Structure And Agency
In the social sciences there is a standing debate over the primacy of structure or agency in shaping human behavior. Agency is the capacity of individuals to act independently and to make their own free choices. Structure is the recurrent patterned arrangements which influence or limit the choices and opportunities available. The debate can be contrasted with the "nature verses nurture" debate, which questions whether biological determinism ("nature") or socialisation ("nurture") predominates in the formation of an individual's identity. In contrast, the structure verses agency debate may be understood as an issue of socialisation against autonomy in determining whether an individual acts as a free agent or in a manner dictated by social structure.
Read more about Structure And Agency: Structure, Socialisation and Autonomy, Recent Developments, A European Problem?
Famous quotes containing the words structure and/or agency:
“The question is still asked of women: “How do you propose to answer the need for child care?” That is an obvious attempt to structure conflict in the old terms. The questions are rather: “If we as a human community want children, how does the total society propose to provide for them?””
—Jean Baker Miller (20th century)
“It is possible that the telephone has been responsible for more business inefficiency than any other agency except laudanum.... In the old days when you wanted to get in touch with a man you wrote a note, sprinkled it with sand, and gave it to a man on horseback. It probably was delivered within half an hour, depending on how big a lunch the horse had had. But in these busy days of rush-rush-rush, it is sometimes a week before you can catch your man on the telephone.”
—Robert Benchley (1889–1945)