ESOn4008 Current Themes in Sociology

Fakulta sociálních studií
podzim 2026
Rozsah
1/1/0. 10 kr. Ukončení: zk.
Vyučováno kontaktně
Vyučující
doc. PhDr. Ing. Radim Marada, Ph.D. (přednášející)
doc. Mgr. Pavel Pospěch, Ph.D. (přednášející)
doc. PhDr. Csaba Szaló, Ph.D. (přednášející)
Mgr. Veronika Sofia Corradi-Eiger (cvičící)
Garance
doc. PhDr. Csaba Szaló, Ph.D.
Katedra sociologie – Fakulta sociálních studií
Kontaktní osoba: Ing. Soňa Enenkelová
Dodavatelské pracoviště: Katedra sociologie – Fakulta sociálních studií
Předpoklady
TYP_STUDIA(N)
Basic knowledge of sociological theories and methods is presupposed.
Omezení zápisu do předmětu
Předmět je nabízen i studentům mimo mateřské obory.
Předmět si smí zapsat nejvýše 20 stud.
Momentální stav registrace a zápisu: zapsáno: 0/20, pouze zareg.: 0/20, pouze zareg. s předností (mateřské obory): 0/20
Mateřské obory/plány
předmět má 13 mateřských oborů, zobrazit
Anotace
This course will cover some of the most pressing themes in sociology in the early twenty-first century. A sociological theme is typically associated with a relatively long debate and tends to be an underlying concept or phenomena, recurring throughout it and unifying it. Discussed topics include recent social movements and civil action, urban subcultures of discontent, and the role of nonhumans in social reality. Seminars will deal with literature from multiple academic journals including, while also discussing studies in depth. Students are expected to actively participate in a seminar and write a term paper (2000 words) addressing the subject of one of the seminars. Term papers should discuss the chosen topic in reference to two academic texts published in a sociological journal in the last 10 years
Výstupy z učení
Knowledge of the basic analytical apparatus of contemporary sociology. Ability to critically interpret and utilize articles published in academic journals for own research. Ability to employ relevant analytical apparatus for explaining various social processes and social problems.
Klíčová témata
  • 16.09.2025 Introduction: Émile Durkheim and the radical microsociology of Randall Collins (Csaba Szaló) Collins, Randall. 2004. Interaction Ritual Chains. Princeton: Princeton University Press. pp.3-95. From “Émile Durkheim (1958-1917)” in: Appelrouth, Scott A. & Laura Desfor Edles (2012): Classical and Contemporary Sociological Theory. Thousand Oaks: Sage. Biography, Core Ideas, Theoretical Orientation (78-84) Excerpt from The Division of Labor in Society + Introduction (92-100) Excerpt from Suicide: A Study in Sociology + Introduction (100-113) Excerpt from The Elementary Forms of Religious Life + Introduction (114-124)
  • 23.09.2025 After Durkheim I: Rituals in everyday life and emotional energy (Csaba Szaló) Collins, Randall. 2004. Interaction Ritual Chains. Princeton: Princeton University Press. pp. 102-182.
  • 30.09.2025 After Durkheim II: Internalised symbols and applications (Csaba Szaló) Collins, Randall. 2004. Interaction Ritual Chains. Princeton: Princeton University Press. pp. 183-221 & one of the application chapters.
  • 07.10.2025 Georg Simmel, modernity and forms of the social (Pavel Pospěch) Simmel, G. 1997. The Conflict in Modern Culture. In: Frisby, D. & Featherstone, M. (eds). Simmel on Culture. London: Sage. Pp. 75-100. Simmel, G. 1991. Money in modern culture. Theory, culture and society 8: 17-31. Simmel, G. 1950. The Stranger. In: The Sociology of Georg Simmel. Pp. 402-209. Simmel, G.1950. The Metropolis and Mental Life. In: The Sociology of Georg Simmel. Pp. 409-426.
  • 14.10.2025 After Simmel I: Narcissism and the ethos of authenticity (Pavel Pospěch) Sennett, R. 1977. The Fall of Public Man. New York: A.Knopf (pp. 257-268). Lasch, C. 1979. Culture of Narcissism. New York: Norton. (pp. 31-70). Dean, J. 2017. Nothing personal. In: Schram, S. & Pavlovskaya, M. (eds.). Rethinking Neoliberalism: Resisting the Disciplinary Regime. NY: Routledge. (pp. 3-22) Twenge, J. 2006. Generation me: why today’s young Americans are more confident, assertive, entitled--and more miserable than ever before (pp. 17-43)
  • 21.20.2025 After Simmel II (Pavel Pospěch) Han, B. 2015. Transparency Society. Stanford: Stanford briefs (pp. 9-44). Illouz, E. 2008. Saving the Modern Soul: Therapy, Emotions, and the Culture of Self-Help. Berkeley: University of California Press (pp. 1-21, 105-151)
  • 28.10.2025 Reading week
  • 04.11.2025 Karl Marx: Introduction (Csaba Szaló) Rehmann, Jan. 2013. Theories of Ideology: The Powers of Alienation and Subjection. Leiden: Brill. (pp. 21-60). Smith, Neil. 2002. “New Globalism, New Urbanism: Gentrification as Global Urban Strategy.” Antipode 34(3):427–50.
  • 11.11.2025 Marxist themes I: hegemony (Csaba Szaló) Rehmann, Jan. 2013. Theories of Ideology: The Powers of Alienation and Subjection. Leiden: Brill. (pp. 117-146). Viger, Jonathan. 2019. “The Eighteenth Brumaire in Historical Context: Reconsidering Class and State in France and Syria.” Theory and Society 48(4):611–638. Geva, Dorit. 2021. “Orbán’s Ordonationalism as Post-Neoliberal Hegemony.” Theory, Culture & Society 38(6):71–93.
  • 18.11.2025 Marxist themes II: materialism (Csaba Szaló) Rehmann, Jan. 2013. Theories of Ideology: The Powers of Alienation and Subjection. Leiden: Brill. (pp. 147-178). Beetz, Johannes, and Veit Schwab. 2018. “Conditions and Relations of (Re)Production in Marxism and Discourse Studies.” Critical Discourse Studies 15(4):338–50. Angermuller, Johannes. 2018. “Accumulating Discursive Capital, Valuating Subject Positions. From Marx to Foucault.” Critical Discourse Studies 15(4):414–25.
  • 25.11.2025 Max Weber: Intro (Radim Marada) “Max Weber” in: Appelrouth, Scott A. & Laura Desfor Edles (2012): Classical and Contemporary Sociological Theory. Thousand Oaks: Sage, pp. 125-184. Recommended reading Weber, Max: “Science as a Vocation” (31 pages) Henricks, T. S. (2016). Reason and Rationalization: A Theory of Modern Play. American Journal of Play, 8(3), 287-324.
  • 02.12.2025 Weberian themes: Caging. Rationalization, Legitimation, Domination (Radim Marada) Boltanski, Luc & Chiapello, Eve. 2005. “On the Spirit of Capitalism and the Role of Critique”. In: Boltanski, Luc & Chiapello, Eve. 2005. The New Spirit of Capitalism. London: Verso. (pp. 3-53) Szelenyi, Iván. 2016. “Weber’s Theory of Domination and Post-Communist Capitalisms.” Theory and Society 45(1):1–24. Recommended reading Bell, Daniel. 1976. “From the Protestant Ethic to the Psychedelic Bazaar” & “The Hinge of History”. In: Bell, Daniel. 1976. The Cultural Contradictions of Capitalism. New York, NY: Basic Books. (pp. 54-84) Guttmann, Allen. 1978. “From Ritual to Record” & “Capitalism, Protestantism, and Modern Sport”. In: Guttmann, Allen. 1978. From Ritual to Record: The Nature of Modern Sports. New York: Columbia University Press, pp. 15-89. Ritzer, George. “The Weberian Theory of Rationalization and the McDonaldization of Contemporary Society”. In: Kivisto, Peter (ed.). 2013. Illuminating Social Life: Classical and Contemporary Theory Revisited. London: SAGE Publications. (pp. 41-59) Harmon, Josephine. 2022. “U.S. Gun Culture as a Martial Culture Within a Weberian Framework: Disrupting the State’s Monopoly on Force”. In: Cultural Studies ↔ Critical Methodologies, 2022, Vol. 22(5) 520–532.
  • 09.12.2025 Weberian themes: Enchanting. Mystery, Charisma, Re-Enchantment (Radim Marada Reed, Isaac Ariel. 2013. “Charismatic performance: A study of Bacon’s rebellion”. In: American Journal of Cultural Sociology (2013) 1, 254–287. Joosse, Paul. 2018. “Countering Trump: Toward a Theory of Charismatic Counter-Roles.” In: Social Forces 97(2): 921–44. Recommended reading Lee, R. L. 2010. “Weber, re-enchantment and social futures”. In: Time & Society, 19(2), 180-192. Dasgupta, Kushan & Panofsky, Aaron & Iturriaga, Nicole. 2022. “Trying to make race science the “civil” science: charisma in the race and intelligence debates”. In: Theory and Society (2022) 51:595–627. Över, Defne & Tuncer-Ebetürk, Irem. 2022. “Insult, Charisma, and Legitimacy: Turkey’s Transition to Personalist Rule”. In: Social & Legal Studies, 2022, Vol. 31(5) 773–795.
Studijní zdroje a literatura
    povinná literatura
  • Appelrouth, Scott A. & Laura Desfor Edles (2012): Classical and Contemporary Sociological Theory. Thousand Oaks: Sage.
  • Cahill, S.E., 1998. Toward a Sociology of the Person. Sociological Theory, 16(2), pp.131-148.
  • Rawls, A.W., 1987. The interaction order sui generis: Goffman's contribution to social theory. Sociological theory, pp.136-149.
  • Douglas, M. 1984. Purity and Danger. London: Routledge. (pp. 30-41, 95-114)
  • Geertz, C. 1973. The Interpretation of Cultures. New York: Basic Books. (pp. 3-32)
  • Simmel, G. 1991. Money in modern culture. Theory, culture and society 8: 17-31
  • Simmel, G. 1997. The Conflict in Modern Culture. In: Frisby, D. & Featherstone, M. (eds). Simmel on Culture. London: Sage. Pp. 75-100.
  • Sennett, R. 1970. The Uses of Disorder. London: Penguin (pp. 27-84).
  • Sennett, R. 1977. The Fall of Public Man. New York: A.Knopf (pp. 257-268, 294-312).
  • Lasch, C. 1979. Culture of Narcissism. New York: Norton. (pp. 31-70).
  • Viger, J. 2019. “The Eighteenth Brumaire in Historical Context: Reconsidering Class and State in France and Syria.” Theory and Society 48(4):611–638.
  • Smelik, A. 2018. “New Materialism: A Theoretical Framework for Fashion in the Age of Technological Innovation.” International Journal of Fashion Studies 5(1):33–54.
  • Szelenyi, I. 2016. “Weber’s Theory of Domination and Post-Communist Capitalisms.” Theory and Society 45(1):1–24.
  • Joosse, P. 2018. “Countering Trump: Toward a Theory of Charismatic Counter-Roles.” Social Forces 97(2):921–44.
Přístupy, postupy a metody používané ve výuce
Course requirements

Workload standards: 10 ECTS credits = 250 hours workload
Attendance and active participation in 10 seminars = 24 hours
Preparation for the seminars (reading standard 5 pages per hour): 166 hours
Preparation of critical comments: (writing standard 1 page per hour): 20 hours
Preparation for a written exam: 40 hours
Způsob ověření výstupů z učení a požadavky na ukončení
Guidelines for critical comments

Students are required to complete 10 critical comments on seminar discussions, to be uploaded in the respective folder of the Information System. The comments should be about 600 words (3600 characters with spaces) in length. The comments are due 48 hours after the seminars. The comments must respond to the seminar. Rather than a simple summary of the discussion, it should be an individual critical engagement with a specific theme – focusing on what the debate disclosed and the texts say, rather than simply what we were speaking about.

Guidelines for the exam

Students are required to complete a written exam based on the seminar readings. The 45 minute written exam will consist of answering open questions, multiple choice question and questions based on quotations from seminar readings. Outline of own examples will be required. The use of printed and photocopied texts and electronic devices (mobile phones, tablets, notebooks etc.) is strictly prohibited. All written answers may require an oral defence. Students have to demonstrate beyond doubt that they wrote the exam by being able to defend it in a discussion.
Vyučovací jazyk
Angličtina
Předmět je zařazen také v obdobích podzim 2020, podzim 2021, jaro 2022, podzim 2022, podzim 2023, podzim 2024, podzim 2025.