Sociology 502: CONTEMPORARY SOCIOLOGICAL
THEORY
SOC 502: CONTEMPORARY SOCIOLOGICAL THEORY
Fall l995
Professor Michèle Lamont
Department of Sociology
Princeton University
mlamont@pucc.princeton.edu
Office hours: by appointment.
Green Hall 2-C-8
This course is divided in four parts. In the first part, we will
discuss various definitions of "sociological theory" and reflect on
approaches to studying theories, including the sociology of knowledge
approach. In the second part, we will cover very rap idly trends in
American sociological theory after WWII. In the third part, we will
deal with European sociological theory and feminist theory. The last
part will center on "theories in the making", focusing on the cases of
cultural theory and postmode rnism. Although this survey course will
not allow us to discuss all the material in sufficient depth, it will
provide graduate students the basic tools they need to find their way
through contemporary theorizing in sociology and will acquaint them
with t he most recent debates.
Requirements:
- Eight memos on the group of weekly readings of your choice.
These memos, of a maximum length of three pages, should be deposited
in my mail box at least 24 hours before our meetings. They should
raise substantive and critical issues to be discusse d in class.
- A review of a recent theory book of your choice (800 words maximum).
- Final exam in class (open books).
Readings:
The following books are available at the U-Store and at the reserve.
- Berger, Bennett. l995. An Essay on Culture: Symbolic Structure and
Social Structure. Berkeley: University of California Press.
- Bourdieu, Pierre. l984. Distinction. Cambridge: Harvard
University Press.
- Collins, Randall. l994. Four Sociological Traditions.
New York: Oxford University Press.
- Foucault, Michel. l979. Discipline and Punish. New
York: Vintage.
- Fraser, Nancy. l989. Unruly Practices. Power, Discourse, and
Gender in Contemporary Social Theory. Minneapolis: University of
Minnesota Press.
- Goffman, Erving. l959. The Presentation of Self in Everyday
Life. New York: Anchor/Doubleday.
- Lamont, Michele. l992. Money, Morals, and Manners: The Culture of
the French and American Upper-Middle Class. Chicago: University of
Chicago Press.
- Lemert, Charles. l995. Sociology After the Crisis. Denver co:
Westview/ Harper Collins.
- Levine, Donald N. l995. Visions of the Sociological
Tradition. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
- Seidman, Steven, ed. l994. The Postmodern Turn: New Perspectives
on Social Theory. New York: Cambridge University Press.
A reading packet is also available at Pequod, 6 Nassau St.
Part one: Defining "theory" and specifying approaches
Week 1: Introduction
- Alexander, Jeffrey. l988. "The New Theoretical Movement." in
Handbook of Sociology, edited by Neil Smelser. Beverly Hills, CA:
Sage, pp. 77-101.
- Ritzer, George. l988. "Sociological Metatheory: A Defense of a
Subfield by a Delineation of its Parameters." Sociological
Theory. 6 (2): 187-200.
- Calhoun, Craig. l992. "Sociology, Other Disciplines, and the
Project of a General Understanding of Social Life." in Sociology and
Its Publics, edited by Terence C. Halliday and Morris
Janowitz. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, pp. 137-195.
- Lamont, Michele. l987. "How to Become a Dominant French
Philosopher: The Case of Jacques Derrida." American Journal of
Sociology, 93 (3): 584-622.
Optional:
- Wiley, Norbert. l979. "The Rise and Fall of Dominating Theories in
American Sociology." in Contemporary Issues in Theory and Research: A
Metasociological Perspective, ed. by W.E. Snizek et al. Pp. 47-79..
- Turner, Jonathan. l990. "The Past, Present, and Future of Theory
in American Sociology." in Frontiers of Social Theory: The New
Synthesis, edited by George Ritzer. New York: Columbia University
Press, pp. 371-391.
- Wiley, Norbert. l990. "The History and Politics of Recent
Sociology Theory, in Frontiers of Social Theory: The New
Synthesis, edited by George Ritzer. New York: Columbia
University Press. pp. 392-415.
- Crane, Diana and Henry Small. l992. "American Sociology Since the
Seventies: The Emerging Identity Crisis in the Discipline." in
Sociology and Its Publics, edited by Terence Halliday and
Morris Janowitz. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Week 2: Classical and Contemporary Theory
- Levine, Donald, N. l995. Visions of the Sociological
Tradition. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Part 2: American Sociological Theory Since WWII
Week 3: Functionalism, Conflict Theory, Rational Choice, and
Network Theory
- Collins, Randall. l994. Four
Sociological Traditions. New York: Oxford University
Press. pp. 47-180.
- Favell. Adrian. l993. "James Coleman: Social Theorist and Moral
Philosopher?" American Journal of Sociology. 99 (3):
590-613.
- Emirbayer, Mustapha and Jeff Goodwin. l994. "Network Analysis,
Culture, and the Problem of Agency." American Journal of
Sociology. 99 (6): 1411-1454.
Optional:
- Scuilli, David and Dean Gernstein. l985. "Social Theory and
Talcott Parsons in the 1980s" Annual Review of Sociology
11: 369-787.
- Collins, Randall. l993. "What Does Conflict Theory Predict About
America's Future?" Sociological Perspectives. 36: 289-313.
- Hechter, Michael. l992. "Should Values be Written out of the
Social Scientist' Lexicon." Sociological Theory. 10: 214-230.
- Wellman, Barry. l983. "Network Analysis: Some Basic Principles."
Sociological Theory. 1:155-200.
Week 4: Symbolic Interactionism and Ethnomethodology
- Goffman, Erving. l959. The Presentation of Self in Everyday
Life. New York: Anchor/Doubleday.
- Colomy, Paul and J. David Brown. l995. "Elaboration, Revision,
Polemic, and Progress in the Second Chicago School." Pp. 17-82 in
A Second Chicago School? The Development of a Postwar American
Sociology, edited by Gary Alan Fine. Chicago: The University of
Chicago Press.
- Garfinkel, Harold. l967. "Studies of the Routine Grounds of
Everyday Activities." in Studies in Ethnomethodology. New York:
Prentice Hall, pp. 35-75.
Optional:
- Fine, Gary Alan. l990. "Symbolic Interactionism in the
Post-Blumerian Age." in Frontiers of Social Theory: The New
Synthesis, edited by George Ritzer. New York: Columbia
University Press, pp. 117-157.
- Fine, Gary Alan. l993. "The Sad Demise, Mysterious Disappearance,
and Glorious Triumph of Symbolic Interactionism." Annual Review of
Sociology. 19: 61-87.
- Heritage, John. l984. Garfinkel and Ethnomethodology. London:
Polity.
- Boden, Deirdre, "People are Talking: Conversation Analysis and
Symbolic Interaction." in Michael McCall and Howard Becker,
eds. Symbolic Interaction and Cultural Studies. Chicago:
University of Chicago Press, pp. 244-274.
- Maynard, D. W and S. E. Clayman. l991. "The Diversity of
Ethnomethodology." Annual Review of Sociology, 17: 385-418.
Part 3: European Theory After the Fifties
Week 5: Structuralism, Semiotics, and Post-Structuralism
- Foucault, Michel. l979. Discipline and Punish, New
York: Vintage. Selections.
- Gorski, Philip S. l993. "The Protestant Ethic Revisited:
Disciplinary Revolution and State Formation in Holland and Prussia."
American Journal of Sociology. 99 (2): 265-316.
- Schneider, Mark. l993. Culture and Enchantment. Chicago:
University of Chicago Press. Chapter 4.
- Gottdiener, M. l985. "Hegemony and Mass Culture: A Semiotic
Approach." American Journal of Sociology 90: 979-1001.
Optional:
- Levi Strauss, Claude. l976. Structural Anthropology, New York:
Basic, pp. 31-54 and 206-231.
- Kurzweil, Edith. l980. "Claude Levi-Strauss: The Father of
Structuralism." in The Age of Structuralism. New York: Columbia
University Press, pp. 13-34.
- Lamont, Michele and Robert Wuthnow. l990. "Betwixt and Between:
Recent Cultural Sociology in Europe and the United States." in
Frontiers of Social Theory: The New Synthesis, edited by George
Ritzer. New York: Columbia University Press, pp. 287-315.
Week 6: Critical Theory and Feminist Theory
- Bernstein, Richard. l976. "The Critical Theory of Society." in
The Restructuring of Social and Political Theory. Philadelphia:
University of Pennsylvania Press, pp. 179-225.
- Fraser, Nancy. l989. Unruly Practices. Power, Discourse, and
Gender in Contemporary Social Theory. Minneapolis: University of
Minnesota Press. Selection.
- Scott, Joan. l988. "Gender as a Useful Category in Historical
Analysis." in Gender and the Politics of History. New York: Columbia
University Press, pp. 28-52.
Optional:
- Althusser, Louis. l984. "Ideology and Ideological State
Apparatuses." in Essays on Ideology. London: Verso, pp. 1-60.
- Butler, Judith. l990. Gender Trouble. Feminism and the Subversion
of Identity. London: Routledge.
- Collins, Patricia Hill. l991. Black Feminist Thought. Knowledge,
Consciousness, and the Politics of Empowerment. London: Routledge.
- Craib, Ian. l984. "Structuralist Marxism: The World as a Puppet
Theater" in Modern Social Theory, New York: St-Martins Press,
pp. 123-146.
- Levine, R. F. and J. Lembcke, l987. "Introduction: Marxism,
Neo-Marxism and U.S. Sociology" in Recapturing Marxism: An Appraisal
of Recent Trends in Sociological Theory.
- Stacey, Judith and Barrie Thorne. l985. "The Missing Feminist
Revolution in Sociology" Social Problems. 32 (4): 301-316.
- Wright, Eric Olin. l994. Interrogating Inequality. Essays on Class
Analysis, Socialism, and Marxism. London: Verso. (selections)
Week 7: Contemporary French Theory
- Brubaker, Rogers. l985. "Rethinking Classical Social Theory: The
Sociological Vision of Pierre Bourdieu." Theory and Society. 14-6:
745-775.
- Bourdieu, Pierre. l984. Distinction. Cambridge:
Harvard University Press
- Wagner, Peter. l994. "Dispute, Uncertainty, and Institution in
Recent French Debates." The Journal of Political Philosophy 2 (3):
270-289.
Optional:
- Calhoun, Craig, Edward LiPuma and Moishe Postone. l993. Bourdieu:
Critical Perspectives. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
- Dodier, Nicolas. l993. "Acting in Several Worlds." Current
Sociology.
- Alexander, Jeffrey. forthcoming. "The Reality of Reduction: the
Failed Synthesis of Pierre Bourdieu." London: Verso.
- Lamont, Michele and Annette Lareau. l988. "Cultural Capital:
Allusions, Gaps and Glissandos in Recent Theoretical Developments."
Sociological Theory. 6 (2): 153-168.
Week 8: The Micro-Macro Link
- Bourdieu, Pierre, l977. Outline of a Theory of
Practice. New York: Cambridge University Press. Chapters 2 and
4.
- Giddens, Anthony. l984. The Constitution of Society,
Berkeley: University of California Press. Selections from introduction
and chapter 1.
- Emirbayer, Mustapha, and Ann Mische. l995. "What is Agency?"
Unpublished paper, Department of Sociology, New School for Social
Research
Optional:
- Cohen, Ira. l989. Structuration Theory: Anthony Giddens and the
Constitution of Social Life. London: MacMillan.
- Collins, Randall. l981. "The Micro-Foundations of
Macro-Sociology." American Journal of Sociology. 86: 998-1014.
Part 4: Theories in the Making
Weeks 9 and 10: Recent Cultural Theory
- Lemert, Charles. l995. Sociology After the Crisis. Denver Co:
Westview/Harper.
- Wiley, Norbert. 1994. The Semiotic Self. Chicago:
University of Chicago Press. Chap. 1-3, 9.
- Lamont, Michele. l992. Money, Morals, and Manners: The Culture of
the French and American Upper-Middle Class. Chicago: University of
Chicago Press.
- Berger, Bennett, l995. An Essay on Culture. Symbolic Structure and
Social Structure. Berkeley: University of California Press.
Week 11: Postmodernism
- Seidman, Steven, ed. l994. The Postmodern Turn: New Perspectives
on Social Theory. New York: Cambridge University Press. Selections.
- Agger, Ben. l991. "Critical Theory, Postructuralism, and
Postmodernism: Their Sociological Relevance." Annual Review of
Sociology. 17: 105-31.
- Somers, Margaret and Gloria D. Gibson. l994. "Reclaiming the
Epistemological 'Other': Narrative and the Social Constitution of
Identity." in Social Theory and the Politics of Identity,
ed. by Craig Calhoun. New York: Basil Blackwell.
Optional:
- Kellner, Douglas. 1990. "The Postmodern Turn: Positions, Problems,
and Prospects." in Frontiers of Social Theory: The New Synthesis,
edited by George Ritzer. New York: Columbia University Press,
pp. 255-286.
- Denzin, Norman. l992. Symbolic Interactionism and Cultural
Studies. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Week 12: Conclusion
sociolog@princeton.Edu Sept '95