ABSTRACT
Before attempting to provide a critical analysis of the arguments in the Rules it is necessary here to look at the nature of Durkheim’s strategies, the way in which specific investigations were developed in a long term ‘programme of research’. This has been the subject of a confused debate among Durkheim scholars. After examining the main issues of this debate, the problems of analysing Durkheim’s strategic techniques will be discussed through investigations of the supple structure of his social theory, and his conception of pathways in complex transitions.
