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Social Theory and Concepts

Poststructuralism

Structuralism and Poststructuralism

A philosophical and social-theoretical movement questioning the objectivity and stability of the interpretive structures structuralism posited, arguing that meaning is destabilized by context, power and difference rather than fixed within a closed system of relations. This description is adapted from Wikipedia contributors under CC BY-SA 4.0; changes were made. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

Facts
Core ClaimSourced to the subject's own account
Rejects the structuralist assumption that a system's elements (such as a dominant term and its subservient counterpart in a binary pair) hold a fixed, stable relation to one another, arguing instead that such oppositions can be destabilized and read against themselves. 1
Origin Year
1960 1
Sourced to the subject's own accountSources give the decade of emergence (France, the 1960s) rather than a single founding year; 1960 stands for the start of that decade, not a precise date.
Connections

Associated With

Michel Foucault, Social Theorists

Michel Foucault is among the theorists most closely identified with poststructuralism, alongside Derrida.

Source Wikipedia: Poststructuralism

Power/knowledge is a signature poststructuralist concept, part of the same theoretical current already live on this atlas.

Critiqued Here

Structuralism, Social Theory and Concepts

Poststructuralism developed as a critical reaction to structuralism rather than a wholesale rejection; several theorists associated with it declined the poststructuralist label themselves.

Source Wikipedia: Poststructuralism

Institutions Informed

Deconstruction is a key analytical strand within the broader poststructuralist movement this atlas already carries as a live theory.

Sources
1. Wikipedia: Poststructuralism
Wikipedia
  • Opening paragraph, description
    Post-structuralism is a philosophical movement that questions the objectivity or stability of the various interpretive structures that are posited by structuralism.
  • Relationship with structuralism, core claim
    Post-structuralism rejects the structuralist notion that the dominant word in a pair is dependent on its subservient counterpart.
  • History section, origin
    Post-structuralism emerged in France during the 1960s as a movement critiquing structuralism.
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