Structure, Agency and the Internal Conversation - Hardcover

Archer, Margaret S.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0521829062 ISBN 13: 9780521829069

Publisher: Cambridge University Press, 2003

Synopsis

A central question of social theory is: How do society's objective features influence its members to reproduce or transform society through their actions? This volume examines how objective social conditioning is mediated by the subjective reflexivity of individuals. On the basis of a series of in-depth interviews, Margaret Archer identifies the mediatory mechanism as "internal conversations" that are expressed in forms governing agents' responses to social conditioning, their individual patterns of social mobility, and whether or not they contribute to social stability or change.

About this title

Book Description

How do the objective features of society influence human agents? While conditioning accentuates the way the social context in which the individual operates is shaped, it neglects our capacity to establish a modus vivendi expressive of our concerns. Through inner dialogue, 'the internal conversation', individuals reflect upon their social situation in the light of current concerns and projects. On the basis of a series of in-depth interviews, Archer identifies three distinctive forms of internal conversation, the missing link between society and the individual, structure and agency.

About the Author

Margaret S. Archer is Professor of Sociology at the University of Warwick. An internationally respected social theorist, she was the first woman to become President of the International Sociological Association and is a former editor of Current Sociology. Previous publications include Culture and Agency (1988), Realist Social Theory (1995), Being Human: The Problem of Agency (2000).

About this edition

• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• Publication date: 2003
• ISBN 10: 0521829062
• ISBN 13: 9780521829069
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 380