The DOI matches its Crossref record.
A Theory of Structure: Duality, Agency, and Transformation
Abstract
"Structure" is one of the most important, elusive, and undertheorized concepts in the social sciences. Setting out from a critique and reformulation of Anthony Giddens's notion of the duality of structure and Pierre Bourdieu's notion of habitus, this article attempts to develop a theory of structure that restores human agency to social actors, builds the possibility of change into the concept of structure, and overcomes the divide between semiotic and materialist vision of structure.
Overview
The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.
Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.
Integrity signals
Registry
Cites
Statistics
Verification
Claims the paper makes
The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.
Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.
Self-check
Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.
The self-check needs the paper’s full text.
Citations
Cited by
Social Theory of International Politics
Wendt, A. (1999) · doi:10.1017/cbo9780511612183 · Cited by 7,664
Emirbayer, M., & Mische, A. (1998) · American Journal of Sociology · doi:10.1086/231294 · Cited by 6,165
Orlikowski, W. J. (2000) · Organization Science · doi:10.1287/orsc.11.4.404.14600 · Cited by 4,760
Reconceptualizing Organizational Routines as a Source of Flexibility and Change
Feldman, M. S., & Pentland, B. T. (2003) · Administrative Science Quarterly · doi:10.2307/3556620 · Cited by 4,020
DiMaggio, P. (1997) · Annual Review of Sociology · doi:10.1146/annurev.soc.23.1.263 · Cited by 3,161
Burawoy, M. (1998) · Sociological Theory · doi:10.1111/0735-2751.00040 · Cited by 2,916
Rethinking Racism: Toward a Structural Interpretation
Bonilla-Silva, E. (1997) · American Sociological Review · doi:10.2307/2657316 · Cited by 2,760
Systematic Social Observation of Public Spaces: A New Look at Disorder in Urban Neighborhoods
Sampson, R. J., & Raudenbush, S. W. (1999) · American Journal of Sociology · doi:10.1086/210356 · Cited by 2,485
Capoccia, G., & Kelemen, R. D. (2007) · World Politics · doi:10.1017/s0043887100020852 · Cited by 2,410
Ahearn, L. M. (2001) · Annual Review of Anthropology · doi:10.1146/annurev.anthro.30.1.109 · Cited by 2,083
Organizational Routines as a Source of Continuous Change
Feldman, M. S. (2000) · Organization Science · doi:10.1287/orsc.11.6.611.12529 · Cited by 1,969
Structural competency: Theorizing a new medical engagement with stigma and inequality
Metzl, J. M., & Hansen, H. (2014) · Social Science & Medicine · doi:10.1016/j.socscimed.2013.06.032 · Cited by 1,873
Unpacking the Gender System: A Theoretical Perspective on Gender Beliefs and Social Relations
Ridgeway, C. L., & Correll, S. J. (2004) · Gender & Society · doi:10.1177/0891243204265269 · Cited by 1,823
Theorizing Practice and Practicing Theory
Feldman, M. S., & Orlikowski, W. J. (2011) · Organization Science · doi:10.1287/orsc.1100.0612 · Cited by 1,753
Insurgent Collective Action and Civil War in El Salvador
Wood, E. J. (2003) · doi:10.1017/cbo9780511808685 · Cited by 1,644
Health lifestyle theory and the convergence of agency and structure
Cockerham, W. C. (2005) · Journal of Health and Social Behavior · doi:10.1177/002214650504600105 · Cited by 979
Atheists as “other”: Moral boundaries and cultural membership in American society
Edgell, P., Gerteis, J., & Hartmann, D. (2006) · American Sociological Review · doi:10.1177/000312240607100203 · Cited by 914
Mastering the semi-structured interview and beyond: from research design to analysis and publication
(2014) · Choice Reviews Online · doi:10.5860/choice.51-2430 · Cited by 860
“What Group?” Studying Whites and Whiteness in the Era of “Color-Blindness”
Lewis, A. E. (2004) · Sociological Theory · doi:10.1111/j.0735-2751.2004.00237.x · Cited by 643
Creed, W. E. D., Scully, M. A., & Austin, J. R. (2002) · Organization Science · doi:10.1287/orsc.13.5.475.7814 · Cited by 614
The Persistence of Flexible Organizational Routines: The Role of Agency and Organizational Context
Howard-Grenville, J. A. (2005) · Organization Science · doi:10.1287/orsc.1050.0150 · Cited by 585
McAdam, D., & Scott, W. R. (2005) · Social Movements and Organization Theory · doi:10.1017/cbo9780511791000.003 · Cited by 516
Lizardo, O. (2017) · American Sociological Review · doi:10.1177/0003122416675175 · Cited by 507
Gendered Sexuality in Young Adulthood: Double Binds and Flawed Options
Hamilton, L., & Armstrong, E. A. (2009) · Gender & Society · doi:10.1177/0891243209345829 · Cited by 471
Push-pull plus: reconsidering the drivers of migration
Van Hear, N., Bakewell, O., & Long, K. (2018) · Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies · doi:10.1080/1369183x.2017.1384135 · Cited by 463
A performative perspective on stability and change in organizational routines
Feldman, M. S. (2003) · Industrial and Corporate Change · doi:10.1093/icc/12.4.727 · Cited by 437
From Mead to a Structural Symbolic Interactionism and Beyond
Stryker, S. (2008) · Annual Review of Sociology · doi:10.1146/annurev.soc.34.040507.134649 · Cited by 394
POLICE SUBCULTURE RECONSIDERED
HERBERT, S. (1998) · Criminology · doi:10.1111/j.1745-9125.1998.tb01251.x · Cited by 390
To Explain Political Processes
Tilly, C. (1995) · American Journal of Sociology · doi:10.1086/230673 · Cited by 371
Chin, T., & Phillips, M. (2004) · Sociology of Education · doi:10.1177/003804070407700301 · Cited by 368
Working for an Algorithm: Power Asymmetries and Agency in Online Work Settings
Curchod, C., Patriotta, G., Cohen, L., & Neysen, N. (2020) · Administrative Science Quarterly · doi:10.1177/0001839219867024 · Cited by 364
Sandfort, J. R. (2000) · Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory · doi:10.1093/oxfordjournals.jpart.a024289 · Cited by 320
Data in Practice: Conceptualizing the Data-Based Decision-Making Phenomena
Spillane, J. P. (2012) · American Journal of Education · doi:10.1086/663283 · Cited by 308
Gil-Garcia, J. R., & Martinez-Moyano, I. J. (2007) · Government Information Quarterly · doi:10.1016/j.giq.2006.04.005 · Cited by 288
A Cognitive–Social Model of Fertility Intentions
Bachrach, C. A., & Morgan, S. P. (2013) · Population and Development Review · doi:10.1111/j.1728-4457.2013.00612.x · Cited by 259
Symbolic Power and Organizational Culture
Hallett, T. (2003) · Sociological Theory · doi:10.1111/1467-9558.00181 · Cited by 249
Stephens, N. M., Markus, H. R., & Fryberg, S. A. (2012) · Psychological Review · doi:10.1037/a0029028 · Cited by 239
Exceptional boards: Environmental experience and positive deviance from institutional norms
Walls, J. L., & Hoffman, A. J. (2013) · Journal of Organizational Behavior · doi:10.1002/job.1813 · Cited by 221
Migrant agency: Negotiating borders and migration controls
Mainwaring, Ċ. (2016) · Migration Studies · doi:10.1093/migration/mnw013 · Cited by 218
Cultural Schemas: What They Are, How to Find Them, and What to Do Once You’ve Caught One
Boutyline, A., & Soter, L. K. (2021) · American Sociological Review · doi:10.1177/00031224211024525 · Cited by 216
CULTURAL CONSTRUCTIONS OF FAMILY SCHEMAS: The Case of Women Finance Executives
BLAIR-LOY, M. (2001) · Gender & Society · doi:10.1177/089124301015005004 · Cited by 199
Bennett, P. R., Lutz, A. C., & Jayaram, L. (2012) · Sociology of Education · doi:10.1177/0038040711431585 · Cited by 184
The sociology of the local: action and its publics.
Fine, G. A. (2010) · Sociological Theory · doi:10.1111/j.1467-9558.2010.01380.x · Cited by 181
Burt, R. S., & Merluzzi, J. (2016) · Academy of Management Discoveries · doi:10.5465/amd.2015.0108 · Cited by 177
Limiting Inequality through Interaction: The End(s) of Gender
Ridgeway, C. L., & Correll, S. J. (2000) · Contemporary Sociology · doi:10.2307/2654936 · Cited by 138
Reworking labour practices: on the agency of unorganized mobile migrant construction workers
Berntsen, L. (2016) · Work, Employment and Society · doi:10.1177/0950017015617687 · Cited by 115
Rütten, A., Frahsa, A., Abel, T., Bergmann, M., de Leeuw, E., Hunter, D., Jansen, M., King, A., & Potvin, L. (2019) · Health Promotion International · doi:10.1093/heapro/dax053 · Cited by 109
Embedding social innovation process into the institutional context: Voids or supports
Turker, D., & Altuntas Vural, C. (2017) · Technological Forecasting and Social Change · doi:10.1016/j.techfore.2017.03.019 · Cited by 96
Steinman, E. (2012) · American Journal of Sociology · doi:10.1086/662708 · Cited by 95
Can social systems be autopoietic? Bhaskar's and Giddens’ social theories
MINGERS, J. (2004) · Journal for the Theory of Social Behaviour · doi:10.1111/j.1468-5914.2004.00256.x · Cited by 88
Theory and Contrastive Explanation in Ethnography
Lichterman, P., & Reed, I. A. (2015) · Sociological Methods & Research · doi:10.1177/0049124114554458 · Cited by 71
Individual Agency, the Ordinary, and Postmodern Life
Gubrium, J. F., & Holstein, J. A. (1995) · The Sociological Quarterly · doi:10.1111/j.1533-8525.1995.tb00453.x · Cited by 71
New rules of sociological method: rethinking technology studies
Rammert, W. (1997) · The British Journal of Sociology · doi:10.2307/591747 · Cited by 67
Ahrens, T., & Khalifa, R. (2015) · Qualitative Research in Accounting & Management · doi:10.1108/qram-04-2015-0041 · Cited by 65
When Bricks Matter: Four Arguments for the Sociological Study of Religious Buildings
Brenneman, R., & Miller, B. J. (2016) · Sociology of Religion · doi:10.1093/socrel/srw001 · Cited by 48
Theft Is Property!: Dispossession and Critical Theory
Nichols, R. (2020) · doi:10.1215/9781478090250 · Cited by 41
Escaping the Survival Trap: Network Transition among Early-Career Freelance Songwriters
Lee, Y. G., & Gargiulo, M. (2022) · Administrative Science Quarterly · doi:10.1177/00018392211055198 · Cited by 41
PERSISTENCE AND CHANGE AMONG NATIONALLY FEDERATED SOCIAL MOVEMENTS
McCarthy, J. D. (2005) · Social Movements and Organization Theory · doi:10.1017/cbo9780511791000.011 · Cited by 37
Reverberations of Empire: How the Colonial Past Shapes the Present
Go, J. (2024) · Social Science History · doi:10.1017/ssh.2023.37 · Cited by 35
“These are thus akin to Sewell ’ s (1992) notion of “ schemas ” that get effectively used, accrue resources and hence become part of lasting structures.”
BackgroundJackson, P. T. (2009) · The Oxford Handbook of Contextual Political Analysis · doi:10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199270439.003.0026 · Cited by 32
Critical Praxis Research: Breathing New Life into Research Methods for Teachers
Kress, T. M. (2011) · Explorations of Educational Purpose · doi:10.1007/978-94-007-1790-9 · Cited by 45
The Four U’s: Latent Classes of Hookup Motivations among College Students
Uecker, J. E., Pearce, L. D., & Andercheck, B. (2015) · Social Currents · doi:10.1177/2329496515579761 · Cited by 30
From Categories to Connections in the Archaeology of Eastern North America
Holland-Lulewicz, J. (2021) · Journal of Archaeological Research · doi:10.1007/s10814-020-09154-w · Cited by 25
Structuration Theory: A Conceptual Framework for HIV/AIDS Stigma
Misir, P. (2015) · Journal of the International Association of Providers of AIDS Care (JIAPAC) · doi:10.1177/2325957412463072 · Cited by 23
Feinman, G. M., & Nicholas, L. M. (2012) · Research in Economic Anthropology · doi:10.1108/s0190-1281(2012)0000032013 · Cited by 20
Moving off the Map: How Knowledge of Organizational Operations Empowers and Alienates
Huising, R. (2019) · Organization Science · doi:10.1287/orsc.2018.1277 · Cited by 19
Nordt, A., Raven, R., Malekpour, S., & Sharp, D. (2024) · Environmental Science & Policy · doi:10.1016/j.envsci.2024.103707 · Cited by 18
Dynamics of Chinese Shidu Parents’ Vulnerability in Old Age –A Qualitative Study
Fang, C. (2022) · Journal of Population Ageing · doi:10.1007/s12062-020-09293-4 · Cited by 17
Culture beneath discourse: a conceptual model for analyzing nondeclarative cultural knowledge
Rotolo, M. (2022) · American Journal of Cultural Sociology · doi:10.1057/s41290-021-00135-0 · Cited by 17
Quinlan, T. L. (2021) · Criminology & Criminal Justice · doi:10.1177/1748895819848820 · Cited by 6
Telling Times: Time and Ritual in the Realization of the Early Egyptian State
Stevenson, A. (2015) · Cambridge Archaeological Journal · doi:10.1017/s0959774314000742 · Cited by 6
Lewis, D. F. (2021) · Sociology Compass · doi:10.1111/soc4.12931 · Cited by 5
Borck, L., & Clark, J. J. (2021) · Power from Below in Premodern Societies · doi:10.1017/9781009042826.012 · Cited by 4
(2013) · The Atrium (University of Guelph) · Cited by 3
Aydeniz, M. (2026) · Sociology Compass · doi:10.1111/soc4.70230 · Cited by 1
Metadata
- Authors
- Sewell
- Venue
- American Journal of Sociology
- Publisher
- University of Chicago Press
- Published
- 1992-07
- Volume
- 98
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 1-29
- ISSN
- 0002-9602 (ISSN-L)
- 1537-5390
- OpenAlex
- W2122407370
- Cited by
- 5,282
- References
- 0
- FWCI
- 82.70
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.
Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.
What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›
Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review
Data sources
Bibliographic data: Semantic Scholar, OpenAlex, Crossref.
Contains information from the Semantic Scholar Academic Graph Datasets, made available under the ODC Attribution License (ODC-BY 1.0).
Semantic Scholar’s data is described in: Kinney, R., et al. (2023). The Semantic Scholar Open Data Platform. arXiv:2301.10140.