The beginning of the question comes from page 525-526 in the Eitzen and Zinn text. It IS probably the most abstract material we've examined (if you don't find the material accessible enough, you may want to choose question #2). The second part of the question is simply an attempt to get people to come to struggle with the apparently contradictory statement that society is something that both controls us and is something that we have created, and thus, in some ways, have some control over. I'm asking for some examples of ways you've recognized or dealt with this contradiction.

For example, as a teacher, I am both a product of an educational system I had little control over and am currently constrained by it, but at the same time I obviously have some control over what I do, how I do it, how I try to shape education, etc. I am thus both a "puppet" and a "puppeteer"! And as such, I go back and forth as to whether I feel constrained by these forces, or in control of them.

Hope that helps a little.

Jim

BTW, by "social actors", all I mean is members of society. This is a term commonly used in sociology, though its not one I am particularly fond of. I used it here because sociologists talking about human agency often use it. I hope that wasn't a major source of the confusion.