Course instructors: Pavel Pospěch, Csaba Szaló, Radim Marada
Autumn 2024 10 ECTS
This course introduces students to the wide range of social theory that has developed in the discipline of Sociology, providing exposure to classical, and contemporary theories. The literature has been selected to introduce the works of key classics in sociology and to trace their influence towards contemporary discussions. By the end of the semester, students will understand the basic paradigms in the history of sociology, have knowledge of contemporary themes in sociological theory and research, be able to use formal theory in the analysis of current social issues, be able to think critically about and engage in debate over different theoretical approaches, and be prepared to use sociological theory in their Master’s thesis work.
Course requirements: - Regular attendance and reading the core texts - Oral presentations in class (everyone will critically discuss one reading, as assigned) (10%) - Mid-term written assignment (pre-exam) (20%) - Final exam (70%)
Course structure
1. Introduction to the course (Pavel Pospěch) (24.9.)
2. Émile Durkheim and the Collective in sociology (Pavel Pospěch) (1.10.)
• 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)
3. After Durkheim: Rituals in everyday life and the sociology of the self (Pavel Pospěch) (8.10.) • Goffman, E. 1967. Interaction ritual: essays on face-to-face behavior. New York: Anchor books doubleday & company, pp. 5-46. • Rawls, A.W., 1987. The interaction order sui generis: Goffman's contribution to social theory. Sociological theory, pp.136-149. • Cahill, S.E., 1998. Toward a Sociology of the Person. Sociological Theory, 16(2), pp.131-148. • Tonkiss, F. (2003). The ethics of indifference: Community and solitude in the city. International journal of cultural studies, 6(3), pp. 297-311.
4. After Durkheim: Culture and cultural sociology (Pavel Pospěch) (15.10.)
• Douglas, M. 1984. Purity and Danger. London: Routledge. (pp. 30-41, 95-114) • Alexander, J.C. 2006. The Civil Sphere. Oxford: Oxford University Press. (pp. 53- 67) • Alexander, J.C., 2018. The societalization of social problems: Church pedophilia, phone hacking, and the financial crisis. American Sociological Review, 83(6): 1049- 1078. • Alexander, J.C. & Jacobs, R. 1998. Mass communication, ritual and civil society. In: Liebes, T. & Curran, J. (eds.). Media, ritual and identity. London: Routledge, pp. 23-41.
5. Georg Simmel, modernity and forms of the social (Pavel Pospěch) (22.10.) • 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.
6. Reading week (29.10.)
7. After Simmel: Narcissism and the ethos of authenticity (Pavel Pospěch) (5.11.) • 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)
8. Karl Marx (Csaba Szaló) (12.11.)
• 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. 9. Marxist themes I: hegemony (Csaba Szaló) (19.11.) • 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.
• 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.
11. Max Weber: Intro (Radim Marada.) (3.12.)
• “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.
(10.12.) • 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.
(17.12.) • 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.
