What Is Anthony Giddens Theory Of Structuration

ANTHONY GIDDENS.

Anthony Giddens, a British sociologist known for his theory of structuration and holistic view of modern societies, is considered to be one of the most distinguished modern sociologists. He is the author of at least 34 books, published in at least 29 languages, issuing an average of more than one book every year. His academic life can be categorized into three notable stages. In the first stage he worked on demarcating a new vision of what sociology is and, based on careful scrutiny of the classics, he presented a conjectural and organizational understanding of that field. In the second stage, Giddens worked on the theory of structuration. This is the stage where he wrote New rules of Sociological Method in 1976- the title

He explains how Durkheim’s functionalist approach treated society as a reality unto itself, not reducible to individuals. Durkheim preached the sociological positivism and Giddens rejected that. The sociological positivism paradigm endeavors to predict how societies function and ignores the meaning of society from an individual’s perspective. Giddens says, “Society only has form, and the form only has effects on people, insofar as structure is produced and reproduced in what people

Giddens rejects both of them, though his work may seem a little closer to Weber’s approach. He believes that society is not a collective reality nor should be based on one individual and analyzing that individual as society’s representative and the central unit of the study. Instead he explains his perspective via the hermeneutics’ logic. Hermeneutics is the theory and practice of text interpretation, especially the interpretation of biblical scripts, wisdom writing, and philosophical works. Giddens uses this logic to explain the significance of agency in sociological theory, asserting that we humans are always, to a certain amount, fully aware of what we are doing. Social order, he thus states, comes from pre-planned social actions and that it is not an automatic response. When studying the social world, sociologists have to examine what has already been interpreted and scrutinized by the inhabitants of this social world, unlike natural scientists. The key point of investigation is the social practice. Giddens believes that this has a “duality of structure”. He says that social practice has both a structural and an agency-component. Individual behavior is restricted in the structural component but at the same time makes it achievable. Giddens also talks about the social cycle. He believes that once sociologists or theorists, after detailed research, share their theories and concepts with the world