Human agents and social structures

Peter J. Martin (u. a.)

ISBN 10: 0719081726 / ISBN 13: 9780719081729

Published by Manchester University Press, 2010

About this Item

Human agents and social structures | Peter J. Martin (u. a.) | Taschenbuch | Kartoniert / Broschiert | Englisch | 2010 | Manchester University Press | EAN 9780719081729 | Verantwortliche Person für die EU: Libri GmbH, Europaallee 1, 36244 Bad Hersfeld, gpsr[at]libri[dot]de | Anbieter: preigu Print on Demand.

Seller Inventory # 113773942

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Human agents and social structures
• Publisher: Manchester University Press
• Publication Date: 2010
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0719081726
• ISBN 13: 9780719081729
• Binding: Taschenbuch
• Condition: Neu
• Dimensions: 234W x 156H x 11D millimeters 234 millimeters width by 156 millimeters height by 11 millimeters depth
• Weight: 301 grams
• Seller catalogs:
  • Bücher

About this title

Synopsis

The structure/agency debate has been among the central issues in recent discussions of social theory. It has been widely assumed that the key theoretical task is to find a link between social structures and acting human beings – to reconcile the macro with the micro, society and the individual.

The contributors to this book reject this solution to the problem. For them, both the concept of ‘society’ as an entity and the freely-acting ‘individual’ are theoretical fiction. Rather, the immediate task of the social sciences is to take the social world seriously, to understand the ways in which that world emerges dynamically from, and exerts influence on, the interactions of real people in real situations.

This timely collection is not intended as an even-handed review of the debate, but as a deliberately polemical intervention which aims to highlight some of the ways in which its central terms have been misconceived.

About the Author

Peter J. Martin is Senior Lecturer and Head of the Department of Sociology, University of Manchester.