Contemporary sociology in a global age
Lecturer: Olga E. Kuzina
Class teachers: Olga E. Kuzina, Elena N. Danilova
Coursedescription
Contemporary sociology in a global age is a two-semester course for the second year students designed to prepare students for the external examination of UoL. Throughout first semester, students will deal with questions relating to the nature of sociology; theories of global inequalities and topics concerned with subjectivity and identity, as well as with nation states, nationalism, war and conflict. Three main topics which will be covered in second semester are ‘Money and markets, consumption and work’, ‘crime and health in the global age’ and ‘Media and the new forms of social life’. The assessment of the students will be by the University of London (UoL) examinations at the end of the second semester or by internal examination (ICEF). Contemporary sociology in a global age is a supplementary discipline under world standards. It forms the basis of further studies in disciplines such as: economic sociology of popular finance, management, etc. An important contribution of this course to ICEF syllabi is made by developing academic essay writing skills which students will use for all further courses where these skills are necessary, as well as for course and diploma papers. The course is taught in English.
Prerequisites
Students are supposed to be familiar with World Intellectual history or History of Western Philosophy, and English for academic writing.
Aims and objectives
The aims of this course are to:
- offer an overview of key issues in contemporary sociology
- apply core substantive and theoretical debates in sociology to a diverse range of empirical societies, including your own.
It is important not to memorise information in the textbook or lecture materials but to understand the key ideas of different theories, to be able to compare and to apply them to society.
Learning outcomes
At the end of the course and having completed the essential reading and activities students should be able to:
- describe the nature of the sociological perspective and the major theories of contemporary society
- offer a critical and creative reading of the set texts and be able to select relevant material cited by the authors selectively in your examination answers
- evaluate the sociological debates surrounding the processes of globalization and be able to compare and criticise them.
Teachingmethods
In addition to the lectures, there are seminars. Participation in both is obligatory. During the seminars, it is expected that students come prepared to discuss a particular topic. Reading of the required material should be completed before the seminar. Short written assignments will be given for every seminar.
The main purpose of the seminars is the discussion of the reading material. Self-study will be the main method of work in this course. Students must conduct one and a half hours of self-study per each hour of lecture. Required readings are indicated in the seminar tasks. However, student will be expected to read at least one major Russian newspaper (such as Izvestia, Kommersant, Vedomosti, etc) as well as a weekly journal (Itogi, Expert, etc.).
Assessment
This syllabus is designed based on the belief that far from being divorced from each other, testing and teaching are closely interrelated. A test is seen as a natural extension of classroom work, providing teacher and student with useful information that can serve as a basis for improvement.
During the year, students will be tested 4 times:
• Assessment (November) - 90 min
• Assessment (December) - 110 min
• Assessment (April) - 90 min
• Final Exam - 180 min
Assessment is a diagnostic test used to identify students strengths and weaknesses, intended to ascertain what further teaching is necessary.
Final - an achievement/attainment test - designed to show mastery of the syllabus. All assessments will be made in a form of unseen written examination.
The examination is split into two major sections. One section is made up of short answer questions. You are required to answer a number of these (see the Sample examination paper at the end of this subject guide). These questions are especially designed to test your knowledge of the subject. By
‘knowledge’, we mean the core ideas and debates that have been carried out on the topic. You will be asked straightforward questions about each of the six units. The questions are really carefully designed prompts to unlock what you have been working hard to study. However, please try to answer the question and avoid ‘spilling’ whatever you may know about the topic even it is irrelevant!
The second part of the examination is made up of long answer, essay questions. It is vital that you prepare some topics in detail in order to answer the long questions well. The best strategy tends to be to select those topics you feel most interested in, passionate about or even perplexed by. Practise writing short answers that you find in the Sample examination papers to get a good sense of how much time you need to explain a point. Then you should attempt the essay length questions as practice so you really know how much (or little) you can write in order to provide a convincing and critical response to a question on the topic you have prepared.
University ofLondonrequirements
In the end of the second semester, students will take a University of London External Program Exam. University of London graders will grade this exam. In order to pass this exam successfully, students must receive 40% of points.
HigherSchoolofEconomicsrequirements
For those students who will not take a University of London External Pro- gram Exam a Final ICEF Exam will be provided. Final ICEF Exam is set to meet the same level of assessment as UoL exam.
Grading formula
Final grade for the Russian curriculum will be composed of three parts:
•University of London External Program Exam or Final ICEF Exam - 50%
•First semester final - 35%
– 20% - Seminars’ participation and home assignments
– 30% - Test1(November)
– 50% - Test 2 (December)
•Second semester final - 15%
– 20% - Seminars’ participation and home assignments
– 80% - Test 3 (April)
EssentialreadingAnthony Giddens, Sociology (Cambridge: Polity Press, 7th edition, 2013)
Furtherreading
As long as students read the Essential reading they are then free to read around the subject area in any text, paper or online resource. Students will need to support their learning by reading as widely as possible and by thinking about how these principles apply in the real world. To help students read extensively, they have free access to the VLE and University of London Online Library A list of Further readings relevant to the subject matter covered in each chapter is given at the beginning of the chapters in the study guide. Also students can use HSE electronic resources If students want to have a remote access to them they have to follow the instructions here
All obligatory and additional readings forthe syllabus are available in the ICEF information system
Internet resources and databases
• Subject guide for the LSE course Principles of Sociology 1-4 chapters
•University of London Exam papers and Examiners reports for the last year
•Current course materials in the ICEF information system
Course outline
The sociological approach
1.Whatthisunitisabout
What skills students will learn from studying this unit. The structure of the unit. Reading advice and other resources. Hours of study and use of the subject guide.Theexaminationandexamination advice.
2. Introduction to sociology
What is Sociology? In what respect sociology is different from other social disciplines? Is sociology a science or a commonsense?Sociological imagination.What are sociological problems?How the order of social life is possible? How do societies change? How are our lives as individuals shaped by the societies in which we live?
Essential readings
Giddens, A. and P.W. Sutton Sociology. (Cambridge: Polity Press, 2013 Chapters 1 and 2).
Further readings
Mills, C. Wright. 2000 [1959].The Sociological Imagination. 40th ed. New York: Oxford University Press.
Berger, Peter L. 1963. Invitation to Sociology: A Humanistic Perspective. New York: Anchor Books.
Fox, K. (2005). Watching the English: The Hidden Rules of English Behaviour. Boston: Hodder & Stoughton
3.Methodology of sociologicalresearch
Theory and methods.Ontological and epistemological assumptions.Objectivism and social constructivism in sociology.Quantitative and qualitative research designs in sociology. The founding fathers of sociology Marx, Durkheim, Max Weber, Chicago school, Parsons).
Essential readings
Giddens, A. and P.W. Sutton Sociology. (Cambridge: Polity Press, 2013 Chapter 3).
Further readings
Peter L. Berger and Thomas Luckmann. The Social Construction of Reality: A Treatise its the Sociology of Knowledge (Garden City, New York: Anchor Books, 1966), pp. 51-55, 59-61.
Cuff, E. C., Sharrock, W. W., & Francis, D. W. (1998).Perspectives in Sociology.Psychology Press.Part 1 (Marx, Weber, Durkheim)
Global inequalities
4.Class
Social stratification, social strata, class, ‘ascribed’ and ‘achieved’ characteristics, social status, ‘objective’ and ‘subjective’ dimensions of class, different ways of measuring class positions (the Goldthorpe class schema), relationship between class inequality and race and gender, the global dimensions of class in relation to production and consumption, and transnational corporations (TNCs).Marx (class, mode of production, exploitation), Weber (class, status, party, Wright, Goldthrope, Bourdieu, Savage.
Essential readings
Giddens, A. and P.W. Sutton Sociology. (Cambridge: Polity Press, 2013 Chapter 12).
Further readings
Pakulski, J., & Waters, M. (1996).The reshaping and dissolution of social class in advanced society. TheorySociety, 25(5), 667–691.
Butler Т. The Debate over the Middle Classes // Social Change and the Middle Classes / Ed. T.Butler, M.Savage. L: UCL Press, 1995. P. 26-36.
Bourdieu, Pierre. 1994. “Distinction: A social critique of the judgment of taste.” pp.404-29 in David B. Grusky, 2001.Social Stratification in Sociological Perspective. WestviewPress. 2nd edition.
Bourdieu, P. (1986) The forms of capital. In J. Richardson (Ed.) Handbook of Theory and Research for the Sociology of Education (New York, Greenwood), 241-258. n
Savage, M. et al. ‘A new model of social class: findings from the BBC’s GreatBritish Class Survey’,Sociology, 2 April 2013.
Sklair, Leslie (2002) Democracy and the transnational capitalist class.Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, 581 (1). pp. 144-157.
Leslie Sklair, 2000, “The transnational capitalist class and the discourse of globalization,” Cambridge Review of International Affairs, vol:14 iss:1
Blau, Duncan, and Tyree.“Measuring the Status of Occupations.”Pp 255-259 inDavid B. Grusky, 2001.Social Stratification in Sociological Perspective. WestviewPress. 2nd edition.
Marshall, G. and D. Firth ‘Social mobility and personal satisfaction: evidence from ten countries’, British Journal of Sociology 50(1) 1999, pp.28−48.
Saunders, P. Social class and stratification.London; New York Routledge, 1994. - 140 с.
Saunders, P. Unequal but fair?A study of class barriers in Britain. (London: IEA Health and Welfare Unit, 1996)
Scott, J. (2002). Social Class and Stratification in Late Modernity.ActaSociologica, 45(1), 23–35.
Sennett, R. The corrosion of character: the personal consequences of work in the new capitalism. London: W.W. Norton, 1998
Breen, R. and J. Goldthorpe ‘Class inequality and meritocracy: a critique of Saunders and an alternative analysis’, British Journal of Sociology 50 1999, pp.1−27.
Breen, R. (2001). A Weberian approach to class analysis. From
Grusky, David B. “The contours of social stratification.” Pp. 3-51 in David B. Grusky, 2001.Social Stratification in Sociological Perspective. WestviewPress. 2nd edition.
Marx, Karl. 2008. “Classes in Capitalism and Pre-Capitalism”; “Ideology and Class”; pp. 91-103 in David B. Grusky, 2001. Social Stratification in Sociological Perspective. WestviewPress. 2nd edition.
Weber, Max. “Class, Status and Party”, “Status Groups and Classes.” pp. 132-145in David B. Grusky, 2001.Social Stratification in Sociological Perspective. WestviewPress. 2nd edition.
Mosca, Gaetano. “The ruling class”, pp. 155-61 in David B. Grusky, 2001.Social Stratification in Sociological Perspective. Westview Press. 2nd edition.
Mills, C. Wright. 1952. The Power Elite. Pp. 202-212 in in David B. Grusky, 2001.Social Stratification in Sociological Perspective. WestviewPress. 2nd edition.
Sørensen, Aage B. “The basic concepts of stratification research: Class, status, andpower.” pp. 229-40 in David B. Grusky, 2001. Social Stratification in Sociological Perspective. WestviewPress. 2nd edition.
Test your knowledge and understanding
1. What does stratification mean?
2. What does a ‘meritocracy’ refer to?
3. Is occupation the only determinant of a person’s class?
4. What do the concepts ‘symbolic capital’, ‘social capital’ and ‘cultural capital’ mean?
5. Describe one way in which class and gender intersect?
6. What is an ‘elite’?
7. Why is consumption relevant to class?
5. Race
Sociologicaldefinitions of race and ethnicity, racial discrimination historically and in the contemporary global world, old (biological) racism and new (cultural) racism, multiple racisms and institutional racism, racialisation; group closure; allocation of resources; conflict theory, social constructionism; differential racialisation; and ‘critical race theory’.
Essential readings
Giddens, A. and P.W. Sutton Sociology. (Cambridge: Polity Press, 2013 Chapter 16).
Further readings
Cohen, R. and P. Kennedy Global sociology. (London: Palgrave, 2007) second edition, pp. 157-163.
Muir, H. ‘Post-racial Britain and what lies beneath the surface’, The Guardian,13 October 2013. Available at:
Back, L. New ethnicities, multiple racisms: young people and transcultural dialogue. (London: UCL Press, 1995)
Macpherson, S.W. The Stephen Lawrence Inquiry. Cm 4262-I (London: HMSO,1999)
Obama, B. ‘America is not a post-racial society: In the wake of the Trayvon Martin tragedy, we should ask: am I wringing as much bias out of myself as I can?’, The Guardian, 19 July 2013. Available at:
Hicks, R. ‘From “classless society” to “post-racial society”: how the Left exchanged a noble ideal for an ignoble one’, The Telegraph, 19 February2011. Available at:
Cox, O.C. Class, caste and race: a study in social dynamics. (New York: MonthlyReview Press, 1959)
Delgado, Richard and Stefancic, Jean, Critical Race Theory: An Introduction (July 15, 2010). New York University Press, 2011; Seattle University School of Law Research Paper No. 10-22. Available at SSRN:
Delgado, R., & Stefancic, J. (1993). Critical Race Theory: An Annotated Bibliography. Virginia Law Review, 79(2), 461–516.
Ian F. Haney-López, Social Construction of Race in Delgado R., Stefancic J. Critical race theory: An introduction. – NYU Press, 2012.
Patricia Hill Collins and John SolomosIntroduction: Situating Raceand Ethnic Studies InThe SAGE Handbook of Race and Ethnic Studies. (2010) (1 edition). Los Angeles, Calif.: SAGE Publications Ltd.
Test your knowledge and understanding
1. How do sociologists think that race is different from ethnicity?
2. Could you define a ‘race relations situation’?
3. What is ethnocentrism?
4. How does critical race theory differ from race science?
5. Why are some people critical of the idea of a ‘raceless’ society?
6. What is institutional racism?
6. Ethnicity
Migration, ‘new ethnicities’ and situational identity, ethnic inequality, globalisation of ethnicity, models of multi-ethnic societies in industrial nations, ethnic conflict, assimilation and integration, ethnicity and health, globaldifferences in health, ‘mobilities research’.
Essential readings
Giddens, A. and P.W. Sutton Sociology. (Cambridge: Polity Press, 2013 Chapter 16).
Further readings
Cohen, R. (2008). Global Diasporas: An Introduction (2 edition).Chapter 8. London: Routledge.
BRUBAKER, R. (2002). Ethnicity without groups.Archives Européennes de Sociologie, 43(2), 163–189.
Urry, J. Mobilities. (Cambridge: Polity, 2007)
Collins, P. H., & Solomos, J. (2010).The SAGE Handbook of Race and Ethnic Studies. SAGE
Mann, M. The dark side of democracy: explaining ethnic cleansing. (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2005)
Horowitz, D. The deadly ethnic riot. (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2003)Chapter 13.
Horowitz, D. Structure and Strategy in Ethnic Conflict, Washington, D.C., April 20–21, 1998.
Test your knowledge and understanding
1. How do race and ethnicity differ?
2. What is ‘situational identity’?
3. List some ‘push factors’ and some ‘pull factors’ that have contributed to migration.
4. How does ethnicity relate to health?
5. List three models of multi-ethnic integration and describe one in detail.
6. What is a ‘diaspora’ and why do sociologists find the term useful in research?
7. Gender
Sex and gender, socialisation of gender, gender inequality and the history of feminisms, gender in a global context, including human trafficking, masculinities, prostitution and ‘sex work’.
Essential readings
Giddens, A. and P.W. Sutton Sociology. (Cambridge: Polity Press, 2013Chapter 15).
Further readings
Laqueur, T. Making sex: body and gender from the Greeks to Freud. (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1990)
Germany allows 'indeterminate' gender at birth
Friedan, B. The feminine mystique. (London: Victor Gollancz, 1963)
Juliet Mitchell. Women’s Estate. Penguin 1971. pp 60-75
Firestone, S. The dialectic of sex: the case for feminist revolution. (London: Jonathon Cape, 1970)
Greer, G. The female eunuch. (London: Harper Perennial, 1970)
Krolløke, C. and A. Sørensen Gender communication theories and analysis: from silence to performance. (London: Sage, 2006)
Tasker, Y. and D. Negra Interrogating postfeminism: gender and the politics of popular culture. (Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 2007)
Walby, S. Theorizing patriarchy. (Oxford: Blackwell, 1990)
Barash, D. Sociobiology: the whisperings within. (New York: Harper & Row,1979)
Elias, N. ‘On human beings and emotions: a process-sociological essay’, Theory, Culture and Society 4(2–3) 1987, pp.339–61.
Scott, J. (2011). Governing prostitution: Differentiating the bad fromthe bad. Current Issues in Criminal Justice, 23, 53–72
Sarah Kingston and Teela Sanders IntroductionNew Sociologies of Sex Work in Perspective in Hardy, K., Kingston, M. S., & Sanders, T. (Eds.). (2012). New sociologies of sex work.Ashgate Publishing, Ltd.
Connell, R. W., & Messerschmidt, J. W. (2005).Hegemonic masculinity rethinking the concept.Gender & society, 19(6), 829-859.
Raewyn Connell is the most prominent masculinities theorist in the world. Here you can find 22 of her key journal articles.
Test your knowledge and understanding
1. How does gender differ from sex?
2. What were first-wave feminists fighting to gain?
3. Why was second-wave feminism described as radical?
4. How does third-wave feminism differ in its methods from the earlier feminisms?
5. What does Connell mean by the ‘gender regime’, ‘gender relation’ and‘gender order’?
6. How old is prostitution?
7. Are men and women paid the same? Provide an example from one nation and explain how this is measured.
8. Family
Marriage and divorce, ‘traditional’ family and an account of its conceptual history, forms of family, global families, gender and work in the family, family in current debates about values and culture.
Essential readings
Giddens, A. and P.W. Sutton Sociology. (Cambridge: Polity Press, 2013Chapter 10).