Social systems theory is dominated by a reductionistic individualism and a dualistic functionalism. Especially the latter doesn’t adequately integrate the human being. In order to avoid dualism, mechanistic determinism and reductionism, a dialectical concept of social systems that is based on the notion of self-organization seems necessary. In order to establish a dialectical theory of social s...

Socioculturalists are divided on two of the foundational theoretical claims of the paradigm: a process ontology of the social world; and the inseparability of the individual and the group. A process ontology holds that only processes are real; entities, structures or patterns are ephemeral and do not really exist. Inseparability is the claim that the individual and the social cannot be methodol...

Key concepts of Risk Society as elaborated by Ulrich Beck and others (Beck, U., 1992 (trans. Mark Ritter). The Risk Society. Sage Publications, London. Beck, U., 1995, Ecological Politics in the Age of Risk. Polity Press, Cambridge. Beck, U., 1999, World Risk Society. Polity Press, Cambridge. Giddens, A., 1994, Beyond Left and Right. Polity Press, Oxford. Beck, U., Giddens, A. and Lash, S., 199...

Implementations of large scale information systems are complex and problematic with a reputation for being delayed and going over budget. A critical factor in the success of these implementations is trust in the system, in the project and between the various stakeholders. As problems and delays mount, trust relations become strained, leading to a circle of suspicion and disbelief which is both ...

Giddens’ mature formulation of structuration theory has been available since the publication of ‘The Constitution of Society’ in 1984, and has been adopted and adapted by a number of researchers in the Information System field. Though accepted as a substantial contribution to social theory, Giddens’ work is not without its critics, and is decidedly thin in some areas important to IS. Analyzing ...

An ongoing investigation into the declining participation of women in IT education and professional level work has recently focused on professional women’s perceptions of the IT industry. This paper presents some of the findings from a discourse analysis of interviews with thirty-two female and two male IT professionals. The analysis identified a distinctive characteristic of the women’s discou...

At a time when ‘personal development planning’ is being rolled out across the UK higher education sector, this paper explores young adults’ inclinations to plan for the future in relation to work, relationships and other aspects of life. Although Giddens (1991) has emphasised the prevalence of strategic life planning (or the ‘colonisation of the future’) in all strata of contemporary society, d...

This paper employs the analysis of an interpretive case study within a Regional Train Operating Company (RTOC) to arrive at theoretical understandings of Information Systems (IS). Giddens’ ‘structuration theory’ is developed which offers an account of structure and agency; social practices developing and changing over time and space. The most common application of structuration theory to the IS...

The field of science education has struggled to create robust, meaningful forms of education that effectively engage students from historically non-dominant communities andwomen. This paper argues that a primary issue underlying this on-going struggle pivots on constructions of nature–culture relations.We takeup structuration theory (Giddens, 1984.The constitutionof society:Outlineof the theory...

Este libro hace una reconstrucción histórica y interpretación sociológica de la vida, pasión muerte Jesús. Por un lado, está basado en fuentes históricas como los evangelios canónicos apócrifos, las 21 epístolas, Hechos Apóstoles, narraciones historiadores antiguos Flavio Josefo, Filón Alejandría Eusebio Cesarea. Y, por el otro, análisis social hermenéutico propuesto sociólogos Max Weber, Alfre...