能动性一词通常是与结构（structure）一词并列，经常不过是行动（action）一词的同义词，在于暗地里强调人类行动的未可决定的本质（the undeterminednature of human action,），又对立于诸结构理论所说的决定论（determinism）。如果该词（真的）有一更宽的意义的话，它是提醒（我们）注意行动者（actor）的心理学和社会心理学上的构成，以及指向（行动者的）意志（随己意）行动的能力。

社会学理论通常会相对特定地强调它们理论在于能动性或者结构——因此这是从能动性vs.结构争论（agency versus structure debate.）来看。最近一些理论家介入了这场争论，自觉地试以超越这个二元论（dualism）。

法国社会学家布迪厄便是一个好的例子。他坚持社会生活的客体性和主体性的维度是不可分开地串联在一起。以此，布迪厄进一步去挑战了宏观vs.微观、结构vs.能动性的争论。(Outlineof a Theory of Practice, 1977).

另一位值得在此强调的是吉登斯的结构化（structuration）理论。同样的，美国社会学家亚历山大（Jeffrey Alexander）的多维度社会学也将双层次分析并到一块，这尤其反映在他的四卷本TheoreticalLogic in Sociology (1984). See also ACTIONTHEORY; STRUCTURATION.

第一段的翻译抄录了吕炳强《凝视、行动与社会世界》中的译文，见下：

原文抄录自Scott, John, ed.2014 A Dictionary of Sociology. Fourth edition. Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press.

agency Theterm agency is often juxtaposed to *structure and is often no more than a synonym for action, emphasizing implicitlythe undetermined nature of human action, as opposed to the alleged determinismof structural theories. If it has a wider meaning, it is to draw attention tothe psychological and social psychological make-up of the actor, and to implythe capacity for willed (voluntary) action.

Sociological theories are often characterized by the relativeemphasis they place on agency or structure—and in terms, therefore, of anagency versus structure debate. Some recent theorists have intervened in thedebate in a conscious attempt to transcend this *dualism. The French sociologist Pierre *Bourdieu is a good example. His insistence that the objective andsubjective aspects of social life are inescapably bound together leads him tochallenge the dualism of macro versus micro and structure versus agency (Outline of a Theory ofPractice, 1977).

Another writer to have addressed this issue is Anthony *Giddens in his theory of *structuration. Similarly, the Americansociologist Jeffrey Alexander argues for a multidimensional sociology thatbrings together the two levels of analysis, most notably in his four-volume Theoretical Logic in Sociology (1984).See also ACTION THEORY; STRUCTURATION.

（Sociological理论大缸第34期）