Social structure and individual agency are mutually constitutive, not opposed

Evidence

For instance, it is well known that Luhmann refers in his systems theory not to people, but to networks of communications. This does not mean that social systems could exist without people (or psychic systems), but that the meaningful reproduction and determination of meaning is a self-referential process determined by subsequent sequences of communication rather than by the will of individual human beings, the concerted efforts of groups of human beings, or some external force. Luhmann’s notion of meaning has often been overlooked or misinterpreted, with the result that his insistence on systems of communication rather than people has been seen as anti-humanist or as evidence that he simply and wilfully ignored the importance of people. This is a fundamental misreading of Luhmann’s intentions. — Niklas Luhmann, Trust and Power, 20 (#complicates, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Reified social wholes are objective forces that decide individual existence — Herbert Marcuse, One-Dimensional Man: Studies in the…, 735; The single authentic self is a social construction at odds with real social practice. — Alice E. Marwick, Status Update: Celebrity, Publicity,…, 617; Institutional and individual reform are mutually dependent, not alternatives — Robert D. Putnam, Bowling Alone The Collapse and Revival…, 1485 (+22 more)

Broader Connections

• Social systems reproduce through self-referential communication, not individual will #complicates (0.84) — Niklas Luhmann, Trust and Power, 20
• Structuralism decentered individual agency that culturalism treated as authentic #complicates (0.80)
• Social institutions function through trust only at the individual micro level #complicates (0.77)