Fall 2003

Individual and Society

Elizabeth Long (elong@rice.edu)
Department of Sociology
Office: SH 556
Phone: 713 348 3483
Office Hours:

Florian Kreutzer (kreutzer@rice.edu)
Department of German Studies and Department of Sociology
Office: Rayzor 327
Phone 713 348 5326
Office Hours: MWF 11:00-12:00

Class Hours: MWF 10:00-10:50 Class Room: RH 106

Course Description

Grading and Assignments

Reading

Policies

Syllabus

Introduction: August 25

week 1 Gender: Performance or Structure?

week 2 Race and the "Other": Image or Reality?

week 3 Can we survive Alienation and the Iron Cage?

week 4 How can we distinguish between Ideology and Reality?

week 5 Why do we take things for granted?

week 6 Does Meritocracy counter Inequality?

week 7 Is there a privileged position for critical sociology?

week 8 How does a social system function and change?

week 9 How does society change?

week 10 How do individualization and modernization fit together?

week 11 How does practice re-create structure?

week 12 Why do we co-operate?

week 13 Is individualism culturally biased?

week 14 Presentations and Discussions

week 15 Presentations and Discussions

**This syllabus is subject to change – see email/internet and attend class for updates**

Week One Introduction: Gender: Performance or Structure?
August 26 Introduction to the course
 

Read the syllabus carefully, buy the textbook, and browse through the reading

August 28 The fait social of Gender
 

Emile Durkheim, Rules of Sociological Method. (Source: J. Farganis, Readings in Social Theory. Chapter 2)

Sherry B. Ortner, Is female to male as nature is to culture? (Reserve)


Talcott Parsons, Age and Sex in the Social Structure of the United States. (Source: Farganis, Readings in Social Theory. Chapter 7, pp. 191-200.)

August 30 Performing Gender
 

Judith Butler: Imitation and Gender Subordination (Reserve)

Harold Garfinkel: Passing and the managed achievement of sex status (Reserve)

Tricia Rose, Rewriting the Pleasure/Danger Dialectic: Black Female Teenage Sexuality in the Popular Imagination.pp. 185-202 in Elizbeth Long (ed.), From Sociology to Cultural Studies. Blackwell. (Reserve)

Recommended: Sharon Hays, "The Ideology of Intensive Mothering," In Long, etc. (Reserve)

Week Two Race and the "Other": Image or Reality?
September 2 Labor Day
September 4 Racial identity and racial formation
  W.E.B. Du Bois: The Philadelphia Negro: A Social Study. (Source: Farganis,
Chapter 6, pp. 167-171)
W.E.B. Du Bois: The Souls of Black Folk. (Source: Farganis, Readings in Social Theory. Chapter 6, pp. 171-178)
Anthony Appiah, Racial Identities. P.362-370 in Seidman/Alexander, The New Social Theory Reader. London. (Reserve)
Michael Omi and Howard Winant, Racial Formation. P. 371-384 in Seidman/Alexander, The New Social Theory
Reader. London (Reserve)
September 6 Constructing the "Other"
 

Edward Said, Orientalism. P. 384-387 in Seidman/Alexander, The New Social Theory Reader. London. (Reserve)

Avishai Margalit and Ian Buruma, Occidentalism. New York Book Review. 17 January 2002,http://www.nybooks.com/articles/15100 (Reserve)

Homi Bhabha, The Other Question: Stereotype, Discrimination and the Discourse of Colonialism. P. 388-402 in Seidman/Alexander, The New Social Theory Reader. London. (Reserve)

Week Three Can we survive Alienation and the Iron Cage?
September 9 Alienated Labor and Shop Floor Culture
 

Karl Marx, Estranged Labour in the Economic and Philosophic Manuscripts of 1844. (Source:. Farganis,. Chapter 1 pp. 37-43).

Paul Willis, Shop Floor Culture, Masculinity, and the Wage Form. P. 204-220 in: Jeffrey C. Alexander,Mainstream and Critical Social Theory, Vol. 5, London. (Reserve).

September 11 The iron cage and the carceral
 

Max Weber, Bureaucracy. (Source: J. Farganis, Readings in Social Theory. Chapter 3, pp. 99-109)

Michel Faucoult, The Carceral (Source: J. Farganis, Readings in Social Theory. Chapter 14, pp. 425-434)

Michel Faucoult, Panopticism. From Paul Rabinow, The Foucault Reader: 206-213 (Reserve).


Michel Faucoult, Right of Death and Power over Life. From Paul Rabinow, The Foucault Reader: 258-272 (Reserve).

September 13 Goffman and D.L. Rosenhan: Total Institutions
 

Erving Goffman, The Mortified Self. (Source: Lemert/Branaman, The Goffman Reader. Chapter 6: 55-72-- Reserve)

Erving Goffman, The Recalcitrant Self. (Source: Lemert/Branaman, The Goffman Reader. Chapter 8: 81-92 -- Reserve)

D.L. Rosenhan, On Being Sane in Insane Places. P. 14-30 in Branaman, Self and Society. Blackwell. (Reserve)

   
Week Four How can we distinguish between ideology and reality?
September 16 From basis to superstructure and back
 

Marx/Engels: The German Ideology. (Source: J. Farganis, Readings in Social Theory. Chapter 1, pp. 43-47)

Max Weber: The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism. (Source: J. Farganis, Readings in Social Theory. Chapter 3, pp. 95-98)

September 18 Durkheim: The Elementary Forms of Religious Life
 

Emile Durkheim, The Elementary Forms of Religious Life. (Source: J. Farganis, Readings in Social Theory. Chapter 2, pp. 73-81)

Robert Bellah, Civil religion in America. (Source: Alexander/Seidman, Culture and Society. Contemporary Debates. Chapter22: 262-274 -- Reserve)

September 20 Objectivity and Individualism
 

Max Weber: 'Objectivity' in social science and social policy. (Source: J. Farganis, Readings in Social Theory. Chapter 3, pp. 109-115)

Georg Simmel: The Stranger. (Farganis, Chapter 4, pp. 138-141)

Durkheim, Individualism and the Intellectuals. (Farganis, Chapter 2, pp. 81-90)

 

   
   
Week Five Why do we take things for granted?
September 23 The social Self
 

George Herbert Mead, Mind, Self, and Society. (Source: J. Farganis, Readings in Social Theory. Chapter 5, pp. 145-163)


Herbert Blumer, Society as symbolic interactionism. (Source: J. Farganis, Readings in Social Theory. Chapter 11, pp. 351-358).

Howard Becker: Becoming a Marijuana User (Reserve)

 

September 25 The presentation of Self in everyday life
 

Peter Berger and Thomas Luckmann, Foundations of Knowledge in Everyday Life. (Source: Farganis, Chapter 10, pp. 331-339)


Erving Goffman, The presentation of Self in everyday life. (Source: J. Farganis, Chapter 11, pp. 359-368)

September 27 The Stigmatized Self
 

Erving Goffman, The Stigmatized Self. (Source: Lemert/Branaman, The Goffman Reader. Chapter 7: 73-80 -- Reserve)


C. Marshall, The Stigmatized Woman: The Professional Woman in a Male Sex-typed Career. (Reserve)

First Paper Deadline September 27
Week Six Does Meritocracy counter Inequality?
September 30 Class Struggle and the Structure of Power
 

Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, The Manifesto of the Communist Party. (Source: Farganis, Chapter 1, pp. 26-37)

C. Wright Mills, The Structure of Power in America. (Source: Farganis, Chapter 8, pp. 241-249)

Zwiegenhaft & Domhoff: The Ironies of Diversity, (Farganis, Chapter 8, pp. 250-262)

Recommended: Ralf Dahrendorf, Social Structure, Group Interests, and Conflict Groups. (Source: J. Farganis, Readings in Social Theory. Chapter 8, pp. 222-40)

October 2

Stratification
 

Max Weber, Class, Status, Party. (Source: J. Farganis, Readings in Social Theory. Chapter 3, pp. 116-125)


Kingsley Davis and Wilbert E. Moore, Some Principles of Stratification. (Source: J. Farganis, Readings in Social Theory. Chapter 7, pp. 183-190)

October 4 Social Reproduction and Its Discontents
 

Robert K. Merton, Manifest and Latent Functions. (Source: J. Farganis, Readings in Social Theory. Chapter7:201-218)


J. Anyon 1980, Social Class and the Hidden Curriculum of Work. (Reserve)

   
Week Seven Is there a privileged position for critical sociology?
October 7 The Metropolis
 

Georg Simmel, The Metropolis and Mental Life. (Source: J. Farganis, Readings in Social Theory. Chapter 4: 129-137)
Richard Sennett 1998, The Corrosion of Character. The Personal Consequences of Work in the New Capitalism. Chapter 4 to 6. (Reserve)

October 9 Culture industry
 

Marx: The Fetishism of Commodities (Source: Farganis, Chap. 1: 47-54)

Theodore W. Adorno, Culture industry reconsidered. (Source: Alexander/Seidman, Culture and Society -- Reserve).

Herbert Marcuse, One Dimensional Man. (Source: J. Farganis, Readings in Social Theory. Chapter 13: 400-413)

October 11 Critical Theory Today
 

Juergen Habermas, Three Normative Models of Democracy (Source, Farganis, Chapter 13: 413-422)


Dorothy Smith, Women's experience as a radical critique of sociology. (Source: J. Farganis, Readings in SocialTheory. Chapter 12:372-81 )

   
Week Eight How does a social system function and change?
October 14 Midterm recess
October 16 Functionalism and Systems Theory
 

Aberle et al., The Functional Prerequisites of a Society. (Source: J. Farganis, Readings in Social Theory. 1993: P. 203-213 -- Reserve)


Talcott Parsons, The Social System. A Paradigm for the Analysis of Social Systems. (Source: J. Farganis,Readings in Social Theory. 1993: P. 213-220 - Reserve)

Herbert J. Gans: The Uses of Poverty: The Poor Pay All (Reserve)

October 18 Social Differentiation
  Niklas Luhman, The Differentiation of Society. P. 229-254 in Luhmann, The Differentiation of Society. Columbia University Press, 1982. (Reserve)

 
Week Nine How does society change ?
October 21

Elias: The Civilizing Process

 

Gouldsblom, Johan/ Mennell, Stephen, 1998: The Norbert Elias Reader. Oxford, Blackwell (Reserve by Individual Title)

Introduction, pp. 1-2
6 An Outline of The Civilizing Prozess, pp. 39-45
7 Kultur and Civilization, pp. 46-50
8 The Rise of the Fork, pp. 51-54
10 Civilization and Rationalization, pp. 61-67

October 23 Michel Faucoult on Repression
  Michel Faucoult, The Repressive Hypothesis. From Paul Rabinow, The Foucault Reader: 301-329 (Reserve).
Michel Foucoult, Sexual Discourse and Power. (Source: Alexander/Seidman, Culture and Society. Chapter 18:199-204 - Reserve)
October 25 Niklas Luhmann on Semantics
  Luhmann, Niklas, 1986: Love as Passion. Cambridge, Polity Press. P. 9-57 (Reserve)
   
Week Ten How do Individualization and Modernization fit together?
October 28 Emile Durkheim & a Postmodernist on Modernity and Beyond
 

Emile Durkheim, "Egoist Suicide" and "Anomic Suicide". (Source: Farganis, Chapter 2, pp. 64-72)

Anonymous: Postmodernism and Sociology: From the Epistemological to the Empirical (Reserve)

October 30 Ulrich Beck: Individualization and subject-orientated Sociology
 

Ulrich Beck and Elisabeth Beck-Gernsheim, 1999: Individualization and Precarious Freedoms: Perspectives and Controversies of Subject-orientated Sociology. In: Anthony Elliott, Contemporary Social Theory. Malden Mass., Blackwell. Pp. 156-168. (Reserve)
Ulrich Beck, Individualization, Institutionalization and Standardization: Life Situations and Biographical Patterns. P. 127-138 in: Beck, Risk Society. Sage, 1992.
(Reserve)

November 1 Anthony Giddens, Modernity and Self-Identity
 

Anthony Giddens, Modernity and Self-Identity. Self and Society in the Late Modern Age. Stanford University Press. (Reserve)

Introduction
Chapter VI: The Tribulation of the Self, pp.181-208
Chapter VII: The Emergence of Life Politics, pp. 209-231

Second Paper Deadline November 4
Week Eleven How does practice re-create structure?
November 4 Language and Symbolic Orders
  Ferdinand de Saussure, Signs and Language. (Source: Alexander/Seidman, Culture and Society. ContemporaryDebates. Chapter 4: 55-66 - Reserve)
Roland Barthes, The world of wrestling. (Source: Alexander/Seidman, Culture and Society. Contemporary Debates. Chapter 7, Pp. 87-93 -- Reserve)
Marshall Sahlins, Food as symbolic code. (Source: Alexander/Seidman, Culture and Society. Contemporary Debates. Chapter 8, Pp. 94-104 -- Reserve)
November 6 Pierre Bourdieu: Structure, Habitus, Practices
 

Pierre Bourdieu, Structure, Habitus, Practices. From The Logic of Practice. Pp. 107-118 (Reserve)
Pierre Bourdieu, Distinction. A Social Critique of the Judgement of Taste. Pp. 1-62 (Reserve).
Pirre Bourdieu, Artistic Taste and Cultural Capital. (Source: Alexander/Seidman, Culture and Society. Chapter 19 -- Reserve)

November 8 Pierre Bourdieu Continued
 

Articles TBA

   
Week Twelve Why do we co-operate?
November 11 Phenomenology & Ethnomethodology
 

Alfred Schuetz, Common-Sense and Scientific Interpretation of Human Action. In Collected Papers. (Source: Farganis, Chapter 10: 305-331)

Harold Garfinkel: Studies in the Routine Grounds of Everyday Activities, (Farganis, Chap. 10, pp. 340-348)


Recommended: Alfred Schuetz, Making Music Together: A Study in social Relationship. P. 44-60 in: Jeffrey C. Alexander, Mainstream and Critical Social Theory, Vol. 7, London, Sage -- Reserve).

November 13 Exchange Theory and Rational Choice
 

Peter Blau, The Structure of Social Associations. (Source: J. Farganis, Readings in Social Theory. Chapter 9: 265-278)

George C. Homans: Social Behavior as Exchange (Farganis, Chap. 9, pp. 279-288)

James S. Coleman: Social Capital in the Creation of Human Capital (Farganis, Chap. 9, pp. 289-302)

November 15 Catch Up Day!
 

 
Week Thirteen Is Individualism culturally biased?
November 18 Games and Battles
  Robert Axelrod, Live and Let Live: How to explain cooperation between antagonists. P. 187-200 in:
Boudon/Cherkaoui, Central Currents in Social Theory. Vol. 5. Sage 2000.
November 20 The Self-Thematizaton of Society
  Niklas Luhmann, The Self-Thematization of Society. P. 229-254 in Luhmann, The Differentiation of Society. Columbia University Press, 1982.
November 22 Bellah: Habits of the Hart
  Robert N. Bellah et al., Individualism. P. 87-107 in: Alexander et al. (ed.), The Classical Tradition in Sociology. The American Tradition. Vol.4. London 1997, Sage (Reserve).
Robert N. Bellah et al., Habits of the Heart: Individualism and Commitment in American Life. Berkeley, University of California Press, 1996 (Reserve).
 
Week Fourteen Presentations and Discussions
November 25 Presentation and Discussion of Papers
   
November 27 Presentation and Discussion of Papers
   
November 29 Thangsgiving recess
Week Fifteen Presentations and Discussions
December 2 Presentation and Discussion of Papers
   
December 4 Presentation and Discussion of Papers
   
December 6 Evalutations, Farewells
December 5 Final Paper due

Course Description

This course offers an introduction to social theory from its classical foundations to current debates. The objective of this course is to enhance theoretical and critical thinking. Discussing theoretical texts and writing short papers you will learn how to apply theoretical concepts to your personal experiences, observations, and a wide range of social issues. Taught in English.

 

Reading

You will find all readings in the syllabus. All readings are on reserve in Fondren Library [2 hr. & overnight and electronic reserve].

Required Books:
James Farganis, Readings in Social Theory. New York, McCraw-Hill.

 

Assignments and Gradings

Participation: The seminar revolves around class discussions. Reading and active participation are the key elements in this class.

Deadlines are deadlines: each day of your assigment being turned in to late will effect the grading negatively by one point. Allways turn in both an electronic and hard version of a paper. If their is any suspicion of plagiarism it will be tested by a plagiarism-detector-software.

 

20% Participation Regular, punctual, and active participation in class
40% Reading and writing assignments Short writing assignments from day to day to prepare classes - answering at least three quaters of the (ca. 20-25) assignments. ***Nothing late will be accepted.***
10% Deadline September 27 Short paper (ca. 5 pages) on a topic of the course until then
10% Deadline November 1 Short paper (ca. 5 pages) on a topic of the course until then
20% Draft due November 29; paper due December 5. One 10 page paper (approx. 2500 words) integrating your work by applying portions of the various theoretical perspectives to some theoretical or empirical topic.

Policies

Every student is responsible for maintaining a file of his or her papers. Therefore, making a copy of each paper (not only on the hard-drive but also on a zip disc or floppy disc) is highly recommended. Late writing assignments (and note that the short assignments will not be accepted if they are late -- only papers) will affect your grade negatively, i.e. downgrading it one point (or one third of a grade) for each day later than the deadline (without medical excuse or special permission which has to be asked for before the paper is due). Always turn in both an electronic and hard version of a paper. If there is any suspicion of plagiarism it will be tested by plagiarism-detector-software.

To pass the course, you must do each of the requirements. Also, attendance is part of the learning process. We expect you to be present for a reasonable number of the classes (at least 70%), and will penalize for non-attendance.

Any student with a disability requiring accommodations in this course is encouraged to contact me after class or during office hours. All discussions will be confidential. Additionally, students should contact Disabled Student Services in the Ley Student Center.

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