Social Theory Universidad Carlos III, Fall 2015 COURSE OVERVIEW This course offers an introduction to social and political theory through a survey and critical analysis of the foundational texts in sociology. The first half of the course will introduce you to the classical theories of Alexis de Tocqueville, Karl Marx, Max Weber, and Émile Durkheim; while the second half examines contemporary theoretical developments in the poststructural and feminist traditions. Throughout the course, we will explore the following questions: (1) What are the main themes, arguments, and concepts developed in sociological theory? (2) How do the various theoretical viewpoints speak to, or fail to speak to, one another? (3) How do these theories help us understand the world around us? COURSE REQUIREMENTS You are required to read the assigned texts carefully, attend lecture and discussion section, and demonstrate your familiarity with the readings through active participation. There will be three written assignments for this class: (1) a midterm examination, covering the material in weeks 1-8; (2) a short essay (3-5 pages), covering the material in weeks 10-13; and (3) a final examination, covering all material in the course. You will also be required to give one short (10 minute) oral presentation during discussion section at some point during the semester. The composition of your final grade will be as follows: 1. Class attendance and participation (15%). Attendance in both lecture and discussion section is mandatory. Active participation means doing the readings, thinking about them, and putting your thoughts, questions, and opinions on the table during section. 2. Oral presentation in discussion section (10%). Everyone must sign up for one presentation, to be given in groups over the course of the semester. The presentation should last about ten minutes, and should (a) present a brief discussion of an important concept from that week s readings, (b) discuss how that concept fits into the overall theory, (c) use a contemporary example to illustrate how that concept might be useful or relevant, and (d) pose three or more critical questions about the concept or theory. A written summary of your presentation must be posted to Aula Global by the end of the day before your presentation.
Your presentation should not simply reproduce my lectures. It should demonstrate that you have engaged with the materials and thought about how to apply them to real-world situations. Critical questions are those which try to probe the extent to which the theories compare with other theories we have studied, have limits, might be extended, or might fail to take important social factors into consideration. Simply asking the class, "Do you agree with this?" is not a critical question. If you are having difficulty figuring out how to put together your presentation, please let me know. I am happy to provide suggestions that you might consider in designing your presentation. Obviously, the sooner you contact me, the more helpful I can be. 3. Mid-term examination (25%). The midterm exam, which will consist of a number of short essay questions, will be held in discussion section on Thursday, 5 November. 4. Short essay (20%). This essay should be no longer than 3-5 pages in length. I will distribute an essay prompt toward the beginning of November, and the essay will be due in class on Thursday, 10 December. 5. Final examination (30%). The final exam will be given twice. You may take it EITHER Tuesday, 15 December, from 12:30-3:30 PM, or Thursday, 14 January, from 3:00-6:00PM. COURSE POLICIES Attendance Policy: Students are expected to arrive on time and not to leave early unless arranged in advance with the instructor. You may miss up to two classes without penalty, but excessive (three or more) absences will negatively affect your grade. You are responsible for all course announcements, assignments, and material covered on the days that you are absent. Attendance at the mid-term and final examinations is mandatory. You will not be permitted to make up or otherwise reschedule these examinations. Course Communication: Aula Global (http://aulaglobal.uc3m.es) will be our primary means of communication during this class. All students should see to it that they are registered for this course in Aula Global and that they can access the readings and other features of the course. Email is the best way to reach me. I will try to reply to you as quickly as possible, but I cannot always reply immediately. SOCIAL THEORY 2
Classroom Etiquette: Be respectful of each other and of each other s opinions. The use of computers in this course is strictly limited to note-taking and to consulting the readings covered during the course. Other uses (facebooking, gaming, surfing the internet, etc.) detract from your focus on the material and can distract those around you. Students who disregard this policy may be asked to leave the class, and/or to leave their computers at home for the balance of the semester. Mobile phones must be turned off (or put on silent mode) and stowed for the duration of the class. Academic Honesty: You must in no way misrepresent your work or be party to another student s failure to maintain academic integrity. The standard penalty for violations of academic integrity in this course will be a final grade of F for the course. Grievances: Although I try very hard to grade fairly and consistently, grading is nevertheless an inexact science. If you are unhappy with your grade on an assignment, you can come to my office hours with a onepage written explanation of why you feel your grade should be different, as well as the original assignment. Based on this petition, I will decide whether to re-grade your exam or presentation. Be advised that your grade may move upwards or downwards should I decide to re-grade it! COURSE READINGS All readings are available in.pdf format through the course website on Aula Global. COURSE OUTLINE The readings in this course are dense and frequently difficult. I have made every effort to distill the readings down as far as possible so that you are not reading extraneous material. Unless otherwise indicated, the page numbers listed below refer to naturally occurring breaks in the text (chapter, section, or subsection beginnings and endings) which will be evident when you view the reading. In those cases where the readings do not coincide with such breaks, I have indicated the point on the given page where you should begin or end the reading in parentheses. SOCIAL THEORY 3
NOTE: I strongly recommend that you do the readings in the order that they are presented, even though they may appear in a somewhat different order in the pdf! Week 1 (8/10 September) Introduction Week 2 (15/17 September) Equality, Democracy, and the State ALEXIS DE TOCQUEVILLE, The Old Regime and the Revolution, pp. 96-107, 111-118, 149-171, 217-230, 241-247 Week 3 (22/24 September) Capitalism and Class Conflict *KARL MARX, Marx on the History of His Opinions, pp. 4-5 (from The first work to society to a close. ) *KARL MARX, Economic and Philosophical Manuscripts, pp. 70-81 *KARL MARX, Capital, Volume III, pp. 441-442 *KARL MARX, Eighteenth Brumaire of Louis Bonaparte, p. 608 (single paragraph beginning The small peasants ) *KARL MARX, Wage Labour and Capital, pp. 203-217 KARL MARX, Capital, Vol. I, pp. 776-781 (beginning with Every individual capital ) *KARL MARX, Manifesto of the Communist Party, pp. 473-483 (*in Robert Tucker (ed.), The Marx-Engels Reader) Week 4 (29 September/1 October) Ideology and Hegemony *KARL MARX, The German Ideology pp. 172-175 (from The ideas of the ruling class to the bottom of page 175), 186-188 *KARL MARX, Contribution to the Critique of Hegel s Philosophy of Right, pp. 53-54 (from The basis of irreligious criticism to religion is the halo. ) (*in Robert Tucker (ed.), The Marx-Engels Reader) ANTONIO GRAMSCI, The Prison Notebooks, pp. 5-16 (through largely instrumental ), 227-239, 242-243, 246-247, 257-264 Week 5 (6/8 October) Ideas and Economic Development MAX WEBER, The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism, pp. 1-36, 67-87, 105-122 Week 6 (13/15 October) Bureaucracy, Science, and Rationalization MAX WEBER, Bureaucracy, pp. 196-199 (through ideologically hallowed ), 214-216, and 224-232 SOCIAL THEORY 4
MAX WEBER, Science as a Vocation, pp. 137-140 (from In contrast with to the Tolstoyan art ), 143-156 (from Under these internal to the end) (*Both selections from H.H. Gerth and C.W. Mills (eds.), From Max Weber) Week 7 (20/22 October) Social Differentiation and Solidarity ÉMILE DURKHEIM, The Division of Labor in Society, pp. 21-29 (from In all these examples to the end of the chapter), 31-39 (through states of the collective consciousness ), 60-64, 68-72, 81-86 (from It may well be surprising to the end of the chapter), 200-205 (through generally more voluminous ), 291-308, 334-340 Week 8 (27/29 October) Religion and Community ÉMILE DURKHEIM, The Elementary Forms of Religious Life, pp. 8-18, 33-44, 207-223 (through the ranks of sacred things ), 225-227 (through fundamental to religion ), 230 (single paragraph beginning We can understand ), 236-241, 419-423 (through even tends to develop ), 426-433 (from But the last to the end of section II) Week 9 (3/5 November) MIDTERM THE MIDTERM WILL BE HELD IN CLASS ON THURSDAY, 5 NOVEMBER Weeks 10-11 (10 November, 17/19 November) Power, Tastes, and Preferences PIERRE BOURDIEU and LOIC J.D. WACQUANT, An Invitation to Reflexive Sociology, pp. 94-101, 118-119 (single paragraph beginning A general science of the economy ), 127-135 PIERRE BOURDIEU, Social Space and Symbolic Space, in Practical Reason, pp. 1-13 PIERRE BOURDIEU, Distinction, pp. 53-73 (from Distance from Necessity to the blundering of pedants. Skip material in smaller font between horizontal lines on pp. 60-61, 62, 62-63, 70), 76-79 (from Object Lessons to as the new petit bourgeois. Skip material in smaller font between horizontal lines on p. 75) NO DISCUSSION SECTION ON THURSDAY, 12 NOVEMBER Week 12 (24/26 November) Productive Power MICHEL FOUCAULT, Discipline and Punish, pp. 3-11 (through this non-corporal penality ), 16-30 (from The reduction in penal severity to the prison of the body ), 195-209 (through with disciplinary mechanisms ), 215-225 (from Discipline may be identified to in the inquisitorial technique ) MICHEL FOUCAULT, History of Sexuality, Vol. I, pp. 36-49 SOCIAL THEORY 5
Week 13 (1/3 December) Sex, Gender, and Power SIMONE DE BEAUVOIR, The Second Sex, pp. xxi-xxvi (from If her functioning to necessary to one another ), 33-37, 128-138, 406-411 (from Woman is an existent to weighty these reasons become ), 597-603 (through bold and courageous as men ), 610-615 (from There are many aspects to instrumentality of exploitation ), 621-624 (from There is a justification to to perpetuate religion ), 724-732 (from In daily life... to the end) JOAN SCOTT, Gender: A Useful Category of Analysis, pp. 1066-1075 Weeks 14-15 (10 December, 15 December) Course Wrap-Up and Final Discussion NO CLASS ON TUESDAY, 8 DECEMBER SHORT ESSAY DUE IN DISCUSSION SECTION ON THURSDAY, 10 DECEMBER ***FINAL EXAMINATION: TUESDAY, 15 DECEMBER, 12:30-14:15 *** SOCIAL THEORY 6