Power, the Dialectic of Control and Class Structuration

Abstract

In this discussion I shall seek to draw some connections between certain aspects of the theory of structuration and the analysis of class structure in capitalist societies. The theory of structuration is based upon the following claims: that social theory (which I take to be relevant equally to each of the social scientific disciplines: sociology, anthropology, psychology and economics, as well as history) should incorporate an understanding of human behaviour as action; that such an understanding has to be made compatible with a focus upon the structural components of social institutions or societies; and that notions of power and domination are logically, not just contingently, associated with the concepts of action and structure as I conceptualise them.1 I shall not be concerned to substantiate these claims, but shall attempt rather to trace out a few of their implications for issues that I take to be important to class analysis.