ABSTRACT
The argument of the previous chapter was that the possibility of agency depends upon social structural complexity. Without social structure, actors would have neither the tools nor the will preconditional to agency. And without structural complexity, actors would lack the range of powers and motives enabling them to exercise this potential for agency in choice. In this chapter I will introduce three sets of structures - capitalist, patriarchal and ethnic - each in tension with each other and thus each affording opportunities for independent action. But before examining these structures further, let me sketch how structural complexity permits strategic choice within the firm.
