ABSTRACT

As realism gains ground in social theory, it seems fair to admit that it has made a greater contribution to the re-conceptualisation of structure than it has to that of agency. However, if the ‘problem of structure and agency’ is to be resolved, then equivalent attention has to be given to both terms. Moreover, realism’s stratified ontology, which has proved so useful in delineating the properties and powers that emerge at different levels of social structure, is just as pertinent to agency. This is what will be examined here. Specifically, it is those strata that pertain to every mature social agent, namely ‘selfhood’, ‘personal identity’ and ‘social identity’, which will be the focus of attention.2 The implications of distinguishing these different personal emergent properties (PEPs) will be discussed throughout in relation to other theories that fail to make these distinctions. What difference a realist approach to agency makes to social investigation will be indicated in the conclusion.