ABSTRACT
This chapter outlines the development of post-structural theory and its main tenants. Demonstrating its connections to and divergences from structuralism, post-structuralism is framed as a particularly useful approach for interrogating past and present social structures and systems. In noting some of the key contributions of post-structural theorists, this theoretical snapshot argues for the continued incorporation of post-structural approaches into social justice paradigms. While deconstruction functions primarily as a means for questioning the relationship between text and meaning, the post-structural tradition has played an integral role in advancing calls for the disassembly of oppressive power structures, the furthering of social justice inquiry, as well as the activism that these practices call for.
