SY4008:04
Contemporary Sociological Analysis
Townsville, Cairns
HECS Band 1
26 hours seminars. Semester 1.
Available to sociology honours students (see SY4001 for details on eligibility).
Staff: Dr R Wilkinson.
The subject reviews key concepts and orientations used by sociologists in the analysis of the contemporary social world. Examples of key concepts include social structure, social process, social order and the social actor. Orientations to be considered include constructionism (the view that the social world is ‘constructed’ by social actors), realism (the view that the social world has ‘real’ structural properties prior to any social action) and critical theory (the view that distinctive forms of analysis are required to identify fundamental defects in the existing social order). Concepts and perspectives such as these will be examined at work in selected arguments and controversies, shaping the ways sociologists understand (for example) globalisation, risk phenomena or social movements. Students are encouraged in their seminar presentations and assignments to link the concepts and orientations discussed to their own emerging research interests.
Learning Objectives:
- appreciate the role played by general theoretical concepts and orientations in sociological analysis;
- understand the ways in which differences at the level of general concepts and orientations can structure debates about concrete developments in contemporary societies;
- apply that understanding to students’ own areas of research.
Assessment by written-up seminar presentation (20%); written assignment of 3,000 words (40%); two-hour end of semester examination (40%).