Anthony Giddens , an English sociologist, is considered one of the most well-known and authoritative social scientists in the world today. He was born in 1938 in the Edmonton area of London, into a wealthy middle-class family. His father, a transport worker, allowed his son to pursue university studies—the first in his family—which he completed in 1959 with a degree from Hull University . He subsequently earned a master's degree from the London School of Economics and then, in 1974, a doctorate from the University of Cambridge . Meanwhile, in 1961, he began teaching social psychology at the University of Leicester , and then continued teaching at the University of Cambridge , where he remained for many years, also founding the Social and Political Science Committee (SPSc).
Actions and structures
Giddens explored the relationship between macro and microstructure in greater depth, leading to the formulation of his well-known theory of structuration . At this stage, the scholar was engaged in the difficult attempt to find a synthesis between social and individual forces in shaping reality . In 1979, “ Central Problems in Social Theory ” was published , and in 1984, “ The Constitution of Society .” The central point of Giddens's thought is the recognition that just as individual actions are limited by structures, they are also bearers of social change . Actions act on the reality that is formed and then shapes the actions themselves. Structures, therefore, are those rules and resources that actors deploy in the practices that produce society itself. The concept of the duality of structure seeks to explain precisely this aspect: structures impose constraints on actions but at the same time make them possible.
Between micro and macro
The connection between action and structure becomes a central issue in his sociology: for both to be understood, they must be studied together (the former, in fact, are formed, strengthened, and changed through actions, and these only make sense against the backdrop of structures). The study of the structuring of the social system becomes the study of how the system, in generating resources and structural norms, is reproduced by social interaction . Structuring thus presents itself as a formula for synthesizing the micro - macro relationship . For Giddens, seeking a unilinear line of causality between the two extremes is an intellectual exercise undermined by a false logical consequentiality. In his various examples (the transformation of marriage and the family, the relationship between capitalism and society), he shows how the influences are reciprocal and it is impossible to define whether it is the macro or micro level that determines the opposite.
Barbara Petrano
Sociology taught me how to think, and writing helps me express my ideas. I have a degree in Digital Cultures and Communications and am passionate about digital marketing.
