on of social interaction.
             To Emile Durkheim and his followers, society is an entity sui generis. Behind the surface level of observable social interaction lies a deeper level of acknowledged social structures. These structures are the most resourceful object of social studies because they apply to all members of the structure and are relatively stable. Consequently, a shared social fabric predetermines individual agency. Rational calculative attitudes are from this perspective seen as limited to certain areas of social life. Structuralism adopts a holistic perspective.
             Rational Choice Theory chooses to focus on the limited areas of social life where rational calculative attitudes are prevalent. While it can acknowledge that social structures exist and act as a restraining framework to decision-making, it rules out that factors other than rational considerations play a role in the decision-making itself. Structures define the playground, but they do not influence the way in which the individual chooses to act within it. This is why rational choice is not a deduction from structuralism. Structuralism claims that social structures are internalized by the individual. Consequently, the norms and values contained in social structures are competing elements of the decision-making process itself. Contrary to that, RC theorists postulate that individuals "within the playground" will attempt to achieve an optimal correspondence between means and ends regardless of alterior factors. This can not logically follow from the structuralist perspective.
             However a link between structuralism and RCT can not be ruled out entirely. Th
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