the penultimate section of the article we comment on the limits of comparative studies emphasizing the problems that lie behind the translation of complex concepts within and between languages.
TL;DR: The role of comparative education in the structure and agency in education has been discussed in this article, with a focus on the role of the teacher and the teacher's role in comparative education.
Abstract: (2002). Structure and agency in education: The role of comparative education. Comparative Education: Vol. 38, No. 1, pp. 5-6.
TL;DR: In this article, the utility of sociological concepts and theory in teaching about genocide and the Holocaust is discussed, and examples drawn from several sociology courses are used to illustrate how the sociological can be integrated in the study of genocide and Holocaust.
Abstract: This paper illustrates the utility of sociological concepts and theory in teaching about genocide and the Holocaust. Sociology provides the theoretical tools necessary for us to meaningfully integrate research, teaching, and learning in this area. To move closer to explanation and prediction, we need to more fully develop a sociology of genocide and the Holocaust-one grounded, for example, in the study of collective behavior and social movements, in the study of social groups and group dynamics, in the interaction of structure and agency, and in the study of the social constructions of group identity. Examples drawn from several sociology courses are used to illustrate how the sociological can be integrated in the study of genocide and the Holocaust and how the study of the Holocaust can be integrated into our study of the sociological.
01 Jan 2002
TL;DR: Results indicate that at the outset, the e-commerce technology was shaped by two opposing groups within the organization, focused on the business-to-consumer market, and once the system was completed, however, the various agents perceived tremendous business- to-business possibilities in the software.
Abstract: The organizational structure of a new startup 'venture', including its business strategy, is strongly shaped by processes embedded within its developing e-commerce information system. An important question here and in general IS research is the role of individuals (agents) in the shaping and interpreting of both technological and organizational structures (structure). Various questions drawn from Giddens' (1984) structuration theory are used to highlight this agency-structure relationship, and initial results from an action research study within an e-commerce startup involved in developing an on-line "pop culture" magazine are described. Results indicate that at the outset, the e-commerce technology was shaped by two opposing groups within the organization, focused on the business-to-consumer market. Once the system was completed, however, the various agents perceived tremendous business-to-business possibilities in the software. Consequently, they initiated a process to alter their strategic focus, and transformed their organizational processes. Future research directions of this "dog wagging its tail," and "tail wagging the dog" story toward systems development practice and research, and Giddens' structuration theory are discussed. Implications for e-commerce practice and research are discussed.
DOI•
01 Jan 2002
TL;DR: In this article, the authors discuss the limits of this view of action, reflexivity and embodiment and argue that it is not enough sensitive to the limits to reflexivity imposed by the very fact that our practices are embodied, and it might take what are normative claims about subjectivity for the whole practice of subjectivity.
Abstract: According to the theory of reflexive individualisation, in the conditions of high modernity the body becomes a never-ending reflexive project. In this paper I discuss the limits of this view of action, reflexivity and embodiment. I argue that it relies on some form of body/mind dualism, it is not enough sensitive to the limits to reflexivity imposed by the very fact that our practices are embodied, and it might take what are normative claims about subjectivity for the whole practice of subjectivity constitution. In order to account for both structure and agency I try to develop a three-dimensional model for embodiment as articulated in a socio-genetic dimension (Bourdieu's habitus), a situational-experiential dimension (Goffman's organisation of involvement) and a normative-institutional dimension (Foucault's discipline). I critically combine these different dimensions using fitness regimes as an example. Contrary to what theories of reflexive individualization imply, regular participants in fitness seem to become reflexive risk-managers only because they are pushed and pulled to loose themselves in the actuality of physical activity. Similarly they can reflexively construct themselves as the authors of choices only because they have learnt to want certain things as locally prescribed. Power, in other terms, works through locally organised and embodied forms of knowledge whose contingent, ongoing realisation also allows for spaces of change and resistance.
01 Jan 2002
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors focus on the relationship between the political actors we identify and the environment in which they find themselves; in short, with the extent to which political conduct shapes and is shaped by political context.
Abstract: In Chapter 2 we dealt with what might be regarded as the two most fundamental questions of political analysis — how we define the ‘political’ and how we might adjudicate between contending accounts of what occurs within that domain. In this chapter we descend one rung on the ladder of conceptual abstraction to deal with a scarcely less significant issue — that of structure and agency (or context and conduct). Essentially, what we are concerned with here is the relationship between the political actors we identify (having decided upon our specification of the sphere of the political) and the environment in which they find themselves; in short, with the extent to which political conduct shapes and is shaped by political context. Clearly on such a fundamental issue as this we are likely to find a considerable variety of opinions. Some authors (notably pluralists and elite theorists) place their emphasis upon the capacity of decision-makers to shape the course of events. By contrast, other more structuralist authors (notably many institutionalists and neo-Marxists) emphasise instead the limited autonomy of the state’s personnel and the extent to which they are constrained by the form, function and structure of the state itself.
Dissertation•
01 Jan 2002
TL;DR: In this article, the authors explored the relationship between individual action (agency) and social context (structure) through a qualitative study of benefit fraud and argued that four sociological concepts -discourses, resources, normative guidelines, and identity - are central to the relationships between structure and agency.
Abstract: The concern to understand why people act in the way they do has preoccupied the social sciences since their very inception. At the heart of this concern is the question of how we might best theorise the relationship between individual action (agency) and social context (structure). This relationship is the focus of this thesis and it has been explored theoretically and empirically through a qualitative study of benefit fraud.
Theoretically, four sociological concepts - discourses, resources, normative guidelines and identity - are argued to be central to the relationship between structure and agency. Taken together, these concepts offer a valuable template to explore social action in general and, in
particular, why people engage in fraudulent action.
The research involved in-depth interviews with a socially diverse snowball sample of 16 people engaged in benefit fraud. Three key points emerged from the analysis of the
interview narratives. First, benefit fraud (and social action more generally) can be understood through acknowledging the resource-configurations within which individuals exist. Resources are conceptualised as financial, social and/or ontological and their contingent nature is highlighted. The research demonstrates how the availability, accessibility and acceptability of resources changes with time and place, as well as being influenced by discourses, normative guidelines and self-identity. Second, discourses are shown to have a shaping influence upon the normative guidelines underpinning individual action. However, this does not occur in a straightforward way, since actors critically negotiate with the discursive matrix within which they are embedded. Third, it is argued
that individual accounts of fraudulent action are about much more than motivation - their primary purpose for the individual is the (re)construction of moral adequacy in the context of lives lived at the margins - socially, materially and normatively.
This research aims to present a more robust theorisation of benefit fraud than much previous work in this field and, in addition, to contribute new empirical insights on the
complex and contingent nature of resources and moral accounts. The thesis ends with an exploration of the theoretical, methodological and policy implications of the research.
Journal Article•