ISS-1110 Contemporary Social Theory
Code
Weight of the course
Period
Course Leader
Lecturer
Teaching Methods
Modes of Assessment
Contact
ISS-1110
3 ECTS
TERM 1
Nahda Shehada
Nahda Shehada, Dubravka Žarkov
Participatory Lecture, Tutorials
Assignment: 100% (Take-home Essay)
Josée Haanappel
Learning objectives
By the end of the course, participants will have sufficient understanding of contemporary social
theory. They will be introduced to the main theoretical debates in and about social theory and the
influence of social/political context in developing various perspectives in conceptualising social reality.
Course description
The course is meant to familiarize students with the latest debates in and about social theory. It will
focus on some perspectives that have been most influential – and sometimes controversial – in the
debate.
During your stay at ISS, you will be exposed to many different and often conflicting theoretical
perspectives. This course attempts to help you situate those perspectives in the wider framework of
social theory. The course will start by mapping out the analytical parameters and key contemporary
theories and perspectives in the field. The course will then move on to discuss the Critical Social
Theory developed by Frankfurt school. Cross-cultural differences are noticeable in the way in which
new perspectives emerge. Thus, we will examine Post-colonial theory and its most influential figures,
such as Edward Said and his ‘Orientalism’ and the Modernity/Coloniality debate from Latin America.
The course will put these thinkers from the Global South in dialogue with prominent thinkers from the
critical and deconstructive tradition in Europe. The final session will be dedicated to the somewhat
optimistic view of Santos, who advocates the ‘ecology of knowledge’ as a way to end human misery.
Indicative readings
Abu-Lughod, L. (2013) ‘Do Muslim Women Need Saving’ Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard
University Press.
Escobar, A. (2007) ‘Worlds and Knowledges Otherwise’, Cultural Studies 21(2): 179-210.
Foucault, M. (2002) ‘Introduction’ in M. Foucault, The Archaeology of Knowledge, pp. 3-22. London:
Routledge.
Sachs, W. (ed.) (1992) The Development Dictionary: A Guide to Knowledge as Power. London: Zed
Books.
Said, E. W. (2003) Orientalism. London: Penguin.
Santos, Boaventura de Sousa (ed.) (2007) Another Knowledge Is Possible: Beyond Northern
Epistemology. London, New York: Verso.
Williams, P. and L. Chrisman (eds) (1993) Colonial Discourse and Postcolonial Theory: A Reader.
London & New York: Harvester Wheatsheaf.