The premise of this course is that the most significant ...



Department of Sociology, Fall 2017

Instructor: Dan Lainer-Vos, dlainervos@

Office Hours: Monday 9:00-10:00 or by appointment, HSH 307

Class: Monday 10:00-12:150, Sociology Room, HSH 303

510: Sociological Theories I

This course introduces students to main themes in classical sociological thinking. We will review the writings of Karl Marx, Émile Durkheim, Max Weber and a few of their prominent disciples. These thinkers, working in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century, established sociology as an academic discipline. Living in a period of great economic, political, and social transformation, these thinkers attempted to understand the emerging new social order and the condition of life in modernity. The questions they raised, the problems they identified, and even some of their solutions still shape our understanding of society.

The course follows the different approaches of Marx, Durkheim, and Weber. Marx’s sociological theory is emancipatory. As such, it claims to speak in the name of certain oppressed groups (in Marx’s case this group is the proletariat, but we will examine other examples, such as Marxist Feminist theory). This point of view is not just a matter of moral principle but an epistemological standpoint: Marx believed that the best way to understand society is by analyzing it from the standpoint of the oppressed. Understanding the viewpoint of the proletariat, he argued, held the key for bringing about radical social change. Thus, the role of sociology, from this perspective, is not merely to understand society, but to emancipate it from oppression — hence their name.

Durkheim attempted to model sociology after the positivist natural sciences. Positivist theoreticians, including Durkheim, do not claim to speak in anybody’s name. They believe their authority to speak derives from scientific expertise. Instead of linking themselves to different groups, they believed that the best view from which to understand society in from above. Only from this perspective, they believed, can we produce objective sociological knowledge. Unlike Marx, Durkheim did not believe in the desirability of radical change or emancipation. To the extent that he was interested in social change, Durkheim sought reform rather than revolution. The role of sociology, from this perspective, is to positively apply scientific method toward discovering and describing the rules that govern societies — hence the term “positivism.”

Weber’s sociological approach breaks away from both emancipatory and positivist thought. Weber’s perspective can be described as “critical theory.” Unlike emancipatory theoreticians, Weber does not claim to speak on behalf of any oppressed social group but he does not adopt the positivist point of view from above either. In fact, Weber and other critical theoreticians doubt the possibility of a distanced objective representation of society. They do not believe in neither emancipation (which they characterize as a dream which turned into a nightmare), nor in reform (which they characterize as the pragmatism of the mouse on the turning wheel). Disillusioned with the promise of emancipation and positivism, Weber suggests that sociology is useful for devising better interpretations of society. To understand what he precisely means by that, we will engaged in a close readings of his writings.

This overly schematic description of the three main sociological approaches that we will study hides more than reveals. What is society? What is it made of? What are the dominant relations in society? And how should societies be studied? During the semester, we will try to understand Marx, Durkheim and Weber’s answers to these questions.

Course goals

The students will learn how to read and critically engage with sociological theory. They will become acquainted with the writings of key sociological theorists and evaluate their contributions, alone and in comparison with each other. Finally, the students will experiment with applying sociological theory to a range of contemporary phenomena.

Course Requirements and grading

Discussion is central to our work together. Most weeks, I will situate the readings in a broader context and highlight some important themes. Yet, this is not a lecture course. With the help of a discussant (see below) we will discuss our readings in depth each week. Please do your part for our seminar by attending regularly and keeping up with the readings throughout the semester.

a) Questions on the readings—for all members of our seminar

Each seminar participant needs to write at least one question about the readings, for eight of our sessions. You may choose any eight sessions. Your question(s) might deal with "comprehension"--pondering the significance of some passage, concept, or theme in a text. Alternatively, your question(s) might be evaluative or comparative. You might want to ask which of two authors’ analyses of particular phenomena is more convincing or useful, for instance. You might want to ask whether or not two authors or research traditions share the same assumptions. You might want to ask about some study's implications for broader theoretical, empirical, or substantive questions.

Finally, you may wonder about how a particular theoretical claim stands in the trial of time. What Marx, Durkheim, or Weber wrote a hundred years ago may have been useful then but lost traction over time. When it comes to this kind of question, you should use your personal experiences as a guide—“does Marx’s claims about the bourgeoisie match with my own experiences?” Etc. One of the beautiful things about sociology is that, unlike advanced physics, sociology is a science that relates directly to our everyday experiences—we inhabit the categories and concepts we write about and while this closeness to the object of study creates challenges, it is also a valuable tool. So, please, don’t hesitate questioning concepts that do not “add up” to your personal experiences.

Format for questions: Sometimes a question takes simply a sentence; that's just fine. Other times you need a short paragraph to explain what you mean, what the context is, why it matters. Do not make your question more than a short paragraph! These really are not meant to be reading summaries. Please share your questions on the class forum no later than Sunday evening before class.

b) The discussant role

Each participant should serve as a "discussant" for one or more of our meetings, depending on the size of the seminar. Discussants will: 1) synthesize the questions or whittle them down to three or four questions or themes we should discuss that week. 2) Make a handout (not more than one page) for us with these questions, in the order that seems appropriate, and bring enough copies to class. 3) At seminar, you don’t need to summarize the readings or make a "presentation." Simply give us a quick gloss on the questions you've prepared--tell us which you think we should address first, or last, or tell us anything else you think we should know. But all of this shouldn't take more than about 5 minutes.

c) Written assignments

There will be two midterms and final writing assignments. The mid-term assignments will be worth 25% each and the final assignment exam will be worth 40% of your grade. The reminding 10% will be based on class participation and your role as discussants.

Please make sure to use my office hours. The material covered in this class is not easy and is often more complex than it seems at first reading. If you have problems attending my office hours, we can schedule an alternative time to meet via email.

Readings:

There are 6 books required for the course. 1) Robert C. Tucker, The Marx-Engels Reader. (New York: W.W. Norton, 1972); 2) Émile Durkheim, The Division of Labor in Society. (N.Y.: The Free Press, 1984 [1893]); 3) Émile Durkheim, The Elementary Forms of Religious Life (New York, The Free Press, 1912); 4) Marcel Mauss, The Gift: Form and Reason for Exchange in Archaic Societies (New York: Norton, 1990); 5) Max Weber, The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism. (N.Y.: Charles Scribnher’s Sons, 1958 [1904-5]); 6) Gerth, H.H. and C. Wright Mills (Eds.) From Max Weber (Oxford, 1991).

Readings that are not in these books (marked with an asterisk in the syllabus) will be available online (blackboard).

Course Outline and Readings

Week 1 (August 21): Introduction—what is social theory?

Part I. Emancipatory Theory: Karl Marx, Friedrich Engels and Marxist feminism

Week 2 (August 28): The materialist conception of history and the theory of alienation

Reading: 1) “Contribution to the Critique of Hegel’s Philosophy of Right: Introduction,” M-E, pp. 53-65.

2) “Theses on Feuerbach,” M-E, pp. 143-145.

3) “The German Ideology,” M-E, pp. 149-193 (from “The premises from which we begin…” until “Communism”).

4) “Preface to a Contribution to the Critique of Political Economy,” M-E, pp. 3-6.

5) Economic and Philosophical Manuscripts of 1844,” M-E, pp.70-105.

6) The Holy Family, “Alienation and Social Classes”, M-E, pp.133-135.

Week 3 (September 4): Labor Day no class

Week 4 (September 11): The theory of exploitation and the dynamic of capitalist accumulation

Reading: 1) “Wage Labour and Capital,” M-E, pp.203-217.

2) Capital Vol. 1, Chs. 1, 6, 7, 10: “Commodities,” “The Buying and Selling of Labor Power,” “The Labor Process and the Process of Producing Surplus Value,” “The Working Day,” M-E, pp. 302-329, 336-376.

3) Capital Vol. 1, Chs. 26, 27, 31, 32: “The so-called Primitive Accumulation,” “Expropriation of the Agricultural Population from the Land,” “Genesis of the Industrial Capitalist,” “Historical Tendency of Capitalist Accumulation.” M-E, pp. 431-438. The Communist Manifesto, M-E, pp.473-500.

Week 5 (September 18): “Class,” “State” and the problem of woman

Readings: 1) Capital Vol.3, “Classes”, M-E, pp.441-442.

2) “The Eighteen Brumaire of Louis Bonaparte,” 594-617.

3) “Critique of the Gotha Program,” M-E, pp. 525-541.

4) Engles, Friedrich. “The Origin of the Family, Private Property, and the State,” M-E, pp. 734-759.

5) Heidi Hartmann, 1981.“The Unhappy Marriage of Marxism and Feminism,” pp. 1-42, in Women and the Revolution: A Discussion of the Unhappy Marriage of Marxism and Feminism, edited by Lydia Sargent. Boston: South End Press.*

6) MacKinnon, Catherine, A. 1987. “Desire and Power: A Feminist Perspective,” pp. 105-121, in Marxism and the Interpretation of Culture, edited by Cary Nelson and Lawrence Grossberg. Urbana and Chicago: the University of Illinois Press.*

7) Rubin, Gayle. 1975. “the Traffic of Women: Notes on the ‘Political Economy’ of Sex,” pp. 155-170, in Renya Reiter (Ed.) Toward and Anthropology of Women, Monthly Review Press.*

Mid-term assignment is due.

Part II. Positivist Theory: Émile Durkheim and Erving Goffman

Week 6 (September 25): The study of social facts and the problem of solidarity

Reading: 1) “What is a Social Fact”, pp.50-59 in The Rules of Sociological Method.*

2) Book I: “The Function of the Division of Labor” pp.11-175 in The Division of Labor in Society.

3) Book III: “The Abnormal Forms,” pp. 291-341 in The Division of Labor in Society.

4) Preface to the Second Edition,” pp. xxxi-lix.

Week 7 (October 2): Collective Representations

Reading: 1) “Introduction,” “Definitions of Religious Phenomena and of Religion,” and “The leading conceptions of the elementary religion: animism,” pp. 1-67 in The Elementary Forms of Religious Life.

2) Book 3: “The Principle modes of Ritual Conduct,” “Conclusion,” pp. 303-391, 418-440, in The Elementary Forms of Religious Life.

Week 8 (October 9): The Cult of Individual and The Self as a Sacred Object

Reading: 1) “Anomic Suicide” pp. 241-276, in Suicide.*

2) “The Dualism of Human Nature and its Social Conditions,” pp. 325-340 in Essays on Sociology and Philosophy, edited by Kurt H. Wolff. Harper Torchbooks, 1960.*

*3) “Individualism and the intellectuals” pp. 43-57 in Emile Durkheim On Morality and Society.*

4) Erving Goffman, “Supportive Interchange,” “Remedial Interchange,” pp. 62-187 in Relations in Public: Microstudies of the Public Order. Harper Colophon Books, 1971.*

Second mid-term assignment is distributed.

Week 9 (October 16): The Gift

Reading: 1) Mauss, Marcel. The Gift: Form and Reason for Exchange in Archaic Societies. Norton, 1990.

2) Bourdieu, Pierre. “The Work of Time,” in The Logic of Practice. Stanford University Press 1980.

Second mid-term assignment is due.

Part III. Critical Theory: Max Weber

Week 10 (October 23): Ethical Philosophy, Science and Politics

Reading: 1) “The Definition of Sociology and of Social Action,” “Types of Social Action,” pp. 4-26, in Economy and Society, Vol. 1.*

2) “Science as a Vocation,” pp. 129-156, in From Max Weber, edited by Gerth, H.H. and W Wright Mills, Oxford, 1991.

3) “Objectivity,” pp. 49-112 in The Methodology of the Social Sciences, edited by Edward A. Shils and Henry A. Finch. Free Press, 1964.*

Week 11 (October 30): Rationalization and disenchantment

Reading: 1) The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism, pp.13-128, pp. 155-183.

Week 12 (November 6): Class and Rank

Reading: 1) “Status Groups and Classes,” pp. 302-307, in Economy and Society, Vol. 1.*

2) “Ethnic Groups,” pp. 385-398, in Economy and Society, Vol. 1.*

3) “Class, Status, Party,” pp. 180-195, in From Max Weber, edited by Gerth, H.H. and W Wright Mills, Oxford, 1991.

4) “Capitalism and Rural Society in Germany,” pp. 363-386, in From Max Weber, edited by Gerth, H.H. and W Wright Mills, Oxford, 1991.

Week 13 (November 13): Domination and bureaucracy

Reading: 1) “The types of legitimate domination,” pp. 212-254, in Economy and Society vol. 1.*

2) “Religious Groups (Sociology of Religion),” pp. 399-401, 422-433, 439-468, in Economy and Society vol. 1.*

3) “Bureaucracy,” pp. 196-244 in From Max Weber.*

Week 14 (November 20): Rationalization Revisited

Reading: 1) Zygmunt Bauman, Modernity and the Holocaust, [selected chapters]. 1989, Cornell University Press

Week 15 (November 27): Economy and Society again

Readings: 1) Joseph Schumpeter, Capitalism, Socialism, and Democracy, Chapter 7, Chapters 11 – 12

2) Karl Polanyi, The Great Transformation, Chapters 4 – 6, 11, 21.

Final assignment is distributed in class

December 4 Final Assignment is due

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