SOCI2261: Modern and Contemporary Sociological Theory

• SOCI1331 Classical Sociological Theory

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• To provide an understanding of the key theoretical perspectives within sociological inquiry through the interrogation of its modern and contemporary forms.
• To enable students to assess and compare different theoretical perspectives according to such considerations as consistency, logic and explanatory power.
• To provide a forum in which students can actively deploy theoretical approaches within a framework of critical reasoning.

• The module will be divided structurally into two sections.
• One section will engage with modern and contemporary sociological theories that inform the understanding of issues such as: different ideas about the role and purpose of sociological theorizing (What is theory for?, Critical, decolonial and postcolonial theories); Human and non-human agency (e.g., Existentialism, Actor-Network Theory, Performativity and Affect); Structure and social reproduction (e.g. Bourdieus theory of practice, reflexivity, and social reproduction theory); Power and inequality (e.g. feminist theory, theories of race and racism, body and subjectivity) as well as the concept of the social itself (New Materialism, affect theory, bio- and necropolitics).
• Another section will engage with another set of related theories that together form a coherent programme of development, related to Structural Functionalism and Modernisation Theory, Dependency, Underdevelopment and World Systems Theory, Second Generation Symbolic Interactionism (Becker and Goffman), Social Constructionism and Ethnomethodology, Figuration, Structuration and Morphogenesis, Modernity and Postmodernity (Bauman), Globalisation, Democracy, Risk, Science and Networks.
• The specific theories listed above are only indicative and, whilst all will be discussed at some level, it will be unlikely that the above list will map out one to one onto the lecture plan.

Subject-specific Knowledge:

• By the end of the module students should:
• understand the transformation of social theory from the mid-twentieth century to the present;
• understand the similarities and differences between theorists;
• be able to use this knowledge to inform their understanding of contemporary social and political processes.

Subject-specific Skills:

• By the end of the module students should have demonstrated ability to:
• evaluate sociological arguments and evidence in relation to their specific historical, social and geographical setting;
• use abstract sociological concepts with confidence;
• analyse and evaluate the philosophical stance of specific theoretical approaches;
• deploy critical reasoning in relation to the strengths and weaknesses of specific theoretical approaches.

Key Skills:

• By the end of the module students should have demonstrated ability to:
• think abstractly.
• engage in reasoned argument.
• use IT resources, including interactive applications.
• gather information from a variety of sources both bibliographic and electronic.

• During periods of online teaching, for asynchronous lectures in particular, planned lecture hours may include activities that would normally have taken place within the lecture itself had it been taught face-to-face in a lecture room, and/or those necessary to adapt the teaching and learning materials effectively to online learning.
• Lectures indicate the main issues to be considered and introduce the main themes, interpretations and arguments of the substantive material.
• Lectures encourage students to develop skills of listening, selective note-taking and an appreciation of how information may be structured and presented to others.
• Fortnightly seminars are organised around themes for discussion and guided reading available via the Virtual Learning Environment (VLE). A structured programme relates the material on VLE to the lecture and seminar contact and this programme includes quizzes and tests to provide students with immediate feedback on their learning. This reflects the increasingly intensive use which this course makes of VLE.
• Seminars provide the opportunity for students to present and develop their own understanding of relevant materials, encourages them to develop transferable skills (e.g. oral communication, group work skills), subject specific skills (e.g. competence in using theoretical perspectives in sociology, the ability to formulate sociologically informed questions) and generic intellectual skills (e.g. judging and evaluating evidence, assessing the merits of competing arguments and explanations, making reasoned arguments). The seminars have a core function integrating the learning taking place through attendance at lectures and the use of VLE.
• In planning, preparing and contributing to seminars students should develop organisational skills, together with other transferable skills (e.g. developing confidence in public speaking and presentation, managing group work, and using the material provided on VLE).
• Students should also spend time in self-directed individual study as they prepare for seminar and essay assignments.
• There will be an (optional) Term 1 formative abstract (500 words) as a preparation exercise for the first summative.
• The Term 2 summative essay requires students to demonstrate detailed knowledge of one sociological theme and the various theoretical perspectives that may be applied to it.
• A summative ' take-home' examination tests students' abilities to collate, integrate, summarise and express their knowledge and understanding of a range of module materials.

One unseen multi-choice test (Term 1) administered and self-assessed via VLE. One extended summative essay abstract (Term 1) (optional).

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