Structuration Theory

Giddens theory of structuration / Bourdieu’s structuralist constructivism

Giddens, Bourdieu the British and French schools on the structure theory, everyone has his own philosophy of interpretation, Giddens in his theory solve the problem of the dualisms of society versus individual, objectivism versus subjectivism, determinism versus voluntarism, structuralism and functionalism versus hermeneutics and interpretive methods, the main issue the connection between agents and practices form on side, and structures, institutions and social systems on the other side. He griped several issues such as constraint, unintended consequences, social reproduction and reification. Giddens simplify the concept of structure as rule and resources.

He illustrate the structuration concept as a processes of social interaction that produce and reproduce society. He emphasis the duality of structure in rules and resources (structure), production, reproduction of social action in term of system reproduction.( Berard, 2003) Giddens explain the social interconnection as a syntagmatic and paradigmatic elements, the syntagmatic which contain the social issues that reproduced and broaden time and space, the paradigmatic as interpretive action or some characteristic of micro observable fact. He elaborate on the differences between the social integration and system integration, that crucially exchange at micro and macro levels, the level of practice and level of expand, universal structures.

Bourdieu deals with the structuration in other different angle, he called it the structuralist constructivism. His structuralism could be categorized into two segments, the first one is the treatment of fields, and the last one treatments of groups and classes more macro than micro. Bourdieu came up with the concept habitus which means the system of nature that produces social groups and relations, conscious social institutions. He dealt more with treatments of fields and habitus, that makes combination of social structure and structured, structuring nature, which is the fundamental subject concerning practices and structures. Bourdieu is related to the dualism like Giddens but in a different manner, his main concerning is practices and structures, specifically in terms of objectivism versus subjectivism, structuralism versus constructivism, social physics versus social phenomenology, positivist materialism versus intellectualist idealism.

In Bourdieu vision the habitus is more interrelated to macrostructures, the main segmentation in the social world, outline the core of groups, classes in social system. He elaborate on the habitus is what leads the institution to accomplish occupied consciousness. He saw the habitus is feature structure, as subjective other than non individual system of internalized structures, ordinary designs of sensitivity and action.

Bourdieu emphasis his perspective on the connection towards objectives structures and the people view of the build their own social world, Bourdieu saw his objectivity in the material resources distribution, mental and bodily schemes for the practical act. Bourdieu describe in the theory of distinction that the capacity of the individual to progress in cycle structure by advance, improve skills, which the four factors interconnect that, those factors are habitus, field, capital and symbolic violence.

Habitus could be seen as a character system, fixed, unconscious schemes, acting, which takes a durable activity in the social globe. The interconnection between habitus and field seen as challenge market influenced economic, cultural, social field, supremacy hierarchy structured all other field. The structuration theory emphasis the practices and structures which could be used in our social life in order to stimulate the society towards better homogeneity.