Draft syllabus, Nov. 2013
Contemporary Social Theory
Prof. Manglos-Weber
DESCRIPTION
Contemporary social theory is fragmented to say the least. There is no single “sociological
perspective”, and many if not most sociologists are concerned with social theory only insofar as
it pertains to their specific subfield. It’s likely that many of you taking this class, to the extent
you’ve considered it, are in this camp. You would be in good company: both C. Wright Mills and
Alejandro Portes, in two quite different decades, have argued that we forsake grand theory for
middle-range theory, which leads naturally into testable hypotheses and avoids the pitfalls of
the sweeping, meta-historical generalizations characteristic of “armchair theorizing.” The
question that I pose to you, and that we will wrestle with throughout the course, is whether in
the long run we can get away with avoiding grand theory, and failing to ask the types of
questions that we tend to want to leave to the philosophers. Along the way, we will cover those
who have continued to carry the banner of grand theory (i.e. Parsons, Goffman, Coleman, Blau,
and R. Collins); those who have mounted a deconstructionist critique of social science from the
post-colonial and feminist fringes (i.e. Said, Friere, Asad, Butler, and P.H. Collins); and those
who have pioneered prominent field-specific theories (i.e. Wallerstein, Tilly, Swidler, Bourdieu,
and Berger). Finally, we will stray a bit further afield into debates in the philosophy of science,
paying particular attention to the revitalization of meta-theory under competing banners of
“realism” and “neo-pragmatism.”
OUTLINE
Part One: Grand Theory in the Contemporary Period
I. Parsons and Action Theory
Reading assignment: Selections from The Social System (1951); “The Role of Ideas in Social
Action” American Sociological Review (1938); “The Place of Ultimate Values in Sociological
Theory” International Journal of Ethics
II. Goffman and Dramaturgy
Reading assignment: The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life (1956)
III. Blau, Homans, and Structuralist Exchange Theory
Reading assignment: Selections from Structure and Power in Social Life (1986); “Presidential
Address: Parameters of Social Structure” American Sociological Review (1971)
Also: Porpora, Douglas V. “Four Concepts of Social Structure” Journal for the Theory of Social
Behavior (1989)
IV. Coleman and Rational Choice
Reading assignment: selections from The Foundations of Social Theory (1990
Also: selections from Olson, Mancur, The Logic of Collective Action (1965)
V. Collins and Interaction Rituals
Reading assignment: selections from Interaction Ritual Chains (2005)
Part Two: The Deconstructionists
I. Linking Knowledge to History
Reading assignment: selections from Said, Edward, Orientalism (1978); selections from Friere,
Paolo, Pedagogy of the Oppressed (1970); selections from Fanon, Frantz, The Wretched of the
Earth (2004 translation)
II. Linking Knowledge to Bodies
Reading assignment: selections from Butler, Judith and Sarah Salih, The Judith Butler Reader
(2011); selections from Collins, Patricia Hill, Black Feminist Thought (2000); selections from
Mikell, Gwendolyn, African Feminism: The Politics of Survival in Sub-Saharan Africa (1997)
III. Deconstructing the “Secular”
Reading assignment: selections from Asad, Talal, Formations of the Secular: Christianity, Islam,
Modernity (2003)
Part Three: (Some) Subfields and Their Theories
I. Global Political-Economies
Reading assignment: Wallerstein, Immanuel, “The Three Instances of Hegemony in the History
of the Capitalist World Economy” International Journal of Comparative Sociology (1983) and
“After Developmentalism and Globalization, What?” Social Forces (2005); Calhoun, Craig,
“Nationalism and the Cultures of Democracy” from Nations Matter (2007);
II. Social Movements
Reading assignment: selections from Skocpol, Theda, States and Social Revolutions (1979);
selections from Tilly, Charles, Doug McAdam, and Sidney Tarrow, Dynamics of Contention
(2001)
III. Culture
Reading assignment: selections from Bourdieu, Pierre, Distinction (1984); Swidler, Ann, “Culture
in Action: Symbols and Strategies” American Sociological Review (1986)
IV. Immigration and Multiculturalism
Reading assignment: Brubaker, Rogers, “Ethnicity Without Groups” Archive of European
Sociology (2002); Putnam, Robert, “E Pluribus Unum: Diversity and Community in the Twentyfirst Century” Scandanavian Political Studies (2007); Portes, Alejandro and Min Zhou, “The New
Second Generation: Segmented Assimilation and its Variants” Annals, AAPSS (1993); Alexander,
Jeffrey C. “Theorizing the Modes of Incorporation: Assimilation, Hyphenation, and
Multiculturalism as Varieties of Civil Participation” Sociological Theory (2001)
V. Social Networks
Reading assignment: Grannovetter, Mark, “The Strength of Weak Ties” American Journal of
Sociology (1973); Castells, Manuel, “Materials for an Exploratory Theory of the Network Society”
British Journal of Sociology (2000); selections from Burt, Ronald S. Structural Holes (1995);
Emirbayer, Mustafa, “Manifesto for a Relational Sociology” American Journal of Sociology
(1997)
VI. Religion
Reading assignment: selections from Berger, Peter, The Sacred Canopy (1967); selections from
Stark, Rodney and Roger Finke, Acts of Faith (2000); selections from Norris, Pippa and Ronald
Inglehart, Sacred and Secular Worldwide (2004); Smilde, David, “Beyond the Strong Program in
the Sociology of Religion” from Religion on the Edge (2012)
Part Four: Grand Theory Re-invented (?)
I. Critical Realism
Reading assignment: selections from Archer, Margaret, Structure, Agency, and the Internal
Conversation (2003); Gorski, Phil, “What is Critical Realism? And Why Should You Care?”
Contemporary Sociology (2013); others TBD.
II. Neo-pragmatism
Reading assignment: James, William, “What Pragmatism Means” (1907) reprinted in Kevisto,
Peter, Social Theory: Roots and Branche, 4th ed. (2011); selections from Martin, John Levy, The
Explanation of Social Action (2013); Gross, Neil, “A Pragmatist Theory of Social Mechanisms”
American Sociological Review (2009); others TBD.