ABSTRACT
This chapter shows that the solution to the problem of the relationship between macro – and micro – levels of analysis is in recognising macro-structures as being aggregates of micro-structures. One way to show how the macro-structures of education and capitalism relate to one another is to demonstrate continuity of relationships between the constituent micro-structures. The empirical reality strongly suggests that relative autonomy is the condition of all structures, both micro and macro, if only through people's consciousness of other structures. Material and structural constraints are the more likely to be experienced as limiting autonomy, because a person's subjective reality is part of his or her notion of individuality. The 'relative autonomy' thesis potentially undermines much of Bernstein's earlier theorising. The chapter takes up one of the concerns of the first Westhill Conference of 1978; the relationships between education and other social structures, and those between the different so-called 'levels' of education, classrooms, schools and systems.
