Research and Graduate School in the Social Sciences
Module Descriptor
SIT 097 Contemporary Social Theory: II
Aims of the Module
This module explores the classic questions of sociological theory in terms of contemporary
social thinkers and the leading theorists of the last 40 years. The module will provide
students with a broad and solid foundation in contemporary theoretical ideas enabling them
to map the connections, the disconnections, and the lineage of the key perspectives and
thinkers in the social science tradition. By critically engaging with this field of thought,
students should be able to apply the various theoretical principles they encounter to a
range of different social settings, problems and social scientific research topics.
Contents
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THE THREE CLASSIC QUESTIONS
POSTMODERNISM AND AFTER
GIDDENS: THE NEW SYNTHESIS
BECK: RISK SOCIETY
BAUMAN: SOCIETY UNDER SIEGE
BARBARA ADAM: TIME AND MODERNITY
BARBARA ADAM: ENVIRONMENTAL TIMESCAPES OF MODERNITY
INTERACTIONISM AND THE LIFEWORLD
THE INTERACTION ORDER
COMPLEXITY, SOCIAL ORGANISATION AND CHANGE
CONCLUSION
Learning Outcomes
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An advanced knowledge and comprehension of current trends in contemporary
social theory
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An ability to apply theoretical skills to the research process
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An understanding of contemporary social theory in terms of social scientific
questions, contemporary social problems, processes and phenomena.
Teaching Methods
The module will be taught through eleven ‘theory workshops’ followed by discussion in
relation to set readings.
Assessment
The module will be assessed through an extended essay. Details regarding the assignment
will be provided at the beginning of the module.
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Foucault and Post-Structuralism
J. Donzelot
M. Foucault
M. Foucault
M. Foucault
P. Rabinow
B. Turner
The Policing of Families [Bute: HQ623.D6]
The Order of Things [Arts & Social Studies and Bute: HM101.F6]
Discipline and Punish [Arts & Social Studies and Bute: HV8545.F6;
Architecture: 365.9F; Law: 365.9F & 364.6F]
The History of Sexuality (3 volumes) [Arts & Social Studies:
HQ21.F6]
The Foucault Reader [Arts & Social Studies: B2430.F723.R2]
Regulating Bodies: Essays in Medical Sociology [Bute: HM110.T8]
Postmodernism and Social Theory
A. Callinicos
Featherstone & Lash
D. Harvey
S. Lash
C. Lemert
J.-F. Lyotard
C. Norris
Against postmodernism: a Marxist critique [Arts & Social Studies and
Bute: B831.2.C2]
Spaces of Culture [Bute: HM101.S7 & 306S]
The Condition of Postmodernity [Arts & Social Studies and Bute:
HM101.H2; Bute: 301.2H]
Post-Structuralist and Post-modernist sociology [Bute: HM24.P6]
Postmodernism is not what you think [Arts & Social Studies:
HM73.L3]
The Postmodern Condition [Bute: BD161.L9]
The truth about postmodernism [Bute: B831.2.N6]
Habermas, Beck and Giddens: synthesis and social theory
U. Beck
U. Beck
A. Giddens
A. Giddens
A. Giddens
A. Giddens
J. Habermas
J. Habermas
J. Habermas
Risk Society: towards a new modernity [Bute: HM51.B3;
Aberconway: 301.2B]
‘From Industrial Society to Risk Society: Questions of Survival,
Social Structure and Ecological Enlightenment’, Theory, Culture and
Society, 9, 1992 [Arts & Social Studies: Social Studies Periodical]
New rules of Sociological Method [Bute and Arts & Social Studies:
HM24.G4]
Profiles and Critiques in Social Theory [Bute: HM51.G4;
Aberconway: 301.01G]
Constitution of Society: Outline of the Theory of Structuration (Arts
& Social Studies and Bute: HM24.G4]
Modernity and Self-Identity [Bute: HM101.G4]
Communication and the Evolution of Society [Arts & Social Studies:
106.H2; Bute: 300.1H]
Theory of Communicative Action Vol.I and II [Arts & Social Studies:
HM57.H2; Aberconway: 301.01H]
The Philosophical Discourse of Modernity [Bute: B3258.H2]
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