SOCIOLOGY 541
ADVANCED TOPICS IN WORK, ORGANIZATIONS, AND ECONOMY:
ECONOMIC SOCIOLOGY
Instructor Info
Course Description and Objectives
Economic Sociology is one of the major specializations within sociology. The
conceptual tools of sociology are used to examine various dimensions of economic life.
Major topics covered in this course include a comparison of the disciplinary approaches
of sociology and economics to the explanation of economic activities; the sociocultural
embeddedness of the economy; the sociological approaches to market formation and
market dynamics; market structure and social inequality in advanced industrial societies;
sociological parameters of economic restructuring at the firm and industry levels due to
globalization of the world economy; convergence and divergence in national economic
institutions; the social construction of consumption and its economic, sociological, and
cultural impacts; and a critical analysis of widely used economic statistics.
Teaching Goals / Student Learning Outcomes
This course should result in the following student learning outcomes:
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Explain various dimensions of economic life from a sociological perspective
Apply sociological concepts to the analysis of economic problems
Assess policy approaches to economic issues, using sociological data, theory and
concepts
Identify gaps in the sociological literature on economy (both micro- and macrolevels)
Graduate students should be able to facilitate discussion on a course topic.
Course Texts
Bruce G. Carruthers and Sarah L. Babb, Economy/Society: Markets, Meaning, and
Social Structure (2000, Pine Forge Press).
Sharon Zukin, Point of Purchase: How Shopping Changed American Culture (2004,
Routledge).
These books will be used as major focal points of class discussion and should be
purchased from the UK Bookstore, the Kennedy Bookstore, or other (e.g., on-line
vendor) outlets. Other class readings will be distributed as photocopies (if possible) or
will be available on reserve at the W.T. Young Library.
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Course Materials on Reserve at the WT Young Library
The books listed below have been placed on two-hour reserve at the W.T. Young Library
under the SOC 535 Economic Sociology course designation. Readings for the course are
taken from many of these books and they are good reference sources for various topics in
economic sociology covered in the course.
Nicole Woolsey Biggart, ed., Readings in Economic Sociology (2001)
Mary Brinton and Victor Nee, eds., The New Institutionalism in Sociology (1998)
Mark Granovetter, et al., eds., The Sociology of Economic Life (2002)
Marco Orru, et al., eds., The Economic Organization of East Asian Capitalism (1997)
Neil Smelser and Richard Swedberg, eds., Handbook of Economic Sociology (1994)
Richard Swedberg, ed., Economics and Sociology (1990)
Course Requirements and Assignments
Effective class participation requires careful, systematic reading of all assigned materials.
Contents of readings, class presentations by the instructor, and the contents of class
discussions will be incorporated into course examinations.
Below is a list of course assignments and their weight in determining the course grade.
ALL WRITTEN ASSIGNMENTS NEED TO BE DELIVERED AS HARD COPY.
1) Short written or class discussion assignments related to class readings (to be
distributed at least one class period before the due date); Grades will be assigned
as follows: S=satisfactory (2 points); U=unsatisfactory (1 point); A=absent (0
points). Points will be totaled to calculate a final score with the lowest three
scores dropped from the total. (20%)
2) Data analysis project. Each student will identify an article from a news source
such as Business Week, The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, etc. that
identifies an issue relevant to a topic covered in course readings. Develop a short
3-5 page doubled-spaced paper (12 point font) that identifies the “data” presented
in the article and explains how this data illustrates an important economy/society
relationship of interest to economic sociologists. To be most effective, the
analysis should be framed using conceptual ideas from economic sociology that
are used to understand and explain economy/society relationships. To the extent
possible, we will try to integrate these projects into class discussions. ALL
PAPERS DUE BY APRIL 20.
3) A mid-term exam scheduled for March 2. This will be an essay exam with take –
home and in-class components. Exam instructions will be provided at least one
week before the exam date. (30%);
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4) The final exam will offer a choice between an in-class final examination during
the regularly scheduled exam period (Thursday, May 6, 1:00 – 3:00 pm) OR an
analytical paper to be handed in on or before the final exam period. The paper
should be based on an important book in the economic sociology literature. A
list of possible books will on JANUARY 27, along with paper guidelines. Paper
length should be between 7-10 pages (double-spaced with 12 point font) and the
paper should be analytical, not descriptive. In other words, the paper needs to be
developed around an argument how economic sociology can be used to better
understand how the economy works. (30%)
5) Conference meetings with instructor. Each student needs to schedule a 15 minute
conference to discuss plans for accomplishing assignment 2) and assignment 4), if
the analytical paper is chosen as the final exam option. Target dates for these
appointments are the weeks of February 9 and February 23.
Additional Graduate Student Course Requirement
Each graduate student enrollee will assist me in organizing one of the class discussions in
a particular area of his/her interest or expertise. Plans for completing this requirement
will be discussed at the conference meeting.
Grading System
Graduate students and undergraduate students will be evaluated separately. Letter grades
will be apportioned based on a “modified curve.” This means that the distribution of
grades earned depends on the class average and range. If the class average is high (e.g.,
85 %) and scores are bunched, class distribution of grades will be weighted toward the
upper end of the letter grade scale. If the class average is lower (e.g., 70%) and the
range is high, class distribution of grades earned will be distributed in more of a bell
curve mode. This means there is no fixed distribution of grades by percentage (e.g., 90100% = A; 80-89% = B; etc.)
Class Attendance and Absence Policies
Class attendance is monitored through the completion of assignments in 1) above and
participation in class discussion.
Absences from scheduled examinations are allowed only under the most extenuating
circumstances as outlined in University Senate Rules V (2.4.1-2.4.2). A make-up
examination is authorized for a scheduled in-class exam only under the following
circumstances 1) university-sponsored events that require the student’s absence from
campus; 2) emergence absences necessitated by illness/accident; and 3) other unusual
emergence circumstances determined by the instructor to require the student’s absence.
In case 1), a make-up examination is authorized if prior notification in writing is given to
the instructor at least two weeks in advance of the scheduled absence. In emergency
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situations under cases 2) and 3), students must provide appropriate verification of the
reason for an emergency absence as soon as possible given the situation. In all cases, it
is the student’s responsibility to initiate contact with the instructor regarding any
examination absence for which a make-up may be sanctioned. A make-up for the final
examination is authorized only under conditions 2) and 3).
An authorized make-up examination will be given as soon as possible after the date of the
scheduled exam. The instructor reserves to right to alter the format and content of any
make-up exam from that of the original exam.
In the event that a student fails to take an exam and fails to follow procedures for an
authorized make-up, the student receive a zero for the examination missed.
An incomplete grade for the course will be considered only under conditions 2) and 3)
when long-term class absences are involved.
University Policies on Academic Fraud
Plagiarism (examples include copying another student’s work, copying others’ work from
a book or journal without proper citations of attributing authorship to them, downloading
a text from the internet and submitting it as one’s own work , etc.) are serious academic
fraud offenses. Minimum penalty is a failing grade for the course. If you have any
questions about what plagiarism is, please ask the instruction for clarification.
Class Discussion and Reading Assignment Schedule
TBA = Reading to be arranged.
Please note that these assignments are subject to change with notice.
Jan 15 Class introduction and planning
Jan 20 Classical sociological statements about economy/society relationships
Readings: Marx, “Estranged Labour”
Weber, “The Evolution of the Capitalistic Spirit”
Jan 22 Clean models vs. dirty hands: sociology and economics compared
Readings: Block, “Economic Sociology”
Smelser and Swedberg, “The Sociological Perspective on the
Economy”
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Jan 27 and Jan 29 Theorizing economic behavior: individualist vs. interactionist
approaches
Readings: Coleman, “A Rational Choice Perspective on Economic Sociology” in
HES
Coughlin, “The Economic Person in Sociological Context: Case
Studies in the Mediation of Self-Interest,” in Socio-Economics:
Toward a New Synthesis (hereafter S-E)
England, “The Separative Self: Androcentric Bias in Neoclassical
Assumptions” in Readings in Economic Sociology (hereafter RES)
Sen, “Rational Fools: A Critique of the Behavioral Foundations of
Economic Behavior”
Feb 3 and Feb 5 Measurement of economic variables: cautionary tales
Readings: Block, “Output”
Starr, “The Politics of Numbers”
Feb 10 and Feb 12 Sociocultural embeddedness
Readings: Carruthers and Babb, Chs. 1 & 2
Macauley, “Non-Contractural Relations in Business”
Zelizer, “Human Values and the Market: The Case of
Life Insurance and Death in 19th Century America
Feb 17 and Feb 19 The network structure of economic relations
Readings: Carruthers and Babb, Ch. 3
Perrow, “Small Firm Networks”
Portes and Mooney, “Social Capital and Community
Development”
Feb 24 and Feb 26 Firms as organizations
Readings: Carruthers and Babb, Ch. 4
Dalton, “Men Who Manage”
Strauss, “Groups Dynamics and Intergroup Relations”
Mar 2 MID-TERM EXAM
Mar 4 Firms and their environments
Readings: Stearns and Mizruchi, “Corporate Financing: Social and Economic
Determinants”
Useem, “Shareholder Power and the Struggle for Corporate Control”
Mar 9 and Mar 11 Politics and markets
Readings: Fligstein, “Markets as Politics: A Political-Cultural
Approach to Market Institutions”
Roy, “Functional and Historical Logics in Explaining
the Rise of the American Industrial Corporation”
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Mar 15 – 19 SPRING BREAK
Mar 23 and Mar 25 Economic inequality in cross-national perspective
Readings: Bridges and Nelson, “Economic and Sociological
Approaches to Gender Inequality and Pay”
Carruthers and Babb, Ch. 5
Frank, “The Winner Take-All Society”
The Wal-Martization of America (TBA)
Turning the tables: how does the economy mold society?
Mar 30 Zukin, Chs. 1-4
Apr 1 Zukin, Chs. 5-6
Apr 6 Zukin, Chs. 7-9
Apr 8 Zukin, Ch. 10 & Epilogue
Apr 13 and Apr 15 Explaining variation in cross-national economic development
outcomes
Readings: Carruthers and Babb, Ch. 6
East Asian Capitalism (TBA)
Apr 20 and Apr 22 Globalization and convergence?
Readings: Carruthers and Babb, Ch. 7
Others (TBA)
Apr 27 and Apr 29 Globalization controversies in the U.S. agri-food system
Readings: Burmeister, “Lagoons, Litter, and the Law: CAFO
Regulation as Social Risk Politics” and “The
Hegemon Hedges: U.S. Farm Policy and WTO
Regime Stability”
May 6 (1:00 – 3:00 pm) FINAL EXAM
Addendum for Course Proposal:
A large body of literature has developed within each of the specialized areas represented
by the course. The following are a few representative sources:
Economic Sociology
Acker, Joan. 1989. Doing Comparable Worth: Gender, Class, and Pay Equity. Temple
University Press.
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Biggart, Nicole Woolsey, ed. 2001. Readings in Economic Sociology. Blackwell.
Carruthers, Bruce G., and Sarah L. Babb. 2000. Economy/Society: Markets, Meaning,
and Social Structure. Pine Forge Press.
Granovetter, Mark et al., eds. 2002. The Sociology of Economic Life. Westview.
Smelser, Neil, and Richard Swedburg, eds. 1994. Handbook of Economic Sociology.
Princeton University Press.
Zukin, Sharon. 2004. Point of Purchase: How Shopping Changed American Culture.
Routledge.
Sociology of Organizations
Aldrich, Howard. 1999. Organizations Evolving. Sage.
Clegg, Stewart, et al., eds. 1996. Handbook of Organizational Studies. Sage.
Jackall, Robert. 1988. Moral Mazes. Oxford University Press.
Knoke, David. 2001. Changing Organizations: Business Networks in the New Political
Economy. Westview.
Lincoln, James R., and Arne L. Kalleberg. 1990. Culture, Control, and Commitment: A
Study of Work Organizations and Work Attitudes in the United States and Japan.
Cambridge University Press.
Pfeffer, Jeffrey. 1997. New Directions for Organization Theory. Oxford University Press.
Powell, Walter W., and Paul J. DiMaggio, eds. 1991. The New Institutionalism in
Organizational Analysis. University of Chicago Press.
Scott, W. Richard. 2003. Organizations: Rational, Natural, and Open Systems, 5th ed.
Prentice-Hall.
Weick, Karl E. 1995. Sensemaking in Organizations. Sage.
Sociology of Work
Bluestone, Barry, and Bennett Harrison. 1982. The Deindustrialization of America. Basic
Books.
Braverman, Harry. 1974. Labor and Monopoly Capital: The Degradation of Work in the
Twentieth Century. Monthly Review Press.
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Burawoy, Michael. 1979. Manufacturing Consent: Changes in the Labor Process Under
Monopoly Capitalism. University of Chicago Press.
Edwards, Richard. 1979. Contested Terrain: The Transformation of the Workplace in the
Twentieth Century. Basic Books.
Fantasia R. 1988. Cultures of Solidarity: Consciousness, Action, and Contemporary
American Workers. University of California Press.
Milkman, Ruth. 1997. Farewell to the Factory: Auto Workers in the Late Twentieth
Century. University of California Press.
Wilson, William Julius. 1996. When Work Disappears: The World of the New Urban
Poor. Vintage.
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