Sociology 401
Sociological Theory
Spring 2002
Dr. Scott Schaffer

Introduction: Structure/Agency, Is/Ought Trap

Structure/Agency

"Opposite Pole" Theory: A. “Opposite pole” theory: structure and agency are opposed qualities of social life Structure: system of rules that dictate forms of social actions that are conceivable and acceptable “Structure” as concept serves to identify those patterns of social actions that lead to the reproduction of a social order Agency: ability of individuals and subgroups to autonomously act within social order “Agency” refers to the degree to which individuals are “free” to act in ways they see fit (though these generally serve to reproduce the social order in which people act) In this notion, these two concepts are opposed: If there is agency in a society, then the structure is presumed to be weak; if there is a strong structure, individuals only act to serve the reproduction of the social order

"Continuum" Theory: B. Continuum version: “structure” and “agency” represent ideal forms of social practices; every society can be placed on a continuum from “pure structure” to “pure agency” Structure: patterns of ideas about social action, allocation of resources, and agency that are transposable, polysemic (have multiple meanings), intersect, and are multiple (e.g., race, class, gender, nationality) “Structure” here identifies a range of types of action that provide the individual with the basis for their individual action Agency: ability to act upon desires, intentions, meanings provided to individual by their embeddedness in a social order; indicates degree of autonomy to act in ways that may not directly reproduce a social order Here, the interdependence of structure and agency as social forms allow for evaluation of the degree of “freedom” in a society as well as of the “justice” of a society

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Is/Ought Trap:

-- Refers to a logical trap in some social theory and philosophy texts – namely, taking that which exists (the “is”) as what ought to exist; one example: saying that “might makes right” is an ideal conception of justice simply because that is the concept of justice currently used

-- Also refers to the distinction between the three types of social theory: 1) descriptive – describes the social order as it is; 2) diagnostic – lays out some idea of what the problems with a society are; 3) prescriptive – outlines an idea of what the ideal society ought to be