Social Structure, Agency, and Practice
The Structure-Agency Problem
Core dilemma
Sociology must explain how durable social patterns constrain action while also being reproduced by action. Structure is not simply an external force, nor is agency unlimited freedom; both are analytically inseparable in most real settings.
Practical insight
Ask whether a phenomenon is best explained by rules, resources, expectations, dispositions, or strategic action before deciding how to model it.
Practice Theory and Habitus
Practice-oriented sociology
Practice theory shifts attention from isolated decisions to embodied dispositions and routine performances. In Bourdieu's formulation, habitus links social position to durable ways of perceiving, feeling, and acting, while fields organize struggles over valued resources and recognition.
In practice theory, what does 'habitus' most closely refer to?
Habitus denotes durable dispositions internalized through social experience.
Correct answer: Embodied dispositions shaped by social conditions
Give one reason why structure and agency should not be treated as simple opposites.
They are mutually constitutive rather than separate spheres.
Correct answer: Because social structures are reproduced through action, and action is shaped by structural conditions.
Analytical terms