ABSTRACT
Structuralism presents a framework for understanding social phenomena based on a radical alteration of one’s everyday perception of the social world. The immediate world around one is less important than the larger reality behind that world. The study of the social world from a structural perspective reveals certain organizational rules and patterns that give it a definite form and structure. This form and structure-often referred to as a system or a whole-is the proper subject of structural analysis. Specific social phenomena only have meaning and can only be understood by placing them in this broader context. It is not that social phenomena are dropped from the analysis; rather, they are viewed as constituent parts of complex systems (or wholes). Their meaning is determined by their organizational role within a complex system. Owing to this emphasis on the structure, in the form of a system, structuralism is often referred to as systems (or holistic) analysis.
