it was an illustration of an approach to analyzing human behavior -- in a specific case, capitalists who are motivated to accumulate! accumulate! accumulate! -- that accounts for both the structural imperatives *and* subjectivity. Likewise, people who are positions to make decisions about u.s. actions abroad operate in the same force field of attractions and repulsions. the analysis is both macro- and micro -- and, if I could be arsed to waste my time -- I'd show the meso-level of social analysis operating as well.
as to your questions, I'd use the same analysis: examine the micro-, meso--, and macro-level of social life, social organizations, and social institutions. i'd never say it's only structural -- and there are really very few people who do -- or only individual -- though there seems to be a lot more people who do the latter.
i'm experiencing flashbacks to a class on historical sociology, reading althusser and various debates over the relationship between capitalism and the state. hmmm. too early to drink. ha!
shag
"let's be civil and nice, but not to the point of obeying the rules of debate as defined by liberal blackmail (in which, discomfort caused by a challenge is seen as some vague form of harassment)."
-- Dwayne Monroe, 11/19/08
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