Sociology

Teacher(s)

Franssen Abraham (coordinator); Giraldo Arciniegas Silvia (compensates Marquis Nicolas); Marquis Nicolas;

Language

French

Learning outcomes

At the end of this learning unit, the student is able to :

The main aim is to initiate the students to the discipline of sociology, to its specificity among human sciences, to its own way of building a subject and to some of its major paradigms. The course is built on the presentation of “sociological gestures” as embodied in famous research. Thus, the student will be familiarised with theoretical, methodological and epistemological dimensions of the study of the society. He will be able to identify what differentiates a “social problem” from a sociological problem. Particular attention will be given to the implications of these different “sociological gestures” for the reflection on the law, its genesis, its applications, its social functions. The course aims at enabling the students to acquire a general sociological culture, through an initiation to its authors as well as sociological concepts and approach. Specific aims: a) To bring the students to situate the main trends or “paradigms” in sociology and to “think” a social issue within one of them. This approach consists of “building up” a sociological object, i.e. to go from a “social issue” to a “sociological issue” or “set of issues”. b) To present some main themes or key-concepts of sociology by illustrating them with emblematic research studies (i.e. research studies which have simultaneously left their mark on the discipline, are representative of some paradigms, and are enlightening to understand the society in which we live). c) In parallel, each of these themes will lead us to reflect on one of the dimensions of the sociological approach, to elucidate its main “rules”: the construction of the object, the comprehensive approach, the rupture with established categories, taking into account social relations and the historical context of the social structures.

Content

The course is composed of two parts. The first part will consist of four sections, within which will be discussed the authors that have developed a characteristic vision of a social phenomenon based on empirical research.
- Section 1: Society as an integrated whole (Emile Durkheim, “Suicide”, Marcel Mauss, “The Gift”, Norbert Elias, “Dynamic of the West”)
- Section 2: Society as divided whole (Karl Marx, Edward Thompson and the Making of the English Working Class, Charles Wright Mills and The Power Elite)
- Section 3: Society, produce of construction (Georg Simmel, Peter Berger and Thomas Luckmann, H. Garfinkel)
- Section 4: Society, produce of the action of individuals (Max Weber, the Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism, Michel Crozier, The Bureaucratic Phenomenon)

The second part will deal with three major themes of sociology, and the way in which authors have constructed specific sociological objects on these themes (with which theoretical perspectives, what methodological tools and what principles of the sociological approach?).
- Theme 1 : Social and cultural practices (Richard Hoggart, Pierre Bourdieu, Bernard Lahire)
- Theme 2 : Social control and deviance (Erving Goffman, Howard Becker, Michel Foucault, Robert Castel)
- Theme 3 : The new spirit of capitalism (Luc Boltanski and Eve Chiappelo)

Teaching methods

The course is taught as a lecture, where it is expected that students take personal notes. The students will also have an outline of the course that will allow them to structure their notes.

For both parts of the course, students will have to rely on the required reading of a book (Cours de sociologie, cf. “recommended or required readings”).

For the second part of the course, students will have a syllabus including the outline of the course as well as the theoretical contributions. The students' notes will complete this syllabus (research results, case studies and illustrations presented orally in class).

Evaluation methods

The assessment is a 3 hours written examination. To pass the examination requires, of course, a good knowledge of the subject matter. The questions, however, are not limited to a simple restitution. They are designed to test the ability of the students to use their acquired knowledge, for instance through applications or comparisons between authors or theories.

Students will have the opportunity to practice through a « blank examination » in the middle of the term.

The written examination includes at least 4 questions covering the two parts of the course. It includes both questions of fundamental knowledge and question of basic understanding. The aim is to check, firstly, that the students master the fundamental notions of the course (concepts, principles of sociological analysis, works of the authors) without which, secondly, a more in-depth reflection wouldn't make any sense. The questions may be presented in different ways: definition and illustration of a concept, comparison of two notions or explanation and illustration of a key-concept of sociological analysis.

Bibliography

L'ouvrage de référence, obligatoire, pour le cours est le livre de Luc Van Campenhoudt, Nicolas Marquis « Cours de sociologie », Dunod, Paris, 2014 ( réédition en 2020). Il est disponible à la reprographie.

Une bibliographie complémentaire par rapport aux différents paradigmes et aux différents thèmes sera distribuée aux étudiants, permettant à ceux qui le souhaitent d'approfondir un ou plusieurs de ceux-ci

Faculty or entity

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