Module 6 - Anthony Giddens - Structuration PDF

ANTHONY (BARON) GIDDENS -Double HermeneuticsSOCI 377 Dr. Gbenga Adejare BIOGRAPHY An English sociologist, born to an average family in London, in the United Kingdom, on January 18, 1938 A social theorist trained in Europe (LSE, University of Hull, and Cambridge) Taught in different schools, includin...

ANTHONY (BARON) GIDDENS -Double HermeneuticsSOCI 377 Dr. Gbenga Adejare BIOGRAPHY An English sociologist, born to an average family in London, in the United Kingdom, on January 18, 1938 A social theorist trained in Europe (LSE, University of Hull, and Cambridge) Taught in different schools, including King's College, University of Leicester, and the University of Cambridge. Co-founded Polity Press in 1985 He served as a director of the London School of Economics and Political Science from 1997 to 2003. One of the most cited living sociologists. Became a Baron of Southgate in the London Borough of Enfield in 2004 INTERESTS Spurred by the works of theorists like Karl Marx, Max Weber, Emile Durkheim, politicians like Tony Blair etc., he focused on: Hermeneutics (interpretative theory/philosophy) Sociological ontology (nature of sociology) Dualities Social theory Political sociology Modernity Globalization Structuration (the main authority) WORKS Credited for publishing over 30 books, some of his wors include: The Rule of Sociological Method (1976) Central Problems in the Social Theory (1979) A Contemporary Critique of Historical Materialism (1981) The Constitution of Society (1984) The Nation-State and Violence (1985) Social Theory Today (1987) Modernity and Self-Identity (1991) Giddens Sociology (2010) THEMATIC FOCUS: DUALITIES Concurrency/ Hermeneutical dualities Versus Hermeneutical dualisms THEMATIC FOCUS: DUALITIES CONT'D With strong alignment to interpretative sociology, Giddens proposed a new sociological direction: o The subjective constitution of the world that is made up of two sides of the same coin that can be analyzed simultaneously, rather than separate interdependent variables. By duality, Giddens opines that all social actions occur in a structure and all structures involve social actions. He introduced the concept of double hermeneutics to explicate how the actual practice of social sciences has significant consequences both for social actors and structure. o Distorted or falsified research findings are implicative for collective survival of peoples and spaces. THEMATIC FOCUS: DUALITIES Let's think about these: Heath Politics Economy Industries CONT'D ON STRUCTURATION While suggesting new rules of sociological engagement, Giddens believes that social practices are recurrent – recursive practices Societies acquire their patterness (recursive properties) because social practices are recursive (capable of being repeated indefinitely) Societies are reproduced as people learn skills on how to perpetuate the system ELEMENTS OF STRUCTURATION Central to the exegesis of Giddens on structuration is his thought on agents who constantly create meanings in social contexts. Thus, he advanced the following conceptual frames: Rationalization: This is the process of development of routines that do not only give actors a sense of security but also enable them to deal efficiently with their social lives. o There are motivations that prompt individuals to act or not act in order to achieve their desires – E.g., getting a job to pay tuitions and bills. ELEMENTS OF STRUCTURATION CONT'D Discursive Consciousness: This refers to distinctive capability of actors to describe their actions in through language. Practical Consciousness: This entails those taken-for-granted actions of individuals. o Actions are based on the assumption of 'mutual knowledge". o Practices emanate from two types of resources: Authority - this is tangential to one's social status Allocation - individual's access to power will determine the resources allocated to them. o Social institutions are routinized (e.g., family). ELEMENTS OF STRUCTURATION CONT'D Agency: Actions perpetrated by actors; what occurred would not have occurred in the same manner were it not for the fact that the actor did something about the action in question. o Here, the power of an actor is emphasized. o Note that Gidden alludes to both phenomenology (lived experience of people) and functionalism (the function of a thing) here. Social System: These are recursive stuctures produced by social practices. o This is similar to Bourdious's field. SUMMARY OF STRUCTURATION There is existence of agency that drives the knowledge of ‘how to go on’ in social relations Agents possess the capabilities required to so ‘go on’. Mobilization of both knowledge and capabilities in the production of social practices and organization is recursive (Giddens, 1979, pp. 64–8). REFLECTION Attempt a critique of structuration theory.