Foundations of Social Theory
SOC 331: Foundations of Social Theory
Sociology, Fall 2006
Time: Mondays and Wednesdays 9.25 – 10.40am
Room: Powdermaker 113
Professor Sujatha Fernandes
Office: Powdermaker Hall 252Z
Office phone: (718) 997-2841
Email: sujatha.fernandes@qc.cuny.edu
Office hours: Mondays, 11 – 1pm
Course Description
This course provides an introduction to major trends in social theory. We will begin with the classical theories of Karl Marx and Max Weber, moving on to look at cultural theory, critical social theory and postmodern thought. The course aims to show the relevance of these theories for understanding and analyzing contemporary social issues and social structures such as the music industry, feminism, cultural identity, labor relations, globalization, and political organizing. Students are required not simply to engage with the theories in an abstract sense, but to analyze, criticize, and relate them to our lives, communities, and city.
Course Requirements
Attendance in class and careful reading of the assigned readings are compulsory for the entire semester. If you are going to miss a class, you must email me beforehand with the reason for your absence, otherwise cumulative points will be deducted from your class participation grade. Likewise, if you are not able to keep up with the reading and assignments, you must come and see me during my office hours, otherwise this will also be deducted from your grade. Classes require your full and active participation, and therefore you must come to class prepared to discuss the readings in an informed manner. I recommend that you make notes for yourself as you read, and you must bring these notes and your texts with you to every class. We will also do group activities and group presentations in class and your participation in these will be an important part of your overall grade, so you must always come to class prepared.
Assignments are compulsory. They must be completed by the due date and handed in at the end of that class. We will use the assignments as a part of our class discussion, and so you may be called on in class to share parts of your assignment with the rest of the class.
Required Texts
Robert Tucker (ed) 1978. The Marx-Engels Reader. Second Edition. Norton.
Roberta Garner (ed) 2004. Social Theory: Power and Identity in the Global Era. Broadview Press.
Patricia Hill Collins 1998. Fighting Words: Black Women and the Search for Justice. University of Minnesota Press.
Biju Mathew 2005. Taxi! Cabs and Capitalism in New York City. The New Press.
Assessment
1. Class participation and assignments (each 2 pages double spaced) (40%)
2. Midterm take-home exam (30%) Due 3/26
3. Final paper, topics to be advised (30%) Due 5/23
Late Policy
All assignments, as well as the midterm and final, are due in on the specified date, and extension will only be given in cases of illness (which must be accompanied by a doctor’s certificate) or an emergency. Otherwise, do not email me to ask for an extension. Late papers will be automatically penalized one grade point for every two days beyond the deadline, including weekends (one grade point means A to A-, or B+ to B).
1/29 Week One: Introduction
1/31
Robert Goldman and Stephen Papson, Nike Culture: The Sign of the Swoosh, Chapter 1, pp 1 – 23 (Available on Blackboard).
2/5 Week Two: Marx
“A Contribution to the Critique of Hegel’s Philosophy of Right: Introduction,” pp 53 – 56, “Economic and Philosophic Manuscripts,” pp 70 - 101, MER
2/7
“Preface to a Contribution to the Critique of Political Economy,” pp 3 – 6, “Manifesto of the Communist Party,” pp 473 - 491, MER
Assignment #1 Write your own manifesto, Due 2/7
2/12 No classes
2/14 Week Three:
“The Eighteenth Brumaire of Louis Bonaparte,” pp 594 – 617, MER.
2/15 Week Four: Weber
Max Weber, The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism, Chapters 1 and 2, pp 35 – 78. (Available on Blackboard)
2/21
Samuel P. Huntington, “Clash of Civilizations,” Foreign Affairs, Vol 72, No 3, pp 22 – 44 (Available on Blackboard).
Samuel P. Huntington, “The Hispanic Challenge,” Foreign Policy, March-April 2004, pp 30 - 45 (Available on Blackboard).
José Cruz, “Book Review: Who are we? By Samuel P Huntington,” Political Affairs,
2/26 Week Five: Ideological Struggle and Hegemony
Antonio Gramsci, “The Prison Notebooks” and introduction, pp 27 - 41, ST
Louis Althusser, “Ideology and Ideological State Apparatuses” and introduction, pp 105 - 118, ST
2/28 Todd Gitlin, “Prime Time Ideology: The Hegemonic Process in Television Entertainment,” pp 44 – 64, ST
3/5 Week Six: Frankfurt School, The Culture Industry
Walter Benjamin, “The Work of Art in an Age of Mechanical Reproduction,” pp 10 - 26, ST, Theodor Adorno “Culture Industry Reconsidered,”
3/7 Ellis Cashmore, The Black Culture Industry, Chapter 1, 11, pp 1 – 12, 154 – 71.
(Available on Blackboard)
3/12 Week Seven: Media and Consumption
Marshall McLuhan, “Understanding Media,” 167 – 174, ST, Ien Ang, “Living Room Wars,” 176 – 189, ST
3/14 Student presentations of Assignment #2
Assignment #2 Take any video clip, ad, or news report from television and analyze its key images, symbols, and message, Due 3/14
3/19 Week Eight: Critical Social Theory
Pierre Bourdieu, “Sociology in Question,” pp 134 – 141, ST
Anthony Giddens, “Studies in Social and Political Theory,” pp 142 – 148, ST
Paul Willis, “Common Culture,” pp 210 - 229, ST
3/21 Patricia Hill Collins, Fighting Words: Black Women and the Search for Justice. Chapter 2, pp 44 - 76.
In-class Workshop I: Techniques for good writing, CUNY Writing Fellow
3/26 Week Nine: Biology and Social Constructionism
Gilbert Herdt, “The Sambia: Ritual and Gender in New Guinea,” pp 246 – 260, ST
Janice Boddy, “Wombs and Alien Spirits” and introduction, pp 262 – 284, ST.
Midterm Due 3/26
3/28 Patricia Hill Collins, Fighting Words. Chapter 3, pp 95 - 123.
4/11 Week Ten: Postmodernism and Feminism
Frederic Jameson, “Postmodernism, or the Cultural Logic of Late Capitalism,” pp 297 – 315, ST
Patricia Hill Collins, Fighting Words. Chapter 4, pp 124 – 154.
4/16 Week Eleven: Race, Class and Gender
Stuart Hall, “Cultural Identity and Diaspora,” pp 318 - 330, ST, Dorothy Smith, “The Conceptual Practices of Power,” pp 236 – 243, ST
Assignment #3 Write a piece that defines how you see yourself, in terms of history, culture, time, and place. What are the central aspects of your cultural identity?
Due 4/16
4/18 Patricia Hill Collins, Fighting Words. Chapter 6, pp 201 – 228.
4/23 Week Twelve: Labor and Post-Industrialism
Daniel Bell, “The Coming of Post-Industrial Society” and introduction, pp 149 – 164, ST
Film: Roger & Me (Michael Moore, 1989, 91 mins).
4/25 Biju Mathew, Taxi! Cabs and Capitalism in New York City, Prologue, Chapters 2, 3, pp 1 – 10, 39 - 82.
4/30 Week Thirteen: Disciplinary Societies
Michel Foucault, “The Body of the Condemned,” “The Panopticon,” pp 194 - 207, ST
5/2 Biju Mathew, Taxi! Chapter 5, pp 107 – 141.
5/7 Week Fourteen: Culture and Globalization
Arjun Appadurai, “Disjuncture and Difference in the Global Cultural Economy,” pp 332 – 346, ST
5/9 Biju Mathew, Taxi! Chapter 6, pp 143 – 176.
5/14 Week Fifteen: Social Theory and Political Struggle
Biju Mathew, Taxi! Chapter 7, pp 177 – 204
Patricia Hill Collins, Fighting Words. Chapter 7, pp 229 – 251.
5/16 Summary Review
In-class Workshop II: Writing papers, CUNY Writing Fellow
5/23 Final papers due 5/23
Please note: Syllabus is subject to change
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