FSS:GLCb2025 Sociological Diagnoses of our - Course Information
GLCb2025 Sociological Diagnoses of our Times
Faculty of Social StudiesSpring 2025
- Extent and Intensity
- 1/1/0. 5 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
- Tue 18:00–19:40 U35
- Prerequisites
- ! SOCb2587 Sociological Diagnoses of our
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: 25/40, 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
- there are 8 fields of study the course is directly associated with, display
- 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 a couple of shorter monographs per semester. This year, two recently published books will be at the center of our attention, End of Illusions (2021) by the German sociologist Andreas Reckwitz and Cannibal Capitalism (2022) by the American social philosopher Nancy Fraser. In the first half of the class, we will read End of Illusions, where Reckwitz, arguably the most influential sociologist in contemporary Germany, elaborates on the themes of his Society of Singularities (2020), in which he argues that cultural processes of “singularization” characterize all fields of contemporary society, from economy and work to culture, life-style and politics. End of Illusions focusses on the social consequences and political challenges, which are the result of cultural processes of singularization. In the second part of the class, we will discuss Nancy Fraser’s Cannibal Capitalism, where she develops a contemporary critique of capitalism on social, political and environmental grounds. We will have to cover both books in eight weeks due to scheduling conflicts but there will be a double-block after the official end of the semester, where we will have the opportunity to discuss a third and very short book, The Uncontrollability of the World (2020) by Hartmut Rosa, arguably Germany’s leading critical theorist. Rosa argues that our modern desire to control the world impedes on our capacity to experience “resonance”, which he deems essential for a good life. Participation in the double-block is not required for those who have attended all previous seminars and met all the assignments satisfactorily, but will allow for everyone else to make up for missed classes and assignments.
- Learning outcomes
- After completing the course students will be able to
- read and discuss contemporary sociological texts in English
- identify the key arguments in a text and present them in a written form
- apply general insights from the literature to specific social phenomena in their lives and societies
- think about contemporary challenges to our societies in a sociological way
- understand the role, strenghts and weaknesses of particular time diagnoses as well as of the genre in general - Syllabus
- Organizational Meeting
- End of Illusions I – Introduction & Cultural Conflicts as a Struggle over Culture
- Conference Break – No Class
- End of Illusions II – From the Leveled Middle-Class Society to the Three-Class Society
- End of Illusions III – Beyond Industrial Society and The Weariness of Self-Actualization
- End of Illusions IV – The Crisis of Liberalism and the Search for the New Political Paradigm
- Reading Week
- Dean’s Day – No Class
- Fraser: Cannibal Capitalism I – Capitalism
- Fraser: Cannibal Capitalism II – Racism and Care
- Fraser: Cannibal Capitalism III – Nature
- Conference Break – No Class
- Fraser: Cannibal Capitalism IV– Democracy and Socialism
- Additional Make-Up Class: Rosa: Uncontrollability of the World
- Literature
- required literature
- FRASER, Nancy. Cannibal capitalism : how our system is devouring democracy, care, and the planet - and what we can do about it. First published. New York: Verso, 2022, xvii, 190. ISBN 9781804292587. info
- RECKWITZ, Andreas. The end of illusions : politics, economy, and culture in late modernity. Translated by Valentine A. Pakis. English edition. Cambridge: Polity, 2021, viii, 201. ISBN 9781509545704. info
- ROSA, Hartmut. The uncontrollability of the world. Translated by James C. Wagner. English edition. Cambridge: Polity, 2020, ix, 132. ISBN 9781509543168. info
- Teaching methods
- Reading, response papers, class discussion, presentation in class, final essay.
- Assessment methods
- 1. Participation in class – 20%
2. Six short response papers – 60%
3. Presentation or Final Essay – 20% - Language of instruction
- English
- Further Comments
- Study Materials
- Enrolment Statistics (recent)
- Permalink: https://is.muni.cz/course/fss/spring2025/GLCb2025