ABSTRACT
Before we can capture the very idea of society scientifically we need to be able to “picture” it. What should we imagine when we engage the idea of society? My objective in this chapter is to offer some resources for constructing the idea or image of society. I draw on some approaches from across the theoretical landscape of sociology to achieve this objective: dialectical sociology, open systems theory, and ecological-evolutionary sociology. My objective is to draw on approaches that convey the complexity and dynamism of society, and complement each other in ways that can lead to a general theory of society. My immediate objective is not a general theory but a general image. This should not be interpreted as a call for consensus and order in sociological theory, but rather an evaluation of the possibility of constructing an explanatory theory of society. These are not the normal ways in which sociologists approach communicating the image of society; they are more likely to draw on structural functionalism, conflict theory, and symbolic interactionism. I am approaching this task at a more general level of image construction drawing on classical theories.
