Action and Structure in Structurationism

Abstract

The concept of “structure” is regularly used in Durkheimian fashion, yet sociologists' use of the term is often vague and ambiguous. Seen as external to social actors, it appears as a constraint upon action. In contrast to this view, Anthony Giddens insisted that structure is not to be equated with constraint but is always both enabling and constraining.
Many critics, however, aver that Giddens does not deal adequately with the question of structural constraint.
This paper is an attempt to examine whether or not such criticism is apt. Through that examination a weak point in Giddens' structuration theory will be pointed out.