Course Syllabus

This course is open only to the students of the Social Sciences BA study programme.

The course will take place in an in-class form.

PART I: THE DISCIPLINE AND ITS PARADIGMS

Week 1 (2 October): Intro/Sociology: A multiple paradigm science (JB)

Ritzer, G. (1975) “Sociology: A Multiple Paradigm Science”. The American Sociologist , 10(3): 156–167.

Week 2 (9 October): The Social-Facts Paradigm (JB)

Lee, D. (1994). “Class as a Social Fact.” Sociology , 28(2): 397–415.

Week 3 (16 October): The Social-Definition Paradigm (JB)

Guess TJ. (2006). The Social Construction of Whiteness: Racism by Intent, Racism by Consequence. Critical Sociology. 2006;32(4):649-673.

Week 4 (23 October): The Social-Behaviour Paradigm (JB)

Homans, G. C. (1958). Social behavior as exchange. American Journal of Sociology, 63, 597–606.

PART II: SOCIETIES AND THEIR INSTITUTIONS

Week 5 (30 October): Analysis of Social Institutions of Modernity and Late Modernity: Socio-economic Dimension (OC)

Harrington, A. Modern Social Theory: An Introduction. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2005, pp. 16-24 (modernity and its dimensions), 41-50 (Marx), 286-288 (Beck and Giddens).

Marx, K. and F. Engels. 1848. Manifesto of the Communist Party. https://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/download/pdf/Manifesto.pdf, excerpt (pp. 14-26).

Week 6 (6 November): Analysis of Social Institutions of Modernity and Late Modernity: Political Dimension (OC)

Harrington, A. Modern Social Theory: An Introduction. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2005, pp. 64-76 (Weber), 292-299 (globalization).

Weber, M. 1919. Politics as Vocation. http://anthropos-lab.net/wp/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/Weber-Politics-as-a-Vocation.pdf, excerpt (pp. 1-6).

Week 7 (13 November): Reading week: no class

Week 8 (20 November): Analysis of Social Change and Stability: Civil Society and Associations (OC)

Harrington, A. Modern Social Theory: An Introduction. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2005, pp. 51-58 (Durkheim).

Putnam, R. 1995. Bowling Alone. http://www.socialcapitalgateway.org/content/paper/putnam-r-d-1995-bowling-alone-americas-declining-social-capital-journal-democracy-6-1-, pp. 65-78.

PART III: SOCIAL STRUCTURE AND ITS CONSTRUCTIONS

Week 9 (27 November): Analysis of Socialisation and Family (DN)

Berger, P., & Luckmann, T. (1967). The social construction of reality. London: Allen Lane. pp. 147-166.

Week 10 (4 December): Analysis of Social Structure and Inequalities (DN)

Bourdieu, P. (1998). Practical reason: On the theory of action Stanford: Stanford University Press, pp. 1-18

Week 11 (11 December): Analysis of Social Role of Language and Communication (DN)

Mooney, A. & Evans, B. (2015). Language, society and power: An introduction . Abingdon: Routledge, pp. 1-19.

Week 12 (18 December): team work at distance: term papers preparation

Week 13 (January - the exact date will be specified): Final seminar with a discussion of the term papers. (DN)

The final version of the detailed syllabus is published on Moodle: https://dl1.cuni.cz/course/view.php?id=10124¬ifyeditingon=1