This study of social structures looks at the network approach. It contains non-technical articles that contrast structural analysis with other social scientific approaches. It deals with individual behaviour and identity and with neighbourhood and community ties. It examines the relationships within and between organizations, discussing how firms occupy strategically appropriate niches. It also explores the impact of the growth of the Internet, equating computer networks as social networks connecting people in virtual communities and collaborative work.
Introduction - studying social structures, B. Welmand, S.D. Berkowitz. Part 1 Thinking structurally: structural analysis - from method and metaphor to theory and substance, B. Wellman; understanding simple social structure - kinship units and ties, N. Howell; the duality of persons and groups, R.L. Breiger; the relational basis of attitudes, B.H. Erickson. Part 2 Communities: networks as personal communities, B. Wellman et al; work and community in industrializing India, L. Howard; relations of production and class rule - the hidden basis of patron-clientage, Y.M. Bodemann. Part 3 Markets: varieties of markets, H.C. White; markets and market-areas - some preliminary formulation, S.D. Berkowitz; form and substance in the analysis of the world economy, Harriet Friedmann. Part 4 Social change: misreading then rereading 19th century social change, C. Tilly; structural location and ideological divergence - Jewish Marxist intellectuals in turn-of-the-century Russia, R.J. Brym; cities and fights - material entailment analysis of the 18th century chemical revolution, D.R. White, H.G. McCann. Part 5 Social mobility: collective mobility and the persistence of dynasties, L. Teperman; economic action and social structure - the problem of embeddedness, M. Granovetter; occupational mobility - a structural model, J.H. Levine, J. Spardara. Afterword: toward a formal structural sociology, S.D. Berkowitz.
