agil

In sociology, AGIL is an acronym for the four functional prerequisites of social systems proposed by Talcott Parsons as part of his structural functionalist theory. The four functions are intended to be universal requirements for any enduring social system.

Adaptation refers to the system’s capacity to adjust to its external environment and to obtain and allocate resources needed for survival. Goal attainment concerns defining priorities, setting objectives, and mobilizing resources to achieve them. Integration covers processes that coordinate and synchronize the relations among a system’s parts, maintaining cohesion and reducing conflict. Latent pattern maintenance, also called pattern maintenance, involves preserving and transmitting the system’s core norms, values, and motivational patterns across generations to sustain continuity.

The AGIL framework is used to analyze how institutions such as the family, the state, or the economy fulfill these four prerequisites, and to diagnose where a system may be at risk of instability or decline if one function is weak. It has been influential in shaping how sociologists think about the roles of institutions and the interdependencies among social components.

Critics argue that AGIL emphasizes stability and consensus at the expense of conflict, power, and change, and that it presumes a level of universality that may not fit all cultures or historical contexts. It is also seen as a descriptive rather than predictive tool, with challenges in empirical testing. Despite criticisms, the AGIL model remains a foundational reference within structural-functional approaches and scholarly discussions of social systems.