SOC757 Contemporary Sociological Theory

Faculty of Social Studies
Autumn 2008
Extent and Intensity
1/1. 15 credit(s). Type of Completion: zk (examination).
Teacher(s)
doc. PhDr. Ing. Radim Marada, Ph.D. (lecturer)
doc. PhDr. Csaba Szaló, Ph.D. (lecturer)
Mgr. Alice Audyová (assistant)
Mgr. Michaela Pyšňáková (assistant)
Guaranteed by
doc. PhDr. Ing. Radim Marada, Ph.D.
Department of Sociology – Faculty of Social Studies
Contact Person: Ing. Soňa Enenkelová
Timetable
Tue 10:00–11:40 U34
Course Enrolment Limitations
The course is only offered to the students of the study fields the course is directly associated with.

The capacity limit for the course is 20 student(s).
Current registration and enrolment status: enrolled: 0/20, only registered: 0/20
fields of study / plans the course is directly associated with
Course objectives
The course introduces students into major paradigmatic areas of contemporary social theory and sociological research. It builds on reading and discussing texts by sociological classics of the second half of the 20th century and by authorities in social theory who draw on, develop, and modify the classical traditions today.
Understanding continuities and discontinuities in contemporary social thought is one important aim of the course. Therefore it includes examples of older classical texts that inspire the present-day theories either as assigned readings or as presentations given by individual students.
In the main part of the course we focus, among others, upon links between the micro and macro levels of social research and analysis. In this way, the empirical relevance of abstract sociological concepts is to be brought to light. Selected prominent issues in contemporary social theory will be, in turn, discussed within paradigmatic theoretical contexts introduced throughout the course.
Syllabus
  • (RM) Introduction to the course
  • (RM) Methodological introduction Social Construction and Theoretical Reconstruction: the example of Cultural Sociology
  • (RM) Micro-level of sociological analysis (methodology applied) Phenomenology of the Everyday: theory of social representations and frame analysis
  • (GUEST LECTURE by IVANA MARKOVA – room P21) Social representations in the dialogical perspective
  • (CSZ) Modernity and the knowledge of subjectivity
  • (RM) Sociology and modernity & the case of modern individualism
  • READING WEEK (no class)
  • DOUBLE SESSION (RM) Midterm test
  • (CSZ) Modernity and the individualization of body
  • (RM) Modernity and social organization: classes-networks-tribes
  • (CSZ) From disciplinary power to governmentality (CSZ)
  • (CSZ) The human sciences and the birth of man
  • (CSZ) Concluding seminar
Literature
  • Zerubavel, Eviatar. 1999. Social Mindscapes: An Invitation to Cognitive Sociology. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press
  • Foucault, Michel. 1973. The Birth of the Clinic. London: Tavistock.
  • Lash, Scott & Urry, John. 1987. The End of Organized Capitalism. Cambridge, UK: Polity Press.
  • Foucault, Michel. 1988. Madness and Civilization. New York: Vintage Books
  • Foucault, Michel. 1970. The Order of Things: An Archaeology of the Human Science. London: Tavistock.
  • Foucault, Michel. 1991. Discipline and Punish. London. Penguin Books.
  • Brubaker, Rogers & Loveman, Mara & Stamatov, Peter: “Ethnicity as Cognition”. In: Theory and Society, 33, 2004
  • Bauman, Zygmunt. 2000. Liquid Modernity. Cambridge, UK: Polity Press.
  • Castells, Manuel. 1997. The Power of Identity. Oxford: Blackwell Publishers.
  • Boltanski, Luc & Chiapello, Eve. 2005. The New Spirit of Capitalism. New York: Verso.
  • Moscovici, Serge. 2000. Social Representations: Explorations in Social Psychology. Cambridge, UK: Polity Press
  • Castells, Manuel. 1997. The Power of Identity. Oxford: Blackwell Publishers.
  • Goffman, Erving. 1986. Frame Analysis. Boston: Northeastern University Press.
  • Marx, Karl. “The Fetishism of Commodities”. In: Marx, Karl. 2000. Selected writings [edited by David McLellan]. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.
  • Lasch, Christopher. 1991. The Culture of Narcissism. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 1991.
  • Wagner, Peter. 1994. A Sociology of Modernity. London: Routledge.
  • Weber, Max. 2002. The Protestant Ethics and the Spirit of Capitalism. Oxford: Blackwell.
  • Castells, Michel. 1996. The Rise of the Network Society. Oxford: Blackwell.
  • Alexander, Jeffrey C. 2003. The Meanings of Social Life: A Cultural Sociology. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Assessment methods
Form of teaching: seminars Requirements: (a) two presentations, (b) final paper The classes are intended as seminars, rather than lectures. Students work consists in intensive reading of assigned texts and active participation in the class discussions, which will include two individual presentation (10-15 minutes) for each during the semester. Particular attention will be paid to students capacity to understand and present theoretical concepts and paradigms in empirical terms. A class test is scheduled for the second session. Students also write a short final essay (up to 2000 words) on a topic relevant to the discussed texts and problems. They will choose the topic in consultation with one of the teachers. Students are graded on the basis of their performance in the class test, the quality of their oral presentation, and especially the excellence of the final essay. Their activity in the class discussions will also be taken into account.
Final paper assignment The paper should be submitted to: 5918@mail.muni.cz Deadline: 20.01.2008 The final paper consists of critical interpretation of a citation. It should contain 2000 words (there is a tolerance from 1800 to 2200 words). The essay has to contain (a) a short recapitulation of a core idea from the citation, (b) an interpretation of this core idea grounded in a wider theoretical context, and (c) a critical commentary based on a secondary literature. The final paper must follow the classic format: The paper has a specific title related to its content and main thesis. Students put their name under the title. The first part provides an introduction to the main thesis of the paper. Then, in the main part of the paper, arguments and counterarguments are developed and illustrative examples and evidence for and against them are provided. Finally, it restates the main thesis in the conclusion. The paper ends with bibliography in ASA citation format. (http://www.calstatela.edu/library/bi/rsalina/asa.styleguide.html) Plagiarism is a serious academic offence and will constitute grounds for failing the course. Generally, students are expected to use their own words and develop their own arguments, but if they do borrow ideas or words from someone else, this must be acknowledged. All direct quotes must be in quotation marks. Both direct quotes and ideas from someone else that are paraphrased must be associated with a precise bibliographic reference in ASA citation format that in addition includes page numbers! Students can be asked by instructors to provide an evidence of their reading of all texts that are included in their bibliography.
Language of instruction
English
Further comments (probably available only in Czech)
Study Materials
The course is taught annually.
Information on course enrolment limitations: Výhradně pro zahraniční studenty programů "Sociology" a "Erasmus". Just for " Sociology" and " Erasmus " students
Listed among pre-requisites of other courses
The course is also listed under the following terms Autumn 2006, Autumn 2007, Autumn 2009, Spring 2011, Autumn 2011, Autumn 2012, Autumn 2013, Spring 2014, Spring 2015, Spring 2016, Spring 2017, Spring 2018, Spring 2019.
  • Enrolment Statistics (Autumn 2008, recent)
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