The relation between Gilles Deleuze and structuralism is a nuanced philosophical problem that resists reductive categorization. In a key text originally written in 1967 and later published under the title À\; quoi reconnaî\;t-on le structuralisme? (How Do We Recognize Structuralism?)\, Deleuze undertakes what he describes as a systematic effort to articulate the minimal conditions that define structuralist inquiry and to distill common structuralist procedures and criteria across disciplines. In this essay Deleuze examines linguistic\, anthropological\, psychoanalytic\, and philosophical instances of structuralist methodology and articulates the central conceptual elements &mdash\; from symbolic systems and differential relations to positional logic &mdash\; that make structuralism recognizable as a research program.
\nFar from dismissing structuralism in toto\, Deleuze&rsquo\;s early engagement recognizes the analytic efficacy of structural methods and signals the ways these methods illuminate recurrence\, difference\, and relational determination across domains of inquiry. His work in Diffé\;rence et ré\;pé\;tition (1968) and Logique du sens (1969)\, both products of the same intellectual moment as his structuralism essay\, deploy arguments and figures that resonate with structuralist concerns while also extending them into new ontological territory.
\nContemporary commentators &mdash\; including scholars such as É\;tienne Balibar and Patrice Maniglier &mdash\; have emphasized that Deleuze&rsquo\;s apparent shift away from structuralism in later texts (especially after his collaboration with Fé\;lix Guattari in L&rsquo\;Anti-&OElig\;dipe and Mille plateaux) should not be understood as a simple rejection. Rather\, Deleuze&rsquo\;s philosophical development reflexively incorporates and transforms structuralist problems\, carrying forward aspects of structuralist thinking even as it problematizes and reconceives structure in terms of multiplicity\, dynamism\, and the relational constitution of concepts and things. In this view\, Deleuze&rsquo\;s thought participates in a continuum that includes classical structuralism\, the transformations of the 1960s/1970s\, and what later came to be termed post-structuralism &mdash\; with structuralist legacies enduring even through critical revision.
\nThis special issue aims to deepen philosophical\, historical\, and interdisciplinary understandings of Deleuze&rsquo\;s relation to structuralism by inviting contributions that clarify\, complicate\, or rearticulate the continuities and tensions between structuralist frameworks and Deleuzian philosophy. We are especially interested in work that situates Deleuze within structuralist debates &mdash\; not merely against them &mdash\; or that uses Deleuzian concepts to revisit foundational questions about structure\, difference\, system\, and relationality in the human and social sciences.
\nPossible Areas for Contributions\nWe welcome submissions addressing topics such as (but not limited to):
\nDeleuze&rsquo\;s À\; quoi reconnaî\;t-on le structuralisme? &mdash\; analyses of this essay&rsquo\;s criteria for recognizing structuralism and its implications for understanding Deleuze&rsquo\;s early philosophy in relation to structuralist methodologies.
\nStructuralist themes in Deleuze&rsquo\;s major works &mdash\; explorations of structuralist themes or formal analogues in Diffé\;rence et ré\;pé\;tition\, Logique du sens\, and subsequent writings.
\nComparative studies &mdash\; critical engagements comparing Deleuze&rsquo\;s structuralist affinities with figures like Saussure\, Lé\;vi-Strauss\, Lacan\, Foucault\, Althusser\, and others whose work contributed to classical structuralism.
\nBeyond the structural/post-structural divide &mdash\; contributions that rethink the conventional bifurcation between structuralism and post-structuralism\, using Deleuzian perspectives to map continuities and divergences.
\nImpact on structuralist and allied disciplines &mdash\; studies that examine how Deleuzian readings of structuralism have influenced contemporary structuralist scholarship in linguistics\, anthropology\, semiotics\, psychoanalysis\, or cognitive theory.
\nMethodological reconstructions &mdash\; essays that use Deleuzian concepts (difference\, multiplicity\, rhizome\, plane of immanence) to propose new structuralist frameworks or methodological tools for research.
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