Current Disputes in Sociology

Course Title		Current Disputes in Sociology
Lecturers		John Scott, Tony Woodiwiss, Rob Stones
University		University of Essex
Department		Department of Sociology

John Scott
Professor, University of Essex

Tony Woodiwiss
Professor, University of Essex

Rob Stones
Professor, University of Essex

Current Disputes in Sociology

Core course for MA Sociology, MA Sociological Research (Thursday 11-1 pm)

This is an advanced course designed to familiarize students with current disputes in a range of sociological areas. A certain amount of necessary historical background is provided in relation to the development of various positions but the emphasis is very much on the 'state of the art', on the form and substance of contemporary debates.

The course is divided into three parts:

The first ten weeks concentrate on an array of different philosophies of the social sciences including empiricism, realism, hermeneutics, feminist epistemologies, post-structuralism and post-modernism. General theoretical perspectives from these various standpoints are considered.
The next five weeks are devoted to a broad range of issues related to gender, from its relationship to sex and the body through to questions of psychoanalysis and to the relationship between gender differences and differences of ethnicity, race and colonial experience.
The final section of the course deals with the central and enduring questions of action, structure and system. These questions are explored both theoretically, in relation to Marxist and Weberian class analysis, and empirically in relation to the changing nature of modern (postmodern?) societies.

Current Disputes in Sociology

Suggested Preliminary Reading

Section 1: Social Theory

Section 2: Post structural Controversies

Section 3: Action, Structure, System