Analysis of sociological theories

Teacher(s)

Delchambre Jean-Pierre;

Language

French

Prerequisites

The prerequisite(s) for this Teaching Unit (Unité d’enseignement – UE) for the programmes/courses that offer this Teaching Unit are specified at the end of this sheet.

Learning outcomes

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

This course offers an analytical approach to the main theoretical currents of sociology, as well as a reflection on the constitution and the object of sociology ("to think the social or the society"). Since there can be no question of claiming an encyclopedic exhaustiveness, the objective is to presenting guidelines and criteria allowing students to appropriate in a reasoned way a variety of conceptual resources (theoretical tools, but also postures and "gestures" sociological). More specific learning objectives : - Familiarization with a significant range of sociological theories. - Put into perspective (historical and analytical) to situate the main sociological theories in relation to each other. - Go beyond an abstract approach of theories by showing how a concept, once it has been historicized and mobilized in a situated investigation approach, becomes an operational tool whose relevance can be evaluated both from the point of view of logical coherence as in the development of hypotheses giving rise to empirical tests. - Reflect on some constitutive concepts of sociological thought. The theoretical contributions addressed in this course will be articulated to the following three concerns : - 1. To gain a better understanding of the scope and limits of certain sociological theories by placing them in their historical context of emergence. - 2. Realize that the conceptual tools provided by certain sociological theories do not lend themselves to any type of use, that is, that there are affinities between the questions that are raised and the theoretical resources available to them – in short that the choice of concepts and models of analysis is partly a function of the object and the interests of research. - 3. How can one proceed from an interpretative pluralism which is at once rigorous and consistent in conceptual and methodological terms, and which does not fall into the facilities of a relativistic eclecticism.

Content

The theorical course consists of an introduction and several chapters (four or five), some of which will be covered in greater depth than others. Rather than presenting as many authors and theories as possible in a superficial manner, we have chosen instead to use a selection of significant authors to identify themes that reveal a certain coherence (in terms of the questions raised and/or the conceptual tools employed). Specifically, for each chapter, we will trace a thread starting from an initial author (most often a classic author) who will then be linked to other authors or schools of thought (generally more recent), with the aim of highlighting both connections and contrasts between various sociological approaches; this work also seeks to identify principles of intelligibility that allow us to situate the authors or schools of thought in relation to one another. By proceeding in this way, we also aim, on the one hand, to demonstrate what remains vibrant and relevant in the work of certain authors who laid the foundations of sociological knowledge, and, on the other hand, to promote historical contextualization. In the introduction, we will focus primarily on three points: 1) a two-pronged examination of the origins of sociology (as an institutionalized discipline) in the context of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, as well as the continuities and discontinuities between that context of emergence and the world today; 2) a presentation of a synoptic table providing an overview of the main sociological theories from the late 19th century to the present day (including key theoretical concepts and debates, which are closely linked to historical issues); 3) Some reflections on the current state of sociology (the risk of hyper-specialization and fragmentation within the field of sociology, rethinking the relationship between the individual and society, etc.). As for the chapters, the lines of inquiry we propose to explore are as follows: 1. Tocqueville > Norbert Elias > Michel Foucault. 2. F. Tönnies > Georg Simmel > W.E.B. Du Bois > Chicago School (urbanity and migration). 3. Max Weber > Marx and Marxist criticism > radical critiques of modern society in the 19th century > Bourdieu’s critical sociology > critiques by Boltanski and Chiapello. 4. Émile Durkheim and the French school of sociology > Erving Goffman (interactionism) and Harold Garfinkel (ethnomethodology) > renewed readings of Durkheim. 5. From American pragmatist philosophy (Peirce, W. James, J. Dewey, G.H. Mead) to functionalism and structuralism > the pragmatic sociology movement vs. contemporary sociologists influenced by poststructuralism and “deconstruction.”

Teaching methods

The theoretical course is completed by readings of texts that the student must perform on his own. The knowledge of the subject of the theoretical course and that of the complementary texts are the subject of an evaluation during the same examination (see below).

During the theoretical course, the teacher exposes the subject in a way that is pedagogically effective and attractive. Students are invited to ask questions and to debate, the size of the audience allowing an interactive pedagogy.
Students have written supports (documents, texts ...).
Note that the course notes are not exhaustive.
Good note-taking is essential.

In a course on the analysis of sociological theories, it is important for students to engage with texts; for this reason, students are expected to read and thoroughly understand (in depth and in a structured manner) a series of bibliographic resources.
The required readings complement and even expand upon the material covered in the theoretical course. They are part of the exam material.
The professor will provide the key points for interpreting the texts.
The required readings are made available to students (online—see the course’s Moodle page—or through the syllabus sales office).

 

Evaluation methods

Oral exam. 
The EU assessment consists of two parts, whose weighting in the overall mark is calculated as follows:
- knowledge of the theoretical course material: 14/20)
- knowledge of supplementary texts (involving activity): 6/20.
The assessment method is the same for both exam sessions (January and August). 
The assessment language is French.
The use of generative AI is prohibited in this course, at least in relation to work that is subject to assessment. 
 

Bibliography

Bibliographie sélective

- Jean-Michel Berthelot, L'intelligence du social. Le pluralisme explicatif en sociologie, Paris, P.U.F., 1990.
- Pierre Bourdieu, Jean-Claude Chamboredon et Jean-Claude Passeron, Le métier de sociologue, Paris, Mouton, 1968.
- Daniel Cefaï (dir.), L'enquête de terrain, Paris, La Découverte, 2003.
- Philippe Corcuff, Les nouvelles sociologies, Paris, Nathan, coll. 128, 1999 (1ère éd.).
- Jean-Pierre Durand et Robert Weil (dir.), Sociologie contemporaine, Paris, Vigot, 1989.
- Jean-Louis Fabiani, La sociologie comme elle s'écrit. De Bourdieu à Latour, Paris, EHESS, 2015.
- Anthony Giddens, Sociology, London, Polity Press, 1989.
- Johan Heilbron, Naissance de la sociologie, Marseille, Agone, 2006 (traduit du néerlandais; éd. orig. : 1990).
- Marc Joly, La révolution sociologique. De la naissance d'un régime de pensée scientifique à la crise de la philosophie (XIXe-XXe siècle), Paris, La Découverte, 2017.
- Bruno Karsenti, L'homme total. Sociologie, anthropologie et philosophie chez Marcel Mauss, Paris, P.U.F., 1997.
- Bernard Lahire, L'esprit sociologique, Paris, La Découverte, 2005.
- Michel Lallement, Histoire des idées sociologiques de Parsons aux contemporains, Paris, Armand Colin, 2007 (3ème édition).
- Cyril Lemieux (dir.), Pour les sciences sociales. 101 livres, Paris; EHESS, 2017.
- Danilo Martuccelli, Sociologies de la modernité, Paris, Gallimard, coll. Folio-essais, 1999.
- Laurent Mucchielli, La découverte du social. Naissance de la sociologie en France, Paris, La Découverte, 1998.
- Jean-Claude Passeron, Le raisonnement sociologique, Paris, Albin Michel, 2006 (nouvelle édition revue et augmentée; 1ère éd. : 1991.
- Neil J. Smelser (ed.), Handbook of Sociology, London, Sage, 1988.
- Luc Van Campenhoudt et Nicolas Marquis, Cours de sociologie, Paris, Dunod, 2014.

Faculty or entity

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