a) Objective of the Course
The course is an introduction to modern sociology. It provides:
(a) Essential elements to understand and critically assess the major transformations of contemporary societies;
(b) An introduction to various sociological approaches;
(c) An introduction to empirical work and theoretical analyses.
b) Summary of the Course
Teaching is organised in 18 sessions, complemented by a seminar series. Classes will be structured as follow: (1) short recap of the previous class, (2) frontal lecture, (3) Q & A session. The seminars have a double function: (1) to dissect key readings and (2) to practice sociological methods. The course is structured in four parts preceded by a general introduction to modern sociology. The first part of the course reflects upon social norms, values and deviance; the second discusses social class and social inequalities including also an educational and urban dimension. The third part describes the role and the function of important social institutions, i.e. religion, family, the state and the development of social movements and collective action. Finally, the fourth part proposes insights from key authors to understand the origin and development of capitalism. The final grade is the result of being able to critically understand key sociological readings and master a series of methodological savoir-faire.
General Plan & Readings
Reference Textbook:
Giddens, A. (2006) Sociology 5th Edition. Cambridge: Polity Press.
Session 1 – Introduction: What is Sociology?
Essential Readings
Elias, N. (1978 [1970]) What is Sociology? New York: Columbia University Press (Introduction & Chapter 2).
Giddens, A. (2006) “What is Sociology?” (pp. 2-29 Textbook)
Giddens, A. (2006) “Asking and Answering Sociological Questions” (pp. 72-99 Textbook).
Additional Readings
Giddens, A. (1986) The Constitution of Society: Outline of the Theory of Structuration. Berkeley: University of California Press.
Hughes, E. C. (1984 [1971]). The Sociological Eye: Selected Papers. New Brunswick: NJ, Transaction.
Nisbet, R. (2004 [1966]) The Sociological Tradition. London: Transaction.
Tocqueville, A. D. (2004 [1835-1840]) Democracy in America. New York: Library of America.
Weber, M. (2001 [1905]) The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism. London: Rutledge.
Wright Mills, C. (1959). The Sociological Imagination. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Part 1: Norms, Values & Deviance
Session 2 – Social Norms and Deviance
Essential Readings
Becker, H. S. (2008 [1963]). Outsiders. Studies in the Sociology of Deviance. New York: Free Press (Chapters 1 & 2).
Giddens, A. (2006) Crime and Deviance (pp. 790-839).
Merton, R. K. (1938). ‘Social Structure and Anomie.' American Sociological Review 3 (5): 672-682.
Additional Readings
Clinard, M. B., and R. F. Meier (2011). Sociology of Deviant Behavior. Belmont: Wadsworth.
Durkheim, E. (1982 [1895]) The Rules of Sociological Method. New York: Palgrave MacMillan.
Durkheim, E. (2006 [1897]) On Suicide. London: Penguin.
Goffman, E. (1963) Stigma: Notes on the Management of Spoiled Identity. New York: Simon & Schuster.
Session 3 – Social Norms, Culture and Socialization
Essential Readings
Bourdieu, P. (1992 [1980]) The Logic of Practice. Stanford: Stanford University Press (Preface).
Giddens, A. (2006) “Social Interaction and Everyday life” (pp. 126-159 Textbook).
Giddens, A. (2006) “Socialization, the Life-course and aging” (pp. 160-201 Textbook).
Additional Readings
Becker, H., B. Geer, et al. (2009 [1961]) Boys in White: Student Culture in Medical School. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Berger, P. and T. Luckmann (1967) The Social Construction of Reality: A Treatise in the Sociology of Knowledge. New York: Anchor Books.
Bourgois, P. 2003 [1995]. In Search of Respect. Selling Crack in El Barrio. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Foote Whyte, W. 1993 [1943]. Street Corner Society. The Social Structure of an Italian Slum. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Goffman, E. (1961). Asylums: Essays on the Social Situation of Mental Patients and Other Inmates. New York: Anchor Books.
Merton, R. K., Reader, G. et al. (1957). The Student-Physician: Introductory Studies in the Sociology of Medical Education. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.
Part 2: Class and Inequality
Session 4 –Class and Inequalities (1/2)
Essential Readings
Bourdieu, P. 1984 [1979]. Distinction. Boston: Harvard University Press (Introduction and Chapter 5).
Giddens, A. (2006) “Stratification and Class” (pp. 292-337 Textbook).
Additional Readings
Acker, J. 2009. ‘From Glass Ceiling to Inequality Regimes'. Sociologie du Travail 51 (2): 199–217.
Bernstein, B. 2003 [1971]. Class, Codes, and Control. London: Rutledge.
Grusky, D. B. ‘Stratification and Inequality, Theories of'. Blackwell Encyclopedia of Sociology.
Lareau, A. 2003. Unequal Childhoods: Class, Race, and Family Life. Berkeley: University of California Press.
Peterson, R. and R. Kern. 1996. ‘Changing Highbrow Taste: from Snob to Omnivore.' American Sociological Review 61: 900-907.
Session 5 – Inequalities: Gender and Race (2/2)
Essential Readings
Giddens, A. (2006) “Race, Ethnicity and Migration” (480-529 Textbook)
Ridgeway, C. (2011). Framed by gender. How gender inequality persists in the modern world. Oxford: Oxford University Press (Introduction and Chapter 6).
Additional Readings
Lamont, M. 2000. The Dignity of Working Men. Morality and the Boundaries of Race, Class, and Immigration. New York: Russell Sage Foundation.
Pattillo, M. 2007. Black on the Block. The Politics of Race and Class in the City. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
West, C. and S. Fenstermaker. 1995. ‘Doing Difference'. Gender and Society 9: 8-37.
Wright, E. O. and J. Rogers. 2010. "Racial inequality" in American Society: how it really works, edited by E. O. Wright and J. Rogers.
Session 6 – Educational Inequalities: Reproduction & Social Mobility
Essential Readings
Giddens, A. (2006) “Education” (pp. 682-737 Textbook).
Reay, D., G. Crozier, and J. Clayton. 2009. ‘Strangers in Paradise? Working-class Students in Elite Universities'. Sociology 43: 1103-1121.
Additional Readings
Boudon, R. (1974) Education, Opportunity, and Social Inequality: Changing Prospects in Western Society. New York: Wiley.
Bourdieu, P. and J.C. Passeron (1979 [1964]). The Inheritors. French Students and their Relation to Culture. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
De Graaf, N. D., P. M. De Graaf, and G. Kraaykamp (2000) ‘Parental Cultural Capital and Educational Attainment in the Netherlands: A Refinement of the Cultural Capital Perspective'. Sociology of Education 73: 92-111.
Khan, S. R. (2011) Privilege. The Making of an Adolescent Elite at St. Paul's School. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
Lareau, A. (2003) Unequal Childhoods: Class, Race, and Family Life. Berkeley: University of California Press.
Sullivan, A. (2001) ‘Cultural Capital and Educational Attainment'. Sociology 35: 893-912.
Session 7 – Urban Inequalities
Essential Readings
Giddens, A. (2006) “Cities and Urban Spaces” (pp. 892-937 Textbook).
Wacquant, L. (2008) Urban Outcasts. A Comparative Sociology of Advanced Marginality. Cambridge: Polity Press (Introduction and Part 3).
Additional Readings
Desmond, M. and N. Valdez (2013) ‘Unpolicing the Urban Poor: Consequences of Third-Party Policing for Inner-City Women'. American Sociological Review 78 (1) 117-141.
Foote Whyte, W. (1993 [1943]) Street Corner Society. The Social Structure of an Italian Slum. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Gans, H. J. (1982 [1962]) Urban Villagers: Group and Class in the Life of Italian-Americans. New York: Free Press.
Harvey, D. (2012) Rebel Cities. From the Right to the City to Urban Revolution.
Jacobs, J. (1961) The Death and Life of Great American Cities. Random House New York.
Massey, D. S. and N. A. Denton (1993) American Apartheid. Segregation and the Making of the Underclass. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.
Schelling, T. C. (1978) Micromotives and Macrobehavior. New York: Norton.
Venkatesh, S. A. 2000. American project. The Rise and Fall of a Modern Ghetto. Boston: Harvard University Press.
Wilson, W. J. 1987. The Truly Disadvantaged. The Inner City, the Underclass, and Public Policy. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Part 3: Social Institutions
Session 8 – Religion
Essential Readings
Geertz, C. (1993) “Religion as a Cultural System. The Interpretation of Cultures: Selected Essays”. C. Geertz, Fontana Press: 87-125.
Giddens, A. (2006) “Religion in Modern Society” (530-581 Textbook).
Additional Readings
Berger, P. (1967) The Sacred Canopy: Elements of a Sociological Theory of Religion. New York: Anchor Books.
Coles, R. (1975) "Football as a ‘Surrogate' Religion." A Sociological Yearbook of Religion in Britain, 8.
Davie, G. (1994). Religion in Britain since 1945: Believing without Belonging. Oxford: Blackwell.
Davie, G. (2003) "The Evolution of the Sociology of Religion. Themes and Variations." In Handbook of the Sociology of Religion, edited by Michele Dillon. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Durkheim, E. (1984 [1893]). The Division of Labor in Society. New York: Free Press.
Durkheim, Emile (2001 [1912]) The Elementary Forms of Religious Life. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Hervieu-Léger, D. (2000) Religion as a Chain of Memory. New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press.
Snow, D. and R. Machalek (1983) ‘The Convert as a Social type'. Sociological Theory 1: 259-289.
Weber, M. (1978 [1922]). Economy and Society. Berkeley: University of California Press.
Weber, M. (2001 [1905]) The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism. London: Rutledge.
Wilson, B. (1966) Religion in Secular Society: a Sociological Comment. London: Watts & Co.
Session 9 – Family
Essential Readings
Giddens, A. (2006) “Families and Intimate Relationships” (pp. 202-249)
Hochschild, A. R. et Machung, A., (1989) The Second Shift. New York: Viking Penguin. (Introduction, chapter 9, chapter 12).
Additional Readings
Ariès, P.(1996 [1960]) Centuries of childhood. Pimlico: University of Virginia.
Dominguez-Folgueras, M. 2012. ‘Is Cohabitation More Egalitarian? The Division of Household Labor in Five European Countries'. Journal of Family Issues, vol. 34 (12): 1623-1646.
Fenstermaker B.S. (1985). The Gender Factory: the Apportionment of Work in American Households. New York: Plenum Press.
Lareau A. (2003) Unequal Childhoods: Class, Race, and Family Life. Berkeley: University of California Press.
Lévi-Strauss, C. (1969 [1949]). The Elementary Structures of Kinship. Oxford: Taylor and Francis.
Nelson, H. L., Ed. (1997). Feminism and Families. New York: Rutledge.
Zelizer, V. (1994 [1985]) Pricing the Priceless Child: The Changing Social Value of Children. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
Session 10 – The State
Essential Readings
Esping-Andersen, Gøsta (1990) The Three Worlds of Welfare Capitalism. Princeton: Princeton University Press (Part 1).
Additional Readings
Dubois, V. (2010 [1999]) The Bureaucrat and the Poor. Encounters in French Welfare Offices. Farnham: Ashgate.
Lachmann, R. (2010) States and Power. Cambridge: Polity Press.
Lipsky, M. (2010 [1980]) Street-level Bureaucracy. Dilemmas of the Individual in Public Services. New York: Russell Sage.
Maynard-Moody, S., and M. Musheno (2003) Cops, Teachers, Counsellors. Stories from the Front Lines of Public Service. Chicago: University of Michigan Press.
Tilly, C. (1990) Coercion, Capital, and European States. Oxford: Blackwell.
Tilly, C. (2004) Contention and Democracy in Europe, 1650-2000. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Warin, P. (2012). ‘Non-Demand for Social Rights: a New Challenge for Social Action in France.' Journal of Poverty and Social Justice 20 (1): 41-55.
Weber, M. (2004 [1918]) The Vocation Lectures ("Science as a vocation" and "Politics as a vocation"). Indianapolis: Hackett. Available online: http://www.sscnet.ucla.edu/polisci/ethos/Weber-vocation.pdf
Session 11 – Collective Action and Social Movements
Essential Readings
Ferragina, E. (2013) ‘The Socio-Economic Determinants of Social Capital and the Mediating effect of History: Making Democracy Work Revisited'. International Journal of Comparative Sociology, 54 (1): 48-73.
McAdam, D., (1989) ‘The Biographical Consequences of Activism', American Sociological Review, 54 (5): 744-760.
Additional Readings
Calhoun, C. (1993) ‘New Social Movements' of the Early 19th Century'. Social Science History 17: 385-427.
Davis, G. F., McAdam, D., Scott, R. W. et Zald, M. N. (2005) Social Movements and Organization Theory. New York: Cambridge University Press.
Goodwin, J. and J. Jasper (2009) The Social Movements Reader. Cases and Concepts. Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell.
Gurr, T. (1970) Why Men Rebel. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
Katzenstein, M. F. (1998) Faithful and Fearless. Moving Feminist Protest Inside the Church and Military. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
Kitschelt, H. (1986) ‘Political Opportunity Structures and Political Protest: Anti-Nuclear Movements in Four Democracies'. British Journal of Political Science 16: 57-85.
Marx, G. and D. McAdam (1994) Collective Behavior and Social Movements: Process and Structure. Englewood Cliffs: Prentice Hall.
McAdam, D. (1988) Freedom Summer. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
McAdam, D., S. Tarrow, and C. Tilly (2001) Dynamics of Contention. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Olson, M. (1971 [1965]). The Logic of Collective Action. Public Goods and the Theory of Groups. Harvard: Harvard University Press.
Tarrow, S. G. (1989) Democracy and Disorder: Protest and Politics in Italy, 1965- 1975. Oxford: Clarendon Press.
Taylor, V. (1989) ‘Social Movement Continuity: the Women's Movement in Abeyance'. American Sociological Review 54: 761-775.
PART IV: Understanding Capitalism: Origin and Development
Sessions 12/13 – Marx, the Marxian Tradition and the Issue of Value
Essential Reading
Jessop, B. (1998) Karl Marx. In Stones, R. in Key Sociological Thinkers. London: MacMillan (pp. 21-33).
Additional Readings
Eagleton, T. 2011. Why Marx Was Right, New Haven: Yale University Press.
Harvey, D. 2013. A Companion to Marx's Capital (Complete Edition), London: Verso. Marx, Capital (I)
Elster, J. 1986. Karl Marx: A Reader, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Reading Capital, David Harvey's Video Lectures: http://davidharvey.org/reading-capital/
A Marxist Reading List from Verso: https://www.versobooks.com/blogs/3041-karl-marx-reading-list
Sessions 14/15 – Polanyi and The Great Transformation
Essential Reading
Polanyi, K. 2001. The Great Transformation: The Political and Economic Origins of Our Time. Boston: Beacon Press (in particular chapter 6 and 7).
Additional Reading
Block, F., Somers, M.R. 2013. The Power of Market Fundamentalism: Karl Polanyi's Critique. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Sessions 16 – Thompson and The Making of the English Working Class
Essential Reading
Thompson, E.P. 1963. The Making of the English Working Class. London: Penguin (in particular preface to the original 1963 edition, and chapter 6)
Additional Reading
Ferragina, E., Arrigoni, A., & Spreckelsen, T. F. (2022). The rising invisible majority: Bringing society back into international political economy. Review of International Political Economy, 29 (1), 114-151.
Sessions 17 – Wood, and The Origin of Capitalism
Wood, E. M. 2002. The Origin of Capitalism. A Longer View. Verso: London (in particular introduction and chapter 6)
Additional Reading
Brenner, R. (1976). Agrarian class structure and economic development in pre-industrial Europe. Past & present, 70(1), 30-75.
Sessions 18 – Recap
Emanuele FERRAGINA,Ioannis KOLIOPANOS
Cours magistral et conférences
English
None.
Autumn 2023-2024
Course Workload & Evaluation
Students are expected to read ‘essential readings' every week, which constitute the backbone of the coursework. ‘Additional readings' provide fine-grained insights about specific topics and broader theoretical frameworks. There are two modes of evaluation (including in progress evaluations and a final exam):
(1)
2/3 of the grade is the outcome of the seminar work. This is determined from the addition of four components:
- Group presentations each week of one of the essential readings (20%);
- Group projects based on fieldwork (individual semi-structured interviews), each group member will hand in an individual report (interview transcript and feedback) (35 %);
- A mid-term exam (35 %);
- Class participation (10 %).
(2)
1/3 of the grade is the outcome of a final written exam (4h of duration). The exam includes two components:
- A commentary of documents;
- Two questions related to the coursework (you can choose between three of them).