Theoretical content of Giddens' structural theory

Structured theory is anthony giddens's theory to explore the relationship between individual social action and social structure. He opposes the traditional sociological theory which regards macro and micro, individual and society, action and structure, subjectivity and objectivity as two poles that exist independently of each other, or emphasizes the "materialization view of social structure", and regards social structure as something that exists in individual practice independently of individual actions like "things". Or it is a dualistic view that emphasizes micro-individual actions, face-to-face interaction between people and the construction of personal meaning, and reduces macro-phenomena to micro-phenomena. It holds that macro and micro, individual and society, action and structure, subjective and objective are mutually inclusive and do not constitute a separate objective reality. His dialectical view is fully embodied in the core of the structural theory-the duality principle of action and structure, which is expounded in the book The Composition of Society.

Giddens understands "structure" as the rules and resources that are constantly involved in the process of social system reproduction: structure has duality, that is, social structure not only restricts people's actions, but also is the premise and intermediary of actions, making actions possible; The actions of actors not only maintain the structure, but also change it. This dialectical relationship of interdependence between action and structure is reflected in the time and space of social practice. Social practice depends on the creation and re-creation of actors and has its specific regularity: actors have knowledge, and their knowledge is reflective and practical. Therefore, when an actor acts, he should not only have reasons and motives for action, but also reflect the social and physical characteristics of action and situation. The knowledge of actors is incomplete, so their actions will always encounter some "unrecognized action conditions"-this is the social structure, which will lead to some "unexpected action consequences", which in turn will become the former. Giddens's "hierarchical model of action self" consists of action conditions that are not recognized by actors, reflective monitoring of actors, rationalization of actions, motivation behind actions and "unexpected consequences of actions". Giddens believes that all human actions are represented by this model and are based on practical consciousness.

According to Giddens, social structure is composed of rules and resources, not individual actions. Rules in daily life are closely related to practice. They are not only a summary of people's actions, but also have a normative and guiding role in the actions of actors. At the same time, actors use their knowledge to take appropriate actions to test and confirm the rules involved in their actions. Therefore, actors take action to achieve their goals, and at the same time regenerate the social structure. Social structure also includes resources that participate in social actions-distributive resources and mandatory resources, which are constantly copied by actors in the process of interaction. Resources are the foundation of power, and power is the ability of actors to change the fait accompli around them, which is manifested in the social environment and their ability to control resources. However, resources are not power, but the medium through which power can be implemented. Rules and resources are interdependent: on the one hand, the resources of actors affect their testing and confirmation of rules; On the other hand, resources are not independent of actions, but exist in social environment, and social members give them various meanings in actions, thus affecting the construction of rules. Therefore, action has three characteristics: mastery and communication of meaning, social recognition and sanctions, and domination of resources, which are intertwined. Therefore, resources are convertible and transferable, and can change with the use of actors in specific situations.

Accordingly, Giddens believes that "the structural characteristics of social system are not only the conditions for its continuous organization and practice, but also the results of these practices." Structure is not outside the individual ... it is both restrictive and gives the actor initiative ",which is the core idea of Giddens'" structure theory ".

In a word, Giddens tried to bridge the traditional dualism of sociology through the deduction of his structural theory, emphasizing the mutual tolerance and duality between subjective-objective, action-structure and micro-macro, and put forward his view of construction, which made great contributions to originality.