Metaphors as Principles of ‘Visuality’

This article argues that, in contemporary sociological debates, questions about social structure are too frequently posed within the ‘structure and agency’ problematic. Some of the limitations of this problematic are briefly discussed, and it is argued that it is necessary to open up new theoretical and conceptual spaces where more productive questions can be posed. One possible avenue is contained in the recognition that since social theory is a language-borne practice, then the attempt to develop concepts, of social structure in this case, simultaneously presupposes the deployment of a variety of discursive and narrative strategies. Thus the potentialities and limitations contained in these strategies should be put at the very centre of discussions over, and about, social structure. This point is developed by examining the constitutive role of metaphorical strategies in conceptual and theoretical innovation. The point is further illustrated through the development of an analysis of some of the metaphorical strategies found in Marx's attempt to develop a concept of social structure that is capable of capturing the complexity of capitalism as a social system. It is argued that Marx's attempt to conceptualize social structure cannot be reduced to the base/ superstructure model; Marx's Capital contains another model that is predicated on a conception of labour grounded in an ‘energeticist’ metaphor. The article concludes by briefly exploring some of the implications of this wider reading of Marx's attempt to develop a concept of social structure.