CONTEMPORARY SOCIAL THEORY General Editor: ANTHONY GIDDENS This series aims to create a forum for debate between different theoretical and philosophical traditions in the social sciences. As well as covering broad schools of thought, the series will also concentrate upon the work of particular thinkers whose ideas have had a major impact on social science (these books appear under the sub-series title of 'Theoretical Traditions in the Social Scien ces'). The series is not limited to abstract theoretical discussion - it will also include more substantive works on contemporary capital ism, the state, politics and other subject areas. Selected titles Tony Bilton, Kevin Bonnett, Philip Jones, Ken Sheard, Michelle Stan worth and Andrew Webster, Introductory Sociology (2nd edition) Emile Durkheim, The Division of Labour in Society (trans W.D. Halls) Emile Durkheim, The Rules of Sociological Method (ed. Steven Lukes, trans. W.D. Halls) Anthony Giddens and David Held (eds) , Classes, Power and Conflict: Classical and Contemporary Debates Geoffrey Ingham, Capitalism Divided? The City and Industry in British Social Development Terry Johnson, Christopher Dandeker and Clive Ashworth, The Structure of Social Theory Douglas Kellner, Herbert Marcuse and the Crisis of Marxism John Scott, The Upper Classes: Property and Privilege in Britain Steve Taylor, Durkheim and the Study of Suicide John B. Thompson and David Held (eds), Habermas: Critical Debates CONTEMPORARY SOCIAL THEORY General Editor: ANTHONY GIDDENS Theoretical Traditions in the Social Sciences This series introduces the work of major figures in social science to students beyond their immediate specialisms. Published titles Barry Barnes, T. S. Kuhn and Social Science Ted Benton, The Rise and Fall of Structural Marxism David Bloor, Wittgenstein: A Social Theory of Knowledge Christopher G. A. Bryant, Positivism in Social Theory and Research Ira J. Cohen, Structuration Theory: Anthony Giddens and the Constitution of Social Life Mark Cousins and Athar Hussain, Michel Foucault Bob Jessop, Nicos Poulantzas, Marxist Theory and Political Strategy William Outhwaite, New Philosophies of Social Science: Realism, Hermeneutics and Critical Theory Julian Roberts, Walter Benjamin Rick Roderick, Habermas and the Foundations of Critical Theory James Schmidt, Maurice Merleau-Ponty: Between Phenomenology and Structur- alism Dennis Smith, Barrington Moore: Violence, Morality and Political Change Dennis Smith, The Chicago School Piotr Sztompka, Robert K. Merton: An Intellectual Profile Forthcoming titles John Forrester, Jacques Lacan Robin Williams, Erving Goffman Series Standing Order If you would like to receive future titles in this series as they are published, you can make use of our standing order facility. To place a standing order please contact your bookseller or, in case of difficulty, write to us at the address below with your name and address and the name of the series. Please state with which title you wish to begin your standing order. (If you live outside the United Kingdom we may not have the rights for your area, in which case we will forward your order to the publisher concerned.) Customer Services Department, Macmillan Distribution Ltd, Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire, RG21 2XS, England. Structuration Theory Anthony Giddens and the Constitution of Social Life Ira J. Cohen M MACMILLAN © Ira J. Cohen 1989 All rights reserved. No reproduction, copy or transmission of this publication may be made without written permission. No paragraph of this publication may be reproduced, copied or transmitted save with written permission or in accordance with the provisions of the Copyright Act 1956 (as amended), or under the terms of any licence permitting limited copying issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency, 33-4 Alfred Place, London WClE 7DP. Any person who does any unauthorised act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages. First published 1989 Published by MACMILLAN EDUCATION LTD Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 2XS and London Companies and representatives throughout the world British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data Cohen, Ira J., 194fr- Structuration theory: Anthony Giddens and the constitution of social life. 1. Society. Theories of Giddens, Anthony I. Title 301'.092'4 ISBN 978-0-333-37121-3 ISBN 978-1-349-20255-3 (eBook) DOI 10.1007/978-1-349-20255-3 For R.F.C. who understands that circumstances received from the past include means through which a better future is produced. Contents Acknowledgements viii Abbreviated Citations ix Introduction 1 1 Structuration Theory and Social Praxis 9 2 Latter-Day Morphology and Social Praxis: A Critique 56 3 The Patterning and Articulation of Systems Across Time and Space 84 4 The Organisation of Social Systems: 'A Non-Functionalist Manifesto' 114 5 Administered Systems: Power and Domination 148 6 Structure, Position-Practices, and EnablementiConstraint 197 7 Structural Analysis, Societies, Societal Change 232 8 Concluding Remarks: Beyond Ontology 279 Bibliography 289 Index of Names 298 Index of Subjects 302 vii Acknowledgements My initial debt, of course, is to Anthony Giddens. I first became acquainted with him during my informal participation in a series of seminars he conducted on issues arising from his early work in structuration theory at Cambridge during 1976. Notwithstanding the uncommon talent and theoretical acumen he brought to these seminars, I was equally impressed by his tolerance and respect for the views of others. I mention this not simply to draw attention to these virtues, although tolerance and respect indeed are virtues often in short supply in contemporary academic life. I mention it, rather, because Tony Giddens is the general editor of the series in which this book appears, and during the course of my writing it he has consistently remained tolerant of certain unavoidable delays, and respectful of my autonomy as an author, even as I addressed myself to ideas that originate in his work. I would like to acknowledge Adrian Hayes, Susan Hekman, Jeff Livesay, Chris Prendergast, David Sciulli, and Jon Turner for their encouragement and for their critical comments on various chap ters. I am indebted to Malcolm Willison, George Theodorson, and especially Joe Elder, for encouragement and assistance of a different, but no less important, kind. The Research Council of Rutgers University provided financial assistance during the period in which this book was written. My greatest debt is to Reggie Feiner Cohen for her encourage ment and patience, and especially for her support. She will understand when I say that this book truly is 'our everyday thing' . Plainsboro, New Jersey IraJ. Cohen viii Abbreviated Citations Abbreviations in the citations refer to the following of Giddens's works: NRSM New Rules of Sociological Method: A Positive Critique of Interpretative Sociologies (London: HutchinsonlNew York: Basic Books, 1976). SSPT Studies in Social and Political Theory (London: HutchinsonlNew York: Basic Books, 1977). CPST Central Problems in Social Theory: Action, Struc ture and Contradiction in Social Analysis (London: Macmillan/Berkeley: University of California Press, 1979). CCHM A Contemporary Critique of Historical Material ism: Volume 1: Power, Property, and the State (London: MacmillanlBerkeley: University of Cali fornia Press, 1981). 'AI' 'Agency, Institution, and Time-Space Analysis', in Advances in Social Theory and Methodology: To ward an Integration of Micro- and Macro Sociologies, edited by K. Knorr-Cetina and A. V. Cicourel (Boston: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1981), pp.161-74. PCST Profiles and Critiques in Social Theory (London: Macmillan/Berkeley: University of California Press, 1982). 'Commentary' 'Commentary on the Debate', Theory and Society, 11: 4 (July 1982), pp. 527-39. 'Interview' 'Historical Materialism Today: An Interview with ix x Abbreviated Citations Anthony Giddens', Theory, Culture & Society, 1: 2 (Autumn 1982), pp. 63--77. 'Comments' 'Comments on the Theory of Structuration', Jour nal for the Theory of Social Behavior, 13 (1983), pp.75-80. CS The Constitution of Society: Outline of the Theory of Structuration (Cambridge: Polity Press/ Berkeley: University of California Press, 1984). NSV The Nation-State and Violence: Volume Two of A Contemporary Critique of Historical Materialism (Cambridge: Polity Press/Berkeley: University of California Press, 1985). STMS Social Theory and Modern Sociology (Cambridge: Polity Press/Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1987).