Anthony Giddens is an influential theorist of society most known for his theories of society in terms of a circular relationship between structure and agency. For Giddens, the classical paradigm of social science first articulated by Emile Durkheim always lacked a way of explaining the effects of individual actions. And yet, every individual, to some extent, possesses agency, a capacity to act, and without this agency, there would be no one to participate in society and keep it going. Hence, an explanation of institutions just in terms of “social facts,” that is, rules and norms, was incomplete. At the same time, Giddens saw that social theories of modernity were also biased in another, related way. Theorists of modernity in the Western tradition tended to describe social change as a liberation of individuals from groups, traditions, religion and the power of institutional structures. In these theories, “city air makes you free,” or increasing complexity creates more choices and opportunities for individuals, and a greater importance to the individual's agency. In fact, Giddens argued that modernity was more complex. As society become more complex, individuals do gain more choices as rules and traditions became looser, but individuals, faced with uncertainty, come to trust new institutions based on the routine monitoring and control of individual actions. For Giddens, modern society in one in which individuals are the object of highly complex,

Takla, Tendzin N. 1981. “The Aufhebung of Social Theory.” Contemporary Sociology 10 (2): 191–93. doi:10.2307/2066846.