Sociological Theory

Course Coordinator and Team: TBA

Email of course coordinator: TBA

Pre-requisites: NA

Aim:

This course will introduce key concepts and ideas that are central to sociology and theories of the social. The course is open to students majoring in other disciplines in the School of Undergraduate Studies. The students would be exposed to sociologists and their idea of the social and method of studying the social. The course will also help students orient with a few social theorists, particularly their reflections on modern society produced by the complex interplay of knowledge and power. This course will enable students to understand the time and social milieu they live in and locate their role as consumers and producers of key social ideas and practices.

Brief description:

This course will introduce key concepts and ideas that are central to sociology and theories of the social. The course is open to students majoring in other disciplines in the School of Undergraduate Studies. The students would be exposed to sociologists and their idea of the social and method of studying the social. The course will also help students orient with a few social theorists, particularly their reflections on modern society produced by the complex interplay of knowledge and power. This course will enable students to understand the time and social milieu they live in and locate their role as consumers and producers of key social ideas and practices.

Course Outcomes:

On successful completion of this course students will be able to:

• Identify key theorists and terms Sociological Theory
• Demonstrate a knowledge of key processes and theoretical insights that helped develop the discipline of Sociology
• Use written and oral skills to apply theoretical concepts to an understanding of everyday life

Brief description of modules/ Main modules:

Module I: Western Europe, Enlightenment and the Beginning of Sociological Theorising

This module will look at the context from which thinkers such as Saint Simon, August Comte, Herbert Spencer and Ferdinand Tonnies started to think about evolutionism and social change.

Module II: Durkheim and Social Solidarity

This module will look at the question of social order and social change through Emile Durkheim’s understanding of social solidarity.

Module III: Weber and Social as the Expression of the Rational

This module will discuss Max Weber’s theorisation of society through the concept of rationality.

Module IV: Marx and Class Society

Karl Marx’s understanding of exploitation and class will be discussed in this module.

Module V: Georg Simmel and Metropolis and Mental life

This module will look at Georg Simmel’s ideas around modern urban social life.

Module VI: Schutz, intersubjectivity and Social Construction

Micro level interactions and phenomenological theories will be introduced in this module through Alfred Schutz’s writings on intersubjectivity and social construction.

Module VII: Foucault and Power

Questions of power and discipline will be the focus of this module through Michel Foucault’s writings.

Assessment Details with weights:

• Semester exams
• Two in-class exams of 35% each.

Reading images

An exercise called reading images, where students will attempt to ‘apply’ the concepts learnt in class to interpret everyday images around us. The objective of this exercise is to make a connection between theory and the everyday world. This exercise will carry 30% marks.

Reading List:

• Calhoun, Craig J., Joseph Gerteis, James Moody, Steven Pfaff, and IndermohanVirk, eds. 2007. Classical Sociological Theory. Second ed. Malden, MA, USA and Oxford, UK: Blackwell Publishing.
• Calhoun, Craig J., Joseph Gerteis, James Moody, Steven Pfaff, and IndermohanVirk, eds. 2007.Classical Sociological Theory. Second ed. Malden, MA, USA and Oxford, UK: Blackwell Publishing.
• Thompson, Kenneth. 2002. Emile Durkheim 2nd Edition Eds, Key Sociologists. London and
• New York: Routledge.
• Parkin, Frank. 2002. Max Weber. 2nd Eds, Key Sociologists. London and New York: Routledge.
• Worsley, Peter. 2003. Marx and Marxism, Key Sociologists. London and New York: Routledge.
• Fischer, Ernst and Marek, Franz. 1973. Marx in His Own Words. Translated by Anna Bostock. England: Penguin Books.
• Turner, Jonathan. 2013. Theoretical Sociology: 1830 to the present. New Delhi: SAGE.
• Sennett, Richard.1969. Classic Essays on the culture of cities.New Jersey: Prentice-Hall.
• Calhoun, Craig, et.al. 2012. Contemporary Sociological Theory. Malden:Blackwell.
• Berger, Peter and Thomas Luckmann. 1966. The Social Construction of Reality: A Treatise in the Sociology of Knowledge. New York: Doubleday.
• Smart, Barry. 2002. Michel Foucault, Key Sociologists. London and New York: Routledge.
• Graham Burchell, Colin Gordon and Peter Miller. 1991.The Foucault Effect: Studies in Governmentality. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
• Faubion, James D. ed. 2001. Foucault: Power. Essential Works of Foucault 1954-1984, Volume 3. New York: The New Press.

Additional Reference: NA