Society and Its Metaphors: Language, Social Theory and Social Structure

(Paperback)

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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.

Reviews

"A quite outstanding achievement, Society and its Metaphors engages thoroughly with the implications of poststructuralist strictures on explanatory theorizing, and with the heightened reflexivity about language now pervasive among social theorists. Yet the book still remains committed to an explanatory project of social theorizing, one more cautious and circumspect, but none the less challenging and ambitious. The indispensable but problematic role of metaphor is the thread which binds together a remarkably integrated work."--Ted Benton, University of Essex
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"Lopez, approaches social theory as a discursive practice, and his rhetorical analysis of the writings of Durkheim, Marx, Weber, Parsons, and Althusser constitutes a valuable example of the insights that such an approach can provide. Recommended. Upper-division undergraduates and above." -Choice, 2/04 * Blurb from reviewer *

Author Bio

Jos Lpez is Lecturer in Sociology and Social Policy at the University of Nottingham.