Sociology 5001 CLASSICAL SOCIOLOGICAL THEORY Fall 2006
Professor: Martha E. Gimenez
Office: Ketchum 205A
Office Hours: Wednesday 10 to 12 and by appointment Telephone: 492-7080
E-Mail address: gimenez at sobek.colorado.edu
Visit Professor Gimenez' Home Page: http://www.colorado.edu/Sociology/gimenez/index.html
VIRTUAL OFFICE HOURS:
Students are encouraged to ask questions using email. Questions and answers will be posted.
ABOUT THE CLASS LIST
All students are REQUIRED to join the class list. Additional or substitute reading assignments, important deadlines, reminders, information and general discussion will be posted daily: READ THE COURSE EMAIL EVERYDAY TO KEEP INFORMED.
To subscribe to the class list send email to
listproc@lists.colorado.edu
in
the message write: subscribe class-list first name last name
example: subscribe class-list Homer Simpson
Send your messages to: class-list@lists.colorado.edu
VISIT THE COURSE HOME PAGE, http://www.colorado.edu/Sociology/gimenez/soc.5001/ind.html where you will find links to relevant online resources.
COURSE DESCRIPTION
This seminar is designed to examine the contributions of classical sociological theory to the understanding of the main structures, processes and contradictions of modern capitalist societies. The social sciences emerged, in the 19th century, as the intellectual outcome of vast processes of sociopolitical and economic change. They were the product of the intellectual labor of scholars deeply engaged in political life, seeking to elucidate the nature of the emergent social order: capitalism. Political theory, political economy, sociology, and historical materialism focused on different levels of analysis, asked different questions and together produced answers which still shape contemporary social science theory and research.
Though the readings include a historical overview on the development of the social sciences, particularly sociology and historical materialism, the seminar will focus on the contributions of three main theorists; Karl Marx, Emile Durkheim, and Max Weber. Given their enormous intellectual productivity and the time limitations within which we must necessarily approach their work, we will examine in depth only a small selection of primary sources. The major goal of the seminar is to familiarize students with some of the main theoretical assumptions, concepts and patterns of determination identified by each theorist in his approach to the study of modern capitalist society. The seminar will have succeeded to the extent students master the skills necessary to continue and deepen their reading and understanding of the classics on their own. Reading the classics is hard work: a major requirement for this seminar is the completion of all reading assignments. Class presentations and participation in the discussions are also required.
Because reading the classics is hard work, students will often find themselves lost, confused, upset or, perhaps, elated after having experienced a breakthrough in their understanding. Whatever your reactions to the readings, feel free to drop during office hours to discuss your concerns. Also, I encourage you to form study groups. Learning, despite the individualistic ethos of this society, is a collective process and it is in the process of discussing and debating ideas with others that we test and strengthen our understanding of complex issues.
The study of theory requires the learning of new concepts and complex ideas. It is the responsibility of each student to request explanations, when necessary, either in class or through email. Furthermore, Norlin Library has SEVEN dictionaries of sociology; four of them, including the Blackwell and Penguin dictionaries, cannot be checked out and can be always found in the library's reference department. In addition, students can consult Bottomore's Dictionary of Marxist Thought, on reserve for this course.
COURSE REQUIREMENTS:
· 1. Biweekly Short Paper
Every other week you are to turn in a short paper, two pages at most, in which you answer a question YOU generate on the basis of your understanding of the reading assignments.
RATIONALE:
"Student-generated questions allow students to take charge of
restructuring text for themselves. Framing questions
involves active processing of text and interacting with text meaning. In
addition, students who can ask their own questions can check their own
comprehension rather than relying on teacher questions and feedback."
(Source:
http://www.mdk12.org/practices/good_instruction/projectbetter/thinkingskills/ts-77-78.html)
Your paper should be double spaced, typed or legibly printed.
The purpose of this exercise is to test your ability to get to the essential points in a given reading assignment, and to learn how to start thinking theoretically. As you strive to understand an author's theoretical contribution, you will start developing your own grasp of a given theorist's style of thinking and view of the social world.
DUE DATES:
WEEKLY PAPERS:
There will be 6 papers due on September 14, 28; October 12, 26; November 9, and
30.
FOLDER WITH ALL THE PAPERS: Due on Thursday, November 30.
· 2. Group, class and online participation
The class will be divided in four groups.
I will go over the main points of the readings during the first 45 minutes; afterwards, the groups will meet separately, for about 40 minutes. At this time, students are expected to share their learning, questions about the readings and the issues they examined in their weekly paper. There will be a 10 minutes break and, during the last third of the class, each group will present, to the entire class, the substance of its discussions.
IMPORTANT:
Group discussions will work best if the groups are organized soon after the
first class, remain stable throughout the semester, and the time allocated for
group discussion is used wisely.
Class participation is crucial for the success of the seminar. Seminars where students do not speak out, or only a few students speak and dominate the seminar, become small lecture classes where student intervention is insufficient to justify calling the class a seminar. This seminar is larger than average; consequently, the risk of becoming a small lecture class is substantial.
Online Participation through the Class List
Every Tuesday, earlier if possible, students must send a
message to the class list in which they a) send a brief list of concepts they
would like to discuss in class and b) identify the theory they found most
compelling, present its main assumption and arguments and, to the best of their
ability, use one of its insights to illuminate a social phenomena of their
choice.
The purpose of this required exercise is to test students' ability to identify
the essential points from the reading assignments, and to learn how to examine
social issues and phenomena using postmodern perspectives. As students strive
to understand an author's theoretical contribution, they will start developing
their own grasp of the theorist's style of postmodern theorizing.
Students must start posting messages in the class list on Tuesday, September 5.
Messages should not be excessively long, at most 500 words (about two
double spaced printed pages). All students should read these messages,
so they come to class prepared to address, in class discussions, the issues
raised by their classmates.
· 3. Final Take Home Examination
The exam, due on Monday, December 18, will consist of three questions (to be chosen from a larger list) based on the materials covered in class and in the readings. The examination is no more than a more formal and structured engagement with the issues you have been dealing with throughout your class participation, presentations and written work. The reply to each question should be at most 8 double spaced pages and no less than 6 pages long, excluding references. You will receive the exam questions, through email, a week in advance, on December 12.
GRADING POLICY
I will use blind grading. Students will identify their papers with an ID of their choice and will reveal their name, by email, after the papers have been returned.
Each weekly essay WILL NOT receive an individual grade. I will write comments stating, for example, that you what you wrote needs rethinking, or lacks organization, or that it was well argued; I ask questions, suggest additional readings, ask you to rewrite, etc. When papers are insightful, well written, I write only one word: excellent! When papers are weak in content and organization, they require extensive feedback. I often mark them with an S (=satisfactory), an S+ (well done!) or an S- (you could do better). What matters, when I examine these papers together, is not only whether they deserved S, excellent, or any other overall assessment, but the nature of the comments I wrote and the way you may or may not had used them to improve your work. I end up re-reading all of them again to attain a basis for the grade, especially if I originally wrote few comments. What I look for in these papers is your thinking, your ability to engage with the readings and take a concept or a theoretical insight and push it in a direction that matters to you, either because it is related to your work, or because it simply delights you and forces you to think in new and interesting ways.
Two weeks before the semester is over, you will return all the essays and I will grade them as a whole, looking over comments and marks and assessing your progress.
High grades (A, A+) are not an entitlement: they have to be earned.
Grading will be allocated as follows:
Biweekly essays: 30 percent.
Class, group and online participation: 25 percent.
Take home final exam: 45 percent.
The final exam is due December 16 at
IMPORTANT:
Please read this syllabus carefully; if you find the course requirements. grading policy or anything else unclear, let me know.
If you have any questions about your performance in the class, about your work or any other course related issue, don't hesitate to make an appointment; that's what office hours are for.
Keep in mind that a low grade or a critical comment does not reflect an asssessment of you, as person; it is an assessment of the work. To teach means to educate. The word education has the Latin root duc that means to lead forth. The role of the teacher is to point the way, to create the conditions for learning and to let students know when their work needs to be improved. I would be failing as a teacher if I were to overlook problems in your work, either in its form or its content.
To rely on secondary sources or simply paraphrase the text is not an adequate way to fulfill this course's requirements.
On September 7 or before, all students are required to send me an email statement ratifying that they understand the course requirements and grading policies.
USEFUL INFORMATION:
Disability Policy
If you qualify for accommodations because of a disability, please submit to me
a letter from Disability Services (DS) early in the semester so that your needs
may be addressed. DS determines accommodations based on documented disabilities
(303-492-8671, Willard 322, www.colorado.edu/sacs/disabilityservices)
Religious Holidays Policy
Campus policy regarding religious observances requires that faculty make every
effort to reasonably and fairly deal with all students who, because of
religious obligations, have conflicts with scheduled exams, assignments or
required attendance. In this class, a class missed to observe a religious
holiday will not be counted as an absence. If you have
to miss an exam because of a religious holiday, please notify me two weeks in
advance, so that we identify an alternative date for fulfilling that course
requirement.
See full details at http://www.colorado.edu/policies/fac_relig.html
Appropriate Classroom Behavior Policy
Students and faculty each have responsibility for maintaining an appropriate
learning environment. Students who fail to adhere to such behavioral standards
may be subject to discipline. Faculty have the
professional responsibility to treat all students with understanding, dignity
and respect, to guide classroom discussion and to set reasonable limits on the
manner in which they and their students express opinions. Professional courtesy
and sensitivity are especially important with respect to individuals and topics
dealing with differences of race, culture, religion, politics, sexual
orientation, gender variance, and nationalities. Class rosters are provided to the instructor with the student's legal
name. I will gladly honor your request to address you by an alternate name or
gender pronoun. Please advise me of this preference early in the semester so
that I may make appropriate changes to my records. See polices at
http://www.colorado.edu/policies/classbehavior.html and at
http://www.colorado.edu/studentaffairs/judicialaffairs/code.html#student_code
Academic Integrity Policy
All students of the
Plagiarism Policy
"Plagiarism (Portrayal of another's work or ideas as one's own), Cheating
(Using unauthorized notes or study aids, allowing another party to do one's
work/exam and turning in that work/exam as one's own; submitting the same or
similar papers in more than one course without permission from the course
instructors)" and other forms of academic dishonesty will not be
tolerated. Please see additional information about academic dishonesty
in http://www.colorado.edu/academics/honorcode/Code1.html
and learn about the new Student Honor Code System in
http://www.colorado.edu/academics/honorcode/Home.html
Sexual Harassment Policy
The University of Colorado at Boulder policy on Discrimination and Harassment
(http://www.colorado.edu/policies/discrimination.html, the University of
Colorado policy on Sexual Harassment and the University of Colorado policy on
Amorous Relationships applies to all students, staff and faculty. Any student,
staff or faculty member who believes s/he has been the subject of discrimination
or harassment based upon race, color, national origin, sex, age, disability,
religion, sexual orientation, or veteran status should contact the Office of
Discrimination and Harassment (ODH) at 303-492-2127 or the Office of Judicial
Affairs at 303-492-5550. Information about the ODH and the campus resources
available to assist individuals regarding discrimination or harassment can be obtained at http://www.colorado.edu/odh
CELL PHONES AND PAGERS MUST BE TURNED OFF BEFORE ENTERING THE CLASSROOM
REQUIRED
Mustafa Emirbayer, ed., Emile Durkheim. Sociologist of Modernity. Blackwell ME.
Robert J. Antonio, ed., Marx and Modernity. Key
Stephen Kahlberg, ed., Max Weber.
Required ONLINE
readings:
Marx's writings on alienation, the state, civil society and civil rights, and religion are not available in your text. You can download these readings from the Marxists Archive
OPTIONAL PACKAGE OF
T. R. Kandal, "Emile Durkheim: Suicide and
the War between the Sexes," pp. 79-88 in T. R. Kandal,
The Woman Question in Classical Sociological Theory.
Jennifer Lehmann, "Durkheim's Response to Feminism." Sociological Theory. 8, 2 (Fall 1990): 163-187.
Max Weber, Economy and Society, Vol
I. University of California Press,
Matthias Gross, "Classical Theory and the Restoration of Nature: the Relevance of Emile Durkheim and Georg Simmel." Organization & Environment. 13, 3 (September 2000): 277-291.
Martha E. Gimenez, "Does Ecology Need Marx?" Organization & Environment. 13, 3 (September 2000\ ): 292-304.
RECOMMENDED ADDITIONAL
Biography
Steven Lukes, Emile Durkheim: His Life and Work, A Critical Study. Stanford:
Rheinhart Bendix, Max
Weber: An Intellectual Portrait.
David McLellan, Karl Marx: His Life and Thought.
Walter Benjamin, "Capitalism and Religion," in Selected Writings, Vol. I
Tom Bottomore et al, eds., A Dictionary of Marxist
Thought.
Roslyn W. Bologh, Love or Greatness: Max Weber and Masculne Thinking- A Feminist Inquiry.
Simon Clarke, Marx, Marginalism and Modern Sociology: From Adam Smith to Max Weber.
G. A. Cohen, Karl Marx's Theory of History. A Defense.
Maurice Dobb, Studies in the Development of Capitalism
Martha E. Gimenez, "Does Ecology Need Marx?" Organization & Environment, Vol. 13, No. 3 (September 2000): 292-304
Robert W. Green, Protestantism and Capitalism: The Weber Thesis and its Critics.
Mathias Gross, "Classical Sociology and the Restoration of Nature- The Relevanc\ e of Emile Durkheim and Georg Simmel" Organization & Environment. Vol. 13, No. 2 (September 2000): 277-291
John Lewis, Max Weber and Value Free Sociology: A Marxist Critique.
Michael Lowy, ""Weber Against Marx? The Polemic with Historical Materialism in the Protestant Ethic," in On Changing the World: Essays in Political Philosophy from Karl Marx to Walter Benjamin.
Herbert Marcuse, "Industrialization and Capitalism in the Work of Max Weber," in Negations. Esays in Critical Theory.
Immanuel Wallerstein, Unthinking Social Science. The Limits of Nineteenth-Century Paradigms. Polity Press, 1991.
Erik O. Wright, E. Sober, and Andrew Levine, Reconstructing Marxism. Verso, 1992.
Ellen M. Wood, Democracy Against Capitalism (the chapter on Weber).
READING ASSIGNMENTS
WEEKS I THROUGH V: MARX
Week I 8/31
Introduction to Classical Sociology
Introduction to Marx's work
Weeks II/III 9/7 - 9/14.
Antonio, Introduction
Part I: Marx's Vision of History: "Historical Materialism."
Part II: The Juggernaut of Capitalist Modernity...."
Part III: Marx's Labor Theory of Value....
Part IV: From Manufacture to Modern Industry...
Weeks IV/V 9/21 - 9/28
Part V: The Downside of Capitalist Growth...
Alienated or Estranged
Labor
Introduction to a Contribution to The Critique of Hegel's Philosophy
of Right
On the Jewish
Question
WEEKS VI THROUGH IX: DURKHEIM
Weeks VI/VII 10/5 - 10/12.
Emirbayer, Introduction
Part I - An Agenda for Sociology. pp. 32-49
Durkheim's Methodological Manifesto. pp. 283-293.
Part II - A Topography of Modernity. pp. 57-78.
Part III - Culture and Symbolic Classification. pp. 83-96.
Part IV - Collective emotions and Ritual Process. pp. 107-124.
Part V - Individual and Collective Agency. pp. 139-155.
Weeks VIII/IX 10/19 - 10/26.
Part III - The Institutional Order of Modern Societies:
The
The Modern Economy. pp. 192-211
Civil Society (1) Occupational Groups and Family. pp. 217-230
Civil Society (2) Education. pp. 236-248.
Part IV - Morality and Modernity. pp. 255-279.
- WEEKS X THROUGH XIV: WEBER
Weeks X/XI. 11/2 - 11/9
S. Kahlberg - Introduction
Part I - The Uniqueness of the West
Part II - The Uniqueness and Origins of the Modern Western Work Ethic
Part III - The Economy, the Workplace....
Part IV - Stratification and Inequality
Week XII. 11/16
Part V - Authority in the Modern Epoch
Part VI - The Nation, The
Part VII - Introduction and The Antagonism... PP. 245-254
Week XIII
November 24-25 Thanksgiving Break
Week XIV. 11/30
Part VIII - The Political Culture....
Weeks XV/XVI 12/7 - 12/14
REVIEW
December 15 - LAST DAY OF CLASSES
December 18 - FINAL EXAM DUE AT 1 PM
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