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Structure, Agency and the Internal Conversation

$61.99 (C)

Author: Margaret S. Archer, University of Warwick

Date Published: September 2003
availability: Available
format: Paperback
isbn: 9780521535977

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About the Authors

A central question of social theory is: How do society's objective features influence its members to reproduce or transform society through their actions? This volume examines how objective social conditioning is mediated by the subjective reflexivity of individuals. On the basis of a series of in-depth interviews, Margaret Archer identifies the mediatory mechanism as "internal conversations" that are expressed in forms governing agents' responses to social conditioning, their individual patterns of social mobility, and whether or not they contribute to social stability or change.
- Offers an original solution to the problem of reconciling structure and agency in human lives
- Combines cutting edge theory with groundbreaking empirical research
- The fourth volume in a series of books by a leading international theorist that has mapped out the significance of realist social theory for contemporary society
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'… a richly rewarding book … Archer has given us, again, a good number of ideas to think with and about.' Journal of Critical Realism

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Product details
- Date Published: September 2003
- format: Paperback
- isbn: 9780521535977
- length: 384 pages
- dimensions: 228 x 154 x 26 mm
- weight: 0.604kg
- contains: 1 table
- availability: Available
Table of Contents
Introduction: how does structure influence agency?
Part I. Solitude and Society:
1. The private life of the social subject
2. From introspection to internal conversation: an unfinished journey in three stages
3. Reclaiming the internal conversation
4. The process of mediation between structure and agency
Part II. Modes of Reflexivity and Stances Towards Society:
5. Communicative reflexives
6. Autonomous reflexives
7. Meta-reflexives
8. Fractured reflexives
Conclusion: personal powers and social powers.
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Author
Margaret S. Archer, University of Warwick
Margaret S. Archer is Professor of Sociology at the University of Warwick. An internationally respected social theorist, she was the first woman to become President of the International Sociological Association and is a former editor of Current Sociology. Previous publications include Culture and Agency (1988), Realist Social Theory (1995), Being Human: The Problem of Agency (2000).