Here, “social practices” means the relationship between agency and structure.
For him, activities are not produced by consciousness.
It is rather through practices that both consciousness and structure are produced.
Giddens is interested in practical consciousness and it is more important in structuration theory.
Practical consciousness involves actions that the actors take for granted, without being able to express in words what they are doing.
When we focus on practical consciousness, we can transit our attention from actor
(agent) to agency: The things that actors actually do.
With the concept of agency, people became an active (not passive) character. They can make a decision, or they are different with each other.