Introduction: Anthony Giddens — Social Theory and Politics

Abstract

Anthony Giddens is a major figure in the discipline of sociology, with impressive breadth of scope and influence. His theory of structuration provided an essential approach for the study of social transformation, especially in complex organizations, and presented a possible solution to several long-standing problems in social theory, notably including how to coherently engage in sociological enquiry with due attention to both structure and agency. His analysis of late modernity put the term ‘globalization’ firmly on the sociological map and shaped debates about the distinctiveness of the present age, providing the terminology and descriptive foundations for research on individualization, challenges to tradition and individuals’ self-understanding in the global age. His breadth of expertise has helped establish both his early expository works on classical sociological theory as well as his later sociology textbooks as standard reading for anyone entering into sociological endeavours.