The Constitution of Society

Introduction

Anthony Giddens, then at the University of Cambridge, published the book in 1984 as the summary of a series of works on social theory since the mid-1970s. He seeks to overcome the opposition between approaches that start from structures, such as functionalism and structuralism, and those that start from individual action, such as interpretive sociology. Structures are rules and resources that exist only when actors draw on them, constraining and enabling at the same time; actors are knowledgeable, though most of their knowledge is practical rather than put into words, and their actions have unintended consequences that reproduce the structures. Giddens also draws on Goffman and on time geography. The theory has been taken up in sociology, geography and organisation studies.

Connections

Criticizes

• The Social System1951 · Talcott Parsons

Criticized in

• Southern Theory2007 · Raewyn Connell