4. Critically evaluate Gidden’s structuration theory and his argument that structure and agency are inextricably linked.

Today many of us may think that our society rests on the rich heritage of philosophers and scholars who in the course of the several last centuries have laid the ground for what we perceive as modern democratic institutions and practices , and who elaborated theories to explain social processes and functioning of social institutions that we now take for granted . However , while to a large degree this is true , during a relatively recent period of time there also were theorists whose significance can be likened to that of the classical scholars . One of

br such greatly influential modern figures in the field of social sciences is Anthony Giddens (born 1938 , a British sociologist whose academic contributions extend almost to all significant branches of sociological studies (Kaspersen and Sampson , 2000 , pp .2-12 . But among all of Giddens` theoretical achievements , perhaps the most well-known is his theory of structuration , which advances the holistic approach to explanation of social phenomena , and aims to avoid the traditional in social sciences dichotomy between micro and macro aspects of social reality . Giddens tries to accomplish this task by showing that in societies structure and agency are inextricably linked , and that it is incorrect to artificially separate these entities . Let us examine the Giddens` structuration theory in more detail , and evaluate his arguments for the fundamental duality of structure and agency

One of the traditional difficulties that social sciences face is the presence of the theoretical and practical problems that emerge when attempts to reconcile macro and micro aspects of social reality in a coherent theoretical model are made . In sociological terms , the dichotomy between macro and micro elements of reality , which is present in almost any other field of sciences , assumes a peculiar form of opposition between structure , the notion of which pertain to the state large social organisations , language , cultural norms , etc , and agency the notion of which pertains to the ability of individual humans to choose actions and to influence the world though their actions . So , for sociologist the task is to adequately explain how these two conceptual realms coexist , and in what ways they influence each other . In many instances this problem was approached with the assumption that structure and agency must be viewed as separate entities that only have some points of intersection . However , such approaches did not prove to be effective in interpreting all the social processes and phenomena . In this regard , Giddens` theory of structuration was a crucial contribution to this long-term debate . Giddens conceived and formulated his theory in the course of writing his works New Rules of Sociological Method published in 1976 , Central Problems in Social Theory ' published in 1979 , and The Constitution of Society ' published in 1984 , which brought him wide academic recognition as of one of the prominent theorists in this field

Giddens` structuration theory deals with the problem of defining whether our social reality is more determined by impersonal social forces or by individuals that comprise society . However , in his structuration theory the author tries to...