Anthony Giddens - Essential Concepts in Sociology

It seems likely that issues of social structure and individual agency will continue to be debated in sociology. In recent theorizing aimed at overcoming this divide, it is noticeable that Giddens seems to work from an underlying agency perspective while Bourdieu’s theory remains closer to a structural position. Whether either has achieved a genuinely integrated theoretical perspective remains a matter of debate. In the future, what we may see are more empirical and historical studies that are able to throw light on the relative balance of structure and agency in specific historical periods, particular societies and spheres of social life.

One example of this contextualized, empirical approach is Liao et al.’s (2019) study of gated communities and the active role of urban planners in China. In this large-scale survey of urban planners across China, the researchers found that a mix of structural factors influenced planners’ attitudes, but they were also active agents in the planning process. Most planners expressed views in favour of gated communities, in line with the policy of their local government employers, but most of those surveyed actually lived within middle-class gated communities. Structured class position and professional status were important factors in shaping planners’ attitudes. However, the negative aspects of gating were acknowledged, and urban planners were able to amend some of the schemes with this in mind. This study illustrates how the relative influence of structure and agency can be evaluated through careful empirical research.

Archer, M. (2003) Structure, Agency and the Internal Conversation (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press).

Bourdieu, P. (1986) Distinction: A Social Critique of the Judgement of Taste (London: Routledge & Kegan Paul).

Dawe, A. (1971) ‘The Two Sociologies’, British Journal of Sociology , 21(2): 207–18.

Elias, N. ([1939] 2000) The Civilizing Process: Sociogenetic and Psychogenetic Investigations (Oxford: Blackwell).

Giddens, A. (1984) The Constitution of Society (Cambridge: Polity).

Liao, K., Wehrhahn, W., and Breitung, W. (2019) ‘Urban Planners and the Production of Gated Communities in China: A Structure–Agency Approach’, Urban Studies , 56(13): 2635–53.

Parker, J. (2005) Structuration (Buckingham: Open University Press).

Swingewood, A. (2000) A Short History of Sociological Thought (3rd edn, Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan), esp. chapter 9.

Van Krieken, R. (1998) Norbert Elias (London: Routledge), esp. chapter 3.

Wrong, D. (1961) ‘The Over-Socialized Conception of Man in Modern Sociology’, American Sociological Review , 26: 183–93.

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