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Durkheim | Cooley | Mead | Goffman | Weber | Parsons | Marx | Wallerstein | Chomsky | Giddens | Religion | Research

PART I. THE DOMAIN OF SOCIOLOGY:

01. Emile Durkheim’s general approach to the study of society, his conception of social fact, and the nature and consequences of society-individual relations.

02. Durkheim’s concepts of collective conscience, mechanical solidarity, organic solidarity, norms, anomie, and division of labour.

Topics 1, 2:
At website number 2 (the Dead Sociologists Index) click on the picture of Emile Durkheim. It will lead you to the site which includes the articles for the readings:

• General Approach,
• What is Social Fact,
• Individual and Society, and
• The Division of Labour.

PART II. CULTURE, SOCIALIZATION, AND THE SELF:

03. The concept of socialization, the basic ingredients of socialization, and the sociological perspective on the socialization process.

04. Charles Cooley’s idea of looking-glass self, and George Herbert Mead’s perspective on the genesis of the self and the concepts of the “I” and the “Me.”

05. The meaning of culture, the relationship between culture and the individual, cultural conflict, subcultures, and the question of cultural hegemony.

06. Erving Goffman’s explanation of the presentation of the self in everyday life and Berger and Luckmann’s idea of the social construction of reality.

Topics 3 and 4:

http://www.umsl.edu/~rkeel/010/socializ.html
http://www2.pfeiffer.edu/%7Elridener/DSS/Cooley/COOLWRK.HTML
http://www2.pfeiffer.edu/%7Elridener/DSS/Mead/MEADW3.HTML
http://www2.pfeiffer.edu/%7Elridener/DSS/Mead/MEADW4.HTML

PART III. BUREAUCRACY, RATIONALIZATION, AND CLASS STRUCTURE:

07. Weber’s idea of rationalization and its relationship to disenchantment, and discuss his views on bureaucracy and its characteristics.

08. The concepts of class structure and process and the traditional theories of Max Weber and Talcott Parsons and their critiques.

09. The critical (Marxian) theories of class structure and process, contemporary class structures, and the immiseration thesis.

10. Marx’s concept of alienation and its many dimensions; illustrated by drawing examples from the contemporary society.

Topics 5 and 6:

http://www.asc.upenn.edu/usr/chunter/iic.html
http://www.homeport.org/~blake/theory2.html
http://www.cfmc.com/adamb/writings/goffman.htm
http://www.spc.uchicago.edu/ssr1/NEWPRE/CULT98/Goffman1.html
http://www.spc.uchicago.edu/ssr1/NEWPRE/CULT98/Berger.html

Topic 7:
Click on these topics:

• Bureaucracy;
• Characteristics of Bureaucracy;
• Rationalization and Disenchantment;
• Types of Authority.

Topic 8:
At the same website also click on the topic:

• Class, Status, and Power

Topic 9:

http://www2.pfeiffer.edu/%7Elridener/DSS/Marx/MARXWRK.HTML
 

Additional reading for Topic 9:

http://www2.pfeiffer.edu/%7Elridener/DSS/Marx/MARXW2.HTML

Topic 10:

http://www.tryoung.com/lectures/mst-4.htm
http://www2.pfeiffer.edu/%7Elridener/DSS/Marx/MARXW3.HTML
http://www2.pfeiffer.edu/%7Elridener/DSS/Marx/MARXMANU.HTML

PART IV. THE CAPITALIST ECONOMY, THE STATE, AND GLOBALIZATION:

11. Features of the capitalist economy, the recent theories of the state, and the historical relation between capitalist state and economy.

12. Immanuel Wallerstein’s world system theory with particular reference to the capitalist world system.

13. Noam Chomsky’s perspective on economic globalization.

14. Anthony Giddens’ view of the runaway world of globalization and Albert’s explanation of the resistance movement.

Topic 11a:

http://www2.pfeiffer.edu/%7Elridener/DSS/Marx/MARXWRK.HTML
http://www2.pfeiffer.edu/%7Elridener/DSS/Marx/MARXW5.HTML
http://www.spc.uchicago.edu/ssr1/NEWPRE/CULT98/Marx.html

Topic 11b:

http://www.sociologyonline.co.uk/soc_essays/MarxismState.htm
http://www.spc.uchicago.edu/ssr1/NEWPRE/Change2/Skocpol.html
http://www.monthlyreview.org/1098pan.htm

Topic 12:

http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/wallerstein.html
http://www.spc.uchicago.edu/ssr1/PRELIMS/Change/chmisc2.html#WALLERSTEIN

Topic 13:

• Noam Chomsky / Economic Globalization: Capitalism in the Age of Electronics:

Topic 14:
At the first website (ise), click on

• November 10, 1999 lecture on Globalization

PART V. RELIGION AND LEGITIMACY:

15. The classic theoretical perspectives on religion and its role in legitimating the social order and assuring social control: Marx — religion and ideology; Durkheim —religion and social solidarity; Weber — Protestant ethic and the spirit of capitalism.

16. The role of religion in social reform and revolution with particular reference to the theology of liberation.

17. The role of religion as a cultural system.

Topic 15:

http://durkheim.itgo.com/religion.html
http://www2.pfeiffer.edu/%7Elridener/DSS/Durkheim/DURKW3.HTML
http://www2.pfeiffer.edu/%7Elridener/DSS/Weber/PECAP.HTML

Topic 16:

http://www.landreform.org/boff2.htm
http://www.socinian.org/liberty.html
http://home.earthlink.net/~ronrhodes/Liberation.html

Topic 17:

http://www.spc.uchicago.edu/ssr1/NEWPRE/CULT98/Geertz1.html
 

PART VI. HIGHER EDUCATION:

18. Issues of the commodification of higher education and the disembodied learning.

Topic 18:

http://www.sociology.org/content/vol003.003/roberts.html
http://www.sociology.org/content/vol003.003/beckett.html

PART VII. SOCIOLOGICAL METHODS OF RESEARCH:

19. The nature of social science knowledge in relation to natural sciences, and explain the development of research design, experimental design, and surveys.

20. The nature of participant observation and unobtrusive measures, and examine the techniques of sampling and their implications.

21. The validity issues in measuring psychological constructs.

Topic 19:

http://trochim.human.cornell.edu/tutorial/abrahams/sbk16.htm
http://trochim.human.cornell.edu/tutorial/abrahams/true.htm
http://www.stat.ncsu.edu/info/srms/surveyfocus.pdf

Topic 20:

http://trochim.human.cornell.edu/kb/unobtrus.htm
http://trochim.human.cornell.edu/tutorial/mugo/tutorial.htm

Topic 21:

http://trochim.human.cornell.edu/tutorial/young/eiweb2.htm
http://www.cfmc.com/adamb/writings/marxpost.htm