In this article I argue for a relational approach to the agency–structure problem. Structure has three dimensions from this perspective but, at its most fundamental, it is a network comprising social actors (human and corporate) and the relations connecting them. Defined thus structure has measurable properties which generate both opportunities and constraints for actors and which shape processes, such as diffusion, which affect and implicate them. Agency is integral to this model. Actors are the nodes of the network and their relations are built, maintained, modified and broken by way of their interactions. However, I argue that the human organism only fully becomes a social actor by way of interaction. In effect, both agency and structure are emergent properties of social interactions/relations which act back upon and shape those interactions/relations. In addition to resolving theoretical problems this approach has the advantage of facilitating empirical analysis of structure.

在这篇文章中，我主张采用一种关系方法来解决代理结构问题。从这个角度来看，结构具有三个维度，但从根本上说，它是一个网络，包括社会参与者（人和企业）以及连接它们的关系。如此定义的结构具有可衡量的特性，这些特性为参与者带来机会和约束，并塑造影响和牵连他们的过程，例如扩散。代理是该模型不可或缺的一部分。参与者是网络的节点，它们的关系通过它们的交互来建立、维护、修改和破坏。然而，我认为人类有机体只有通过互动才能完全成为社会行动者。有效，能动性和结构都是社会互动/关系的涌现属性，它们作用于并塑造这些互动/关系。除了解决理论问题之外，这种方法还有利于结构的经验分析。