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Theoretical Sociology

Module description

This module will introduce you to a variety of perspectives in both classical and modern social theory. Topics can broadly be grouped under two headings, though inter-relations between the two will be explored: general understandings of social relations and processes (such as ethno-methodology and actor-network theory); and big ideas about the shape of contemporary society (such as Lyotard’s ideas about postmodernity and Foucault’s ideas about on discipline). You will have the opportunity to think about how to apply theory in order to better understand your own experiences, as well as the world around you. You should have completed core first-year modules in sociology or anthropology before taking this module. 

Module aims - intentions of the module

In this course, you will be introduced to a wide range of theoretical texts in social theory, classical and modern, and will develop an ability to read such texts closely. However, you will also be encouraged to think critically about the nature and purpose of social theorizing—to ask what the point of abstract theory is, and what theory is good for. We will then examine a range of theoretical perspectives and substantive topics that can be used to deepen our understanding of the social nature of personal and everyday experiences—of ourselves, and of others in our society and around the world. In assignments and exams, you will be expected to illustrate and extend the ideas they encounter, using concrete examples from their own lives and surroundings.

Intended Learning Outcomes (ILOs)

ILO: Module-specific skills

On successfully completing the module you will be able to...

• 1. demonstrate knowledge and critical understanding of a range of current perspectives in social theory
• 2. demonstrate an ability to critically evaluate these perspectives and to relate these perspectives to empirical studies and findings;

ILO: Discipline-specific skills

On successfully completing the module you will be able to...

• 3. demonstrate in writing an ability to reflect upon, apply and criticise theoretical models and conjectures generally,
• 4. show an ability to analyse and critically engage with materials involving complex reasoning;

ILO: Personal and key skills

On successfully completing the module you will be able to...

• 5. demonstrate an ability to critically engage in complex arguments verbally and in small groups.
• 6. demonstrate an ability to effectively communicate in written form complex arguments and ideas

Syllabus plan

Critical theory; structure and agency; technology and rationality; postmodernism; practice theory; interpretivism; biopolitics; social construction of knowledge

Learning activities and teaching methods (given in hours of study time)

Details of learning activities and teaching methods

Formative assessment

Summative assessment (% of credit)

Details of summative assessment

Details of re-assessment (where required by referral or deferral)

Indicative learning resources - Basic reading

Abbot, A. (2007) Against Narrative: A Preface to Lyrical Sociology,Sociological Theory, 25, 67-99.
Bauman, Z. (2007) Liquid Times: Living in an Age of Uncertainty (Cambridge: Polity Press).
Beck, U. (1992) Risk Society: Towards a New Modernity (London: SAGE).
DeLanda, M. (2006) A New Philosophy of Society: Assemblage Theory and Social Complexity (London: Continuum).
Emirbayer, M. (1997) Manifesto for a Relational Sociology, American Journal of Sociology, 103, 281-317.
Foucault, M. (1979) Discipline and Punish: The Birth of the Prison (New York: Vintage Books).
Garfinkel, H. (1967) Studies in Ethnomethodology (Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall).
Giddens, A. (1984) The Constitution of Society: Outline of the Theory of Structuration (Berkeley: University of California Press).
Habermas, J. (1970) Toward a Rational Society: Student Protest, Science, and Politics (Boston: Beacon Press).
Haraway, D. (2003) The Companion Species Manifesto: Dogs, People, and Significant Otherness (Chicago: Prickly Paradigm Press).
Heidegger, M. (1977 [1954]) The Question Concerning Technology, in D. Krell (ed.), Martin Heidegger: Basic Writings (New York: Harper & Row), pp. 287-317.
Latour, B. (1987) Science in Action: How to Follow Scientists and Engineers through Society (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press).
Rose, N. (2007) The Politics of Life Itself: Biomedicine, Power, and Subjectivity in the Twenty-First Century (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press).

Indicative learning resources - Web based and electronic resources

ELE – http://vle.exeter.ac.uk/

Key words search

Theoretical Sociology