INTRO: WHY SHOULD WE CARE ABOUT THEORY?

Contemporary Sociological Theory
 
 
Teacher:            Dr. Dominik Bartmanski
 
Credits:              15 ECTS
 
Lecture:             Tuesday, 6 – 7:30pm , room U34
Seminar:            Wednesday, 6: 7:30pm, room U 44
 
Teacher’s office hours:        Tuesday & Wednesday 4 – 6pm, room 3.50
 
E:              dominik.bartmanski@aya.yale.edu
 
URL:        http://yale.academia.edu/DominikBartmanski
 
Assistant:           Zuzana Reveszova reveszova.zuzana@gmail.com

Annotation:
 
The course introduces students to major paradigmatic areas of contemporary social and
sociological  theory.  It  consists  in  reading  and  discussing  texts  by  selected  sociological
classics  of  the  second  half  of  the  20 th   century  and  by  renowned  authors  who  draw  on,
develop,  and  modify  the  classical  traditions  today.  The  priority  is  given  to  works  and
authors who rose to prominence after 1968 and defined the conditions of late modernity
in life and science.  
 
Understanding  continuities  and  discontinuities  in  contemporary  social  thought  is  one
important aim of the course. Therefore it includes some works by the so called “founding
fathers“ of sociology that have inspired the present-day theories. In the main part of the course we focus, among others, on the 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.
 
Basic knowledge of the following literature is expected from students before the classes
start:
 

•    Berger, Peter & Luckmann, Thomas. Social Construction of Reality
•    Bourdieu, Pierre. Theory of Action
•    Giddens, Anthony. Consequences of Modernity
•    Foucault, Michel. Discipline and Punish
•    Habermas, Jürgen. The Legitimacy Problems in Late Capitalism
•    Simmel, Georg. Money in Modern Culture.
•    Tocqueville, Alexis de. Democracy in America (second book)

The Final Grade:
 
 
1. The final essay = 50%
2. Position papers (total of 11) = 25%
3. Participation in seminar discussions = 25%
 
1.
 
The final essay has to be between 4000 – 5000 words long.
The  topic  should  connect  at  least  two  weekly  themes,  for  instance:  “social  theory  as
social critique“ and “sociological diagnoses of late modernity.“
Please, submit your final essay proposal by Tuesday, November 6. Once I accept it, you
can start working on it.  
 
The final essay deadline: Thursday, 12pm, January 31, 2013.
 
2.  
 
Position papers deadline: by 12pm of each Tuesday.
If you submit your position paper electronically, please name the file with your name and
the number of the paper (e.g. “name_4“). Note, the paper number is not the week number,
e.g. the first paper is about readings assigned for week 2.
 
3.  
 
Participation  in  the  seminar  discussion  is  an  essential  part  of  your  final  grade.  Take  it
seriously. And enjoy it!

THE MEANINGS OF SOCIOLOGICAL THEORY

Joas, Hans & Knöbl, Wolfgang. 2009. “What is Theory?” In: Joas, Hans &
Knöbl, Wolfgang. 2009. Social Theory: Twenty Introductory Lectures.
Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.

Sztompka, Piotr. 2004. “Shaping Sociological Imagination: The Importance of
Theory.“ In: Alexander, J. C., Marx, G. T. & Williams, C. L. [eds.] Self, Social
Structure, and Beliefs. Explorations in Sociology. Berkeley, CA: University of
California Press, pp. 254-267.

Additional literature:
 
Alexander, Jeffrey C. 1987. Twenty Lectures. Sociological Theory Since World
War II. New York: Columbia University Press.

SOCIAL THEORY AS SCIENTIFIC METHOD

Durkheim, Émile. 1982 (1895). The Rules of Sociological Method. New York:
Free Press. (Chapter 5)

Giddens, Anthony. 1994 (1976). New Rules of Sociological Method. Cambridge,
UK: Polity Press. (Introduction, Conclusion)

SOCIAL THEORY AS SOCIAL CRITIQUE

Bourdieu, Pierre. 1984. Distinction: A Social Critique of the Judgement of Taste.
Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, pp. 1 – 96.

Additonal literature:
 
King, Anthony. 2000. Thinking with Bourdieu against Bourdieu: A practical
critique of Habitus. Sociological Theory. Vol. 18, No. 3, 417 – 433.
 
Santoro, Marco. 2011. From Bourdieu to Cultural Sociology. Cultural Sociology.
Vol. 5, No. 11, 3 – 23.

INTERPRETING SOCIETY: THEORY OF CULTURE

Geertz, Clifford. 1973. The Interpretation of Cultures. New York: Basic Books,
pp. 3 – 54, 412 – 454.

Additional literature:
 
Alexander, Jeffrey and Philip Smith. 2011. Introduction: The Rise and Fall and
Rise of Clifford Geertz, pp. 1 – 8. In: Alexander, Jeffrey et al. (eds.) Interpreting
Clifford Geertz. Cultural Investigation in the Social Sciences. New York:
Palgrave.
 
Smith, Philip. 2011. The Balinese Cockfight Decoded: Reflections on Geertz and
Structuralism. pp. 17 – 32. In: Alexander, Jeffrey et al. (eds.) Interpreting Clifford
Geertz. Cultural Investigation in the Social Sciences. New York: Palgrave

CULTURAL THEORY IN SOCIOLOGY

Alexander, Jeffrey. 2003. The Meanings of Social Life. A Cultural Sociology.
Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press, pp. 3 – 26, 193 – 228.

Additional literature:
 
Swidler, Ann. 1986. Culture in Action. Symbols and Strategies. American
Sociological Review. Vol. 51, No. 2,  273 – 286.
 
Peterson, Richard. 2000. Two ways culture is produced. Poetics. 28, 225 – 233.

READING WEEK

MODERN SOCIETY AS SOCIAL PERFORMANCE

Goffman, Erving. 1959. The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life. New York:
Anchor Books, pp. 1 – 76.

Alexander, Jeffrey et al. 2006. Social Performance. Cambridge: Cambridge
University Press, pp.1 – 90.

 
Additional literature:
 
Butler, Judith. 1997. Excitable Speech: A Politics of the Performative. London
and New York: Routledge.

MODERN SOCIETY AS “IMAGINED“ COMMUNITY

Anderson, Benedict. 1983. Imagined Communities. London: Verso, pp. 1 – 82.

Additional literature:
 
Wogan, P. 2001. Imagined Communities Reconsidered: Is Print-Capitalism What
We Think It Is? Anthropological Theory Vol. 1, No. 4: 403 – 418.

ACTOR-NETWORK THEORY OF MODERN SOCIETY

Latour, Bruno. 2005. Reassembling the Social. Oxford: Oxford University Press,
pp. 1 – 158, 247 – 262.

SOCIOLOGICAL DIAGNOSES OF LATE MODERNITY

Boltanski, Luc & Chiapello, Eve. 2005. The New Spirit of Capitalism. New York:
Verso, pp. 3-22, 57-99.

Bauman, Zygmunt. 1995. Life in Fragments. Essays in Postmodern Morality.
Malden, Mass.: Blackwell, pp. 1 – 43, 256 – 288.

MODERN SUBJECTIVITY

Foucault, Michel. 1980. The History of Sexuality, Vol. 1. New York: Vintage.

Additional literature:
 
Taylor, Charles. 1989. Sources of the Self. The Making of the Modern Identity.
Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard.

PROSPECTS OF SOCIAL THEORY–FINAL REFLECTIONS

Turner, Bryan (ed.) 2009. The New Blackwell Companion to Social Theory.
Malden, Mass.: Blackwell, pp. 1 – 16, 551 – 566.

Additional literature:

Adams, Julia, Clemens, Elisabeth, and Orloff, Ann. 2005. Introduction: Social
Theory, Modernity, and the Three Waves of Historical Sociology. In: Adams,
Julia, Clemens, Elisabeth, and Orloff, Ann (eds.) Remaking Modernity. Politics,
History, and Sociology. Durham and London: Duke University Press.