This text analyses one of the core concerns of both classical and contemporary social theory: the concept of social structure. It does so through an analysis of the language of social theory. Both classical and contemporary social theorists have created a range of frameworks to formulate and develop concepts of social structure. Focusing on the work of the key theorists, Emile Durkheim, Karl Marx, Max Weber, Talcott Parsons and Louis Althusser, the book maps the linguistic basis of different theories of social structure. The book develops a formulation of social structure by illuminating the ways in which metaphors establish semantic links across different theories of society.

Author Biography

Jose Lopez teaches social theory and sociology at the University of Nottingham. With John Scott he is the author of Social Structure, and he is the co-editor with Garry Potter of After Postmodernism: An Introduction to Critical Realism.