ASOC 27A01 - Global Sociological Debates

As the main advanced sociology and anthropology class that can be taken during the 2nd year of undergraduate studies on all Sciences Po campuses, Global sociological debates is a continuation of Introduction to sociology, as well as an important complement to the other - more descriptive, methodological and hands-on classes - which are mandatory in the Economy and Society major. However, it welcomes students from all three majors, and will familiarize them with some of the

main contemporary social scientific controversies and debates currently going on. It will achieve this through the presentation of several theoretical and analytical paradigms, as well as the study of their development, operationalization and consolidation through empirical research. The course will focus on major issues, selected for both their social and political relevance and their sociological complexity, including in terms of interscalar tension between micro- and macro-explanations. It will also develop an international comparative perspective, showing how each of the issues and controversies addressed are structured and discussed in specific ways in the regional area you are specializing in because of your regional minor. Therefore, this will also be an introduction to how sociology and anthropology are practiced and written in different countries, with distinct scientific and intellectual traditions, and to the complementarity between the transnational characteristic of the main debates and how they are conjugated and renewed in particular contexts.

The course will take place over the twelve weeks of the semester, and include a two-hour weekly lecture and a two-hour weekly section devoted to the in-depth discussion of two or three papers (scholarly articles or book chapters) previously read by the students.