The best-known classic works of Emile Durkheim are characterized by a structural approach to the understanding of society, and it is this element of his writings that has been most taken up by modern social science. This volume rejects the dominant structural approach, drawing instead on Durkheim's later work, in which he shifted to a symbolic theory of modern industrial societies that emphasized the importance of ritual to collective behavior. By doing so, the contributors offer not only a radically different interpretation of Durkheim, but also a challenging new way of linking the interpretation of culture and the interpretation of society.