What is the significance of Structuralism for social science? How original is Levi-Strauss' contribution to social theory? Is he Marxist? Though Structuralism, and its leading representative Levi-Strauss, are central to sociology, anthropology and psychology, the complexity of his work and the obscurity of his commentators have often proved a barrier to understanding. Now for the first time, Dr Badcock provides a jargon-free assessment of Levi-Strauss' place in the tradition of French sociological thought - particularly to predecessors such as Comte, Durkheim and Mauss - discusses his relationship to Marx, Sartre, Freud and Talcott Parsons and provides a concise, non-technical account of his complex ideas on kinship, totenism and myth.

What is the significance of Structuralism for social science? How original is Levi-Strauss' contribution to social theory? Is he Marxist? Though Structuralism, and its leading representative Levi-Strauss, are central to sociology, anthropology and psychology, the complexity of his work and the obscurity of his commentators have often proved a barrier to understanding. Now for the first time, Dr Badcock provides a jargon-free assessment of Levi-Strauss' place in the tradition of French sociological thought - particularly to predecessors such as Comte, Durkheim and Mauss - discusses his relationship to Marx, Sartre, Freud and Talcott Parsons and provides a concise, non-technical account of his complex ideas on kinship, totenism and myth.