Theories that explain social phenomena can be categorized based on their stress on agent or structure as: agent-oriented theories, structure-oriented theories, or borderline theories that attempt to find a third way. Voluntarists (including rational choice theorists) stress on the role of the agent. On the other hand, structuralists and post-structuralists stress on the role of the structure. However, the structuration and critical realism theories try to find equilibrium of the past two views.
The weak point of voluntarism is the reduction of complex issues to the role of people in the society and history. The discourse theories well depict how the subject turns into object in the heart of the discourse. On the other hand, the weak point of structuralism is ignoring the role of people. Instead, the borderline theories (third category) do not suffer from the limitations of the other mentioned theories and overall seem more defendable.
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