Theory of structuration Guide, Meaning , Facts, Information and Description

The Theory of structuration, developed by Anthony Giddens, notes that social life is more than random individual acts, but is not merely determined by social forces. To put it another way, it's not merely a mass of 'micro'-level activity - but on the other hand, you can't study it by only looking for 'macro'-level explanations. Instead, Giddens suggests, human agency and social structure are in a relationship with each other, and it is the repetition of the acts of individual agents which reproduces the structure. This means that there is a social structure - traditions, institutions, moral codes, and established ways of doing things; but it also means that these can be changed when people start to ignore them, replace them, or reproduce them differently.

There are three aspects to structuration, signification, legitimation, and domination. These are not to be understood as sequential in nature, but rather synchronous and synergistic, and operating both constructively and destructively on the conceptual underpinnings of a society. These aspects can be described as follows:

;Signification : A concept becomes progressively better understood and is perceived as more relevant by the society, or conversely, becomes less and less relevant over time to the inhabitants of the society. Signification contributes to the legitimation of a concept and promotes it toward domination.

;Legitimation : The concept becomes progressively more accepted as an implicit part of the status quo, or conversely, is exposed and actively questioned. Legitimation augments the effects of signification and lowers societal resistance to the concept's rise to domination.

;Domination : The concept becomes imbued with power through increasing signification and legitimation, acquiring the feel of an axiom or implicit assumption. Conversely, decreases in signification and legitimation degrade the power of a concept, calling its meaning and validity into question. As it waxes or wanes, the power accruing to a concept further cements or increasingly undermines its signification and legitimation.

External links

• http://www.theory.org.uk/giddens2.htm
• Orlikowski, WJ (1990): The duality of technology : rethinking the concept of technology in organizations, Working paper (MIT Sloan School of Management), found at the URI http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/2300

Further reading

• Gauntlett, David: Media, Gender and Identity: An Introduction ISBN 0415189608
• Giddens, Anthony: The Constitution of Society: Outline of the Theory of Structuration, University of California Press; Reprint edition (January 1, 1986) ISBN 0520057287

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