Human Agency, the Structuration Process, and Social Systems: Linking Micro, Meso, and Macro Levels of Analysis

Abstract

The activities in which we engage-going to school or work, attending a movie or religious service, buying groceries or an airline ticket, spending time with family and friends, celebrating a football victory or graduation, registering for classes or applying for a job-are part of our own personal micro-level social world. We have our own individual goals and intentions in mind in performing such activities, but we are likely also to take into consideration the actions and reactions of others. We may also have a general awareness that these activities are part of a larger social world-even though we probably do not consider how our own actions actually help to maintain or reproduce this larger world. This chapter presents the following three perspectives on how individuals' actions link them together in various social systems-micro, meso, or macro: • Anthony Giddens' structuration theory-This perspective provides an analysis of the interrelations of agency and structure. Agency reflects intentional activities whereby individuals seek to satisfy their needs and goals while structure refers to the already-existing rules and resources employed in such actions.