SOCb2587 Sociological Diagnoses of our Times

Faculty of Social Studies
Spring 2022
Extent and Intensity
1/1/0. 6 credit(s). Type of Completion: zk (examination).
Teacher(s)
Dr. Werner Binder (lecturer)
Guaranteed by
Dr. Werner Binder
Department of Sociology – Faculty of Social Studies
Contact Person: Ing. Soňa Enenkelová
Supplier department: Department of Sociology – Faculty of Social Studies
Timetable
Thu 16:00–17:40 U33
Prerequisites
The course has no prerequesites, except of course for the ability to read English texts and converse in English. It is not only suitable for bachelor students in sociology but also for students from other fields without a sociological background.
Course Enrolment Limitations
The course is also offered to the students of the fields other than those the course is directly associated with.
The capacity limit for the course is 40 student(s).
Current registration and enrolment status: enrolled: 2/40, only registered: 0/40, only registered with preference (fields directly associated with the programme): 0/40
fields of study / plans the course is directly associated with
Course objectives
Sociological literature, especially in the writings of the classics, often contains a (more or less explicit) diagnosis of the present time of the author (for example, Weber’s characterization of modern capitalism as “iron cage”). In the 20th century, “time diagnosis” emerged as a specific sociological genre, exemplified by works such as Beck's "Risk Society", Bauman’s “Liquid Modernity” or Castell's "Network Society". Time diagnoses offer a sociological interpretation of contemporary society, often with a critical edge and the potential to reach broader educated audiences beyond the confines of the discipline. This course focuses on recently published diagnoses of our times, which we will read and discuss in their entirety, limiting ourselves to one of two monographs per semester.
This year, two recent(ly translated) books by two German sociologists will be in the center of our attention. Andreas Reckwitz, arguably the most influential sociologist in contemporary Germany, develops in his "The Society of Singularities" (2020) the concept of singularization to capture crucial features characterizing all fields of contemporary society, from economy and work to culture, life-style and politics. In our class, we will tackle this novel take on late modernity chapter by chapter. With his voluminous work "Resonance" (2019), Hartmut Rosa offers a contemporary piece of German critical theory and a sociology of human-world relations. In this seminar, we will read instead his recent "The Uncontrollability of the World" (2020), a much shorter book that summarizes the argument of its predecessor and sharpens it towards a critical time diagnosis.
Syllabus
  • I Organizational Meeting
  • II Society of Singularities – Introduction to the Book and the Author
  • III The Social Logic of the General and the Particular
  • IV Culture as Valorization and De-Valorization
  • V Post-Industrial Economy of Singularities
  • VI Singularization of the Working World
  • Reading Week
  • VII Digitalization as Singularization
  • VIII The Singularization of Lifestyles and the New Middle-Class
  • IX Politics of Singularities – Differential Liberalism and Cultural Essentialism
  • X Conclusion and Criticism
  • XI The Uncontrollability of the World I
  • XII The Uncontrollability of the World II
Literature
    required literature
  • RECKWITZ, Andreas. The society of singularities. English edition. Cambridge: Policy, 2020, viii, 416. ISBN 9781509534227. info
  • ROSA, Hartmut. The uncontrollability of the world. Translated by James C. Wagner. English edition. Cambridge: Polity, 2020, ix, 132. ISBN 9781509543168. info
Assessment methods
1. Participation in class – 20%
2. Ten short response papers – 60%
3. Presentation or Final Essay – 20%
Language of instruction
English
Further Comments
Study Materials
Listed among pre-requisites of other courses
  • Enrolment Statistics (recent)
  • Permalink: https://is.muni.cz/course/fss/spring2022/SOCb2587