The Causal Power of Social Structures

The problem of structure and agency has been the subject of intense debate in the social sciences for over a hundred years. This book offers a new solution. Using a critical realist version of the theory of emergence, Dave Elder-Vass argues that instead of ascribing causal significance to an abstract notion of social structure or a monolithic concept of society, we must recognise that it is specific groups of people that have social structural power. Some of these groups are entities with emergent causal powers, distinct from those of human individuals. Yet these powers also depend on the contributions of human individuals, and this book examines the mechanisms through which interactions between human individuals generate the causal powers of some types of social structures. The Causal Power of Social Structures makes particularly important contributions to the theory of human agency and to our understanding of normative institutions.

• A contribution to a central debate in the social sciences: the relationship between individual agency and social structures
• Introduces the concept of norm circles: those groups of people whose endorsement and enforcement of specific social norms are responsible for creating norms
• All chapters include an introductory section outlining the shape of the chapter and a concluding section identifying key points to help readers maintain a clear sense of how each section fits into the larger argument