Conversations with Anthony Giddens

* Book: Conversations with Anthony Giddens: Making Sense of Modernity.

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Summary

From the reading notes of Michel Bauwens, 2006:

In the sixties, Giddens re-appraised sociological theory, looking at Durkheim, Weber, Marx and Simmel, who were then mostly interpreted by the American tradition of Talcott Parsons. The two dominant approaches were positivism (f.e. linking suicide to measurable external methods, a la Durkheim) and phenomenology (what is suicide subjectively to a culture, as inspired by Husserl).

In the seventies, he continued his theoretical work encountering Jurgen Habermas and Harold Garfunkel, ethnomethodology. His 1976 book, "New Rules of Sociological Method", is an argument against Durkheim's "Rules of Sociological Method" (1895), which argued that the subjective world of intentions and meanings has to be brought back in sociology. It is the first formulation of his "structuration theory', that he would finalize in 1984, and which analyzes how social structure is embedded in the daily interactions and embedded knowledge (as grammar in language), especially as related to space and time instantiations, which he compares with tradition (tied to place) and modernity. The latter becomes his central concern after the mid-80's.

Giddens distinguishes simple modernization, characterized by the processes of the breakdown of tradition, from reflexive modernization, in which we are no longer constrained by external factors, such as nature, but confronted with a natural and human environment suffused with the consequences of our actions, i.e. 'manufactured risks'. Giddens then went on to develop a political philosophy, which would culminate in the 'Third Way'. He also studied the changes in intimacy, fodusing on the 'personals column' as a stage for negotiation and the 'democratization' of emotions. H sees an undertow of democratizationin the private sphere, influencing the public sphere.

This democratization of the emotions, i.e. interpersonal capability, is one of the conditions to create a public sphere of dialogue, that can avoid the risk of violence inherent in generalized cosmpolitanism. This has led to the emergence of a 'generative politics' that actively confronts the environmental problem, the quality of life, and the role of global institutions, through the means of 'life-political' movements, such as the Greens and feminism.

The sociological classics

Before Giddens, Capitalism and Social Theory, it was Parson's interpretation that was dominant, that Marx was a precursor of sociology, established by Durkheim and Weber, and thus he could be ignored. Giddens was the first to bring them on the same level.

Weber's most enduring contribution is the comparative study of civlizations, he was the first major thinker to break away from Eurocentrism, unlike Marx. He also recognized the different between natural and social sciences (this is less clear with Durkheim, who wanted a scientific model). He also recognized the importance of power and violence.

Marx' writings can in part be explained by his travels, which made him encounter different sources:

   - 1) Hegel in Germany
   - 2) the early socialists in France
   - 3) political economy in the UK

Giddens defines sociology solely as the study of modernity, thereby distinguishing it from the broader social sciences. His own theory is based on agency and structure, the latter only existing through the repeated actions, much as grammar exists through language when it is performed. His structuration theory places more stress on knowledgeable agency and subjectivity than previous sociologists, and his definition of structure contrasts with those of the physical world, allowing a proper social-scientific approach.

Giddens sees individuals as actors, and institutions and organizations, but not groups. He stresses time-space distanciation of social systems (unlike functionalism which abstracted from time).

Modernity for Giddens has four major ingredients:

   - 1) capitalism as economic order
   - 2) a new type of state
   - 3) the military and new types of warfare
   - 4) science, technology, as innovation partly separate from the market

Modern society is based on risk and trust. Unlike danger or hazards, risks are actively engaged and managed; and there are two kinds of risk:

   - 1) market-based
   - 2) health and environment (insurance)

- Risk is now generalized throughout our social and personal lives, as more areas are opened up to choice, such as reproduction.

More information

Books by Giddens

- Capitalism and Modern Social Theory, 1971 ('one of the most valuable sources on Marx, Weber, and Durkheim)

- The Class Structure of Advanced Societies, 1973 (a study of the political writings of Max Weber)

- A Contemporary Critique of Historical Materialism, 1981

   - Vol 1: Power, Property, and the State, 1985: 
   - Vol 2: The National State and Violence): a critique of Marxist theories of social change, rejecting the linear view of historical progress; 
   - Vol 3: Beyond Left and Right

- The Constitution of Society, 1984: formal and final presentation of his structuration theory