Structure and Agency

Please note that the content of this book primarily consists of articles available from Wikipedia or other free sources online.The debate concerning the primacy of structure and agency on human thought and behaviour is one of the central issues in sociology and the other social sciences. In this context, "agency" refers to the capacity of an individual to act independently and to make their own free choices. "Structure", by contrast, refers to the recurrent patterned arrangements which seem to influence or limit the choices and opportunities that individuals possess. The term "reflexivity" is commonly used by social scientists to refer to the ability of an agent to consciously alter his or her place in the social structure; thus globalization and the emergence of the ''post-traditional'' society might be said to allow for greater "social reflexivity".

Klappentext

The debate concerning the primacy of structure and agency on human thought and behaviour is one of the central issues in sociology and the other social sciences. In this context, "agency" refers to the capacity of an individual to act independently and to make their own free choices. "Structure", by contrast, refers to the recurrent patterned arrangements which seem to influence or limit the choices and opportunities that individuals possess. The term "reflexivity" is commonly used by social scientists to refer to the ability of an agent to consciously alter his or her place in the social structure; thus globalization and the emergence of the 'post-traditional' society might be said to allow for greater "social reflexivity".