Читать книгу Sociology - Anthony Giddens - Страница 143

From its inception, sociology has faced some theoretical dilemmas – matters of recurring controversy and dispute. These concern general approaches that pose questions about how we can or should ‘do’ sociology, and two have proved remarkably persistent: the problem of structure and agency and the issue of consensus versus conflict.

The first dilemma concerns the relative weight we should afford to social structure and human agency. How far are individuals creative actors capable of controlling the conditions of their lives? Is most of what we do the product of social forces outside individual control? This is considered a ‘problem’ because sociologists are divided on where the focus should be. Actionoriented approaches stress the active, creative side of human behaviour, while functionalism and some variants of Marxism emphasize the constraining nature of social structures.

The second dilemma concerns consensus and conflict. Some theories see the inherent order and harmony of human societies as their most enduring aspect. On this view, continuity and consensus are the most striking characteristics of societies, however much those societies change over time. Others see the pervasiveness of conflict as part of the basic fabric of social life rather than as an unusual or transitory aspect. Societies, they argue, are riven with social divisions, tensions and struggles, and it is wishful thinking to believe that people live amicably most of the time. We will take these two dilemmas in turn.