Structuralism

Abstract

“Structuralism” is a term of art in metatheoretical and historical reflections on social theory that describes an otherwise heterogeneous set of philosophical, literary, theoretical, and analytical currents in the humanities and social sciences with roots in the postwar French academy. It offered no clearly defined program, paradigm, or doctrine beyond the idea that “structure matters” and, in this sense, structuralism was more a moment in the development of French thought than a solid movement. There were nonetheless family resemblances based on a shared intellectual culture, personal connections, and a particular style of theorizing, which were based on a relational ontology, an interest in totalization, and an ambition to unify different disciplines by reinterpreting their respective theoretical objects with the aid of structural linguistics. The contingent and contested nature of the structuralist moment is seen in the fact that many so‐called structuralists are also described as poststructuralists on the grounds that they sought to overcome the limits of structuralism without entirely rejecting it, taking its interest in linguistics and discourse even further (e.g., Roland Barthes, Michel Foucault, Jacques Lacan, Jacques Derrida).