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Time, space, social change
pp. 198-233
Abstract
In developing the account of agency and structure suggested earlier, I have proposed that the conception of structuration introduces temporality as integral to social theory; and that such a conception involves breaking with the synchrony/diachrony or static/dynamic divisions that have featured so prominently in both structuralism and functionalism. It would be untrue of course to say that those writing within these traditions of thought have not been concerned with time. But the general tendency, especially within functionalist thought, has been to identify time with the diachronic or dynamic; synchronic analysis represents a "timeless snapshot" of society. The result is that time is identified with social change.
Publication details
Published in:
Giddens Anthony (1979) Central problems in social theory: action, structure and contradiction in social analysis. Dordrecht, Springer.
Pages: 198-233
DOI: 10.1007/978-1-349-16161-4_7
Full citation:
Giddens Anthony (1979) Time, space, social change, In: Central problems in social theory, Dordrecht, Springer, 198–233.