The Causal Power of Social Structures: Emergence, Structure

The Causal Power of Social Structures: Emergence, Structure and Agency

The problem of structure and agency has been the subject of intense debate in the social sciences for over a hundred years. This book offers a new solution. Using a critical realist version of the theory of emergence, Dave Elder-Vass argues that instead of ascribing causal significance to an abstract notion of social structure or a monolithic concept of society, we must recognise that it is specific groups of people that have social structural power. Some of these groups are entities with emergent causal powers, distinct from those of human individuals. Yet these powers also depend on the contributions of human individuals, and this book examines the mechanisms through which interactions between human individuals generate the causal powers of some types of social structures. The Causal Power of Social Structures makes particularly important contributions to the theory of human agency and to our understanding of normative institutions.
Country USA
Brand Cambridge University Press
Manufacturer Cambridge University Press
Binding Paperback
ItemPartNumber Worked examples or Exercises
ReleaseDate 2011-08-01
UnitCount 1
EANs 9781107402973

Country	USA
Brand	Cambridge University Press
Manufacturer	Cambridge University Press
Binding	Paperback
ItemPartNumber	Worked examples or Exercises
ReleaseDate	2011-08-01
UnitCount	1
EANs	9781107402973

The Causal Power of Social Structures: Emergence, Structure and Agency