New Rules of Sociological Method

This is a new and revised edition of a book which has alreadyestablished itself as a basic text in social theory. The first section of the work provides a concise criticalanalysis of some leading schools of thought in social philosophy,giving particular attention to phenomenology, ethnomethodology andWittgensteinian thought. Giddens concentrates primarily upon theimplications of these various perspectives for an account of humanaction and its intelligibility. An `action approach' on its own,however, will not do; in human social life, action and structurepresuppose one another. The author therefore moves on to provide aseries of concepts relevant to understanding the production andreproduction of society. The book concludes with a succinctstatement of some `new rules of sociological method'. Representing the first, and most trenchant, exposition of theprinciples of structuration theory, this edition also contains asubstantial new Introduction in which Giddens replies to some ofthe more persistent criticisms made of the original version andalso addresses some important issues originally discussed only in acursory way.