SOCIOLOGY 4444
SOCIAL CHANGE AND MODERNIZATION
KENNESAW STATE UNIVERSITY/SPRING 2011
T-TH 2:00 PM – 3:15 PM/SO #3028
DR. RICHARD HUTCHINSON
OFFICE: SS #4051 A
PHONE: 678-797-2894
E-MAIL: rhutch13@kennesaw.edu
OFFICE HOURS: M-W 10:00 AM – 12:00 noon and by appointment
SYLLABUS
This course examines social change, but not social change in the abstract, rather social change in the context
of “modernization.” Therefore it does not attempt to systematically analyze social change in general, but
focuses on social change (including technological, economic, political, and cultural change) in recent history
and the near future. Modernization is a contested term, roughly equivalent to industrialization and
urbanization. According to Walby, modernity includes five features: free wage labor, a state monopoly of
legitimate violence, rationalization (Weber’s zweckrationality), individuation, democracy and civil rights.
The first unit of the course looks at social movements, one important category of social change, and an area
in which the field of sociology has made major contributions in terms of research since the 1970s. The
history of social movements is surveyed, and the basic theories of social movements in sociology are
presented.
The second unit looks at the overall process of modernization in a global context, from the perspective that
there is not one universal way of organizing society, but various ways, which can be fruitfully compared.
The central comparison is that of the United States and the European Union, which have developed
different institutional patterns in their respective political economies, but a variety of other comparisons and
frameworks are also examined.
Finally, the third unit looks at cycles of environmental degradation and societal collapse, “recurring Dark
Ages,” and applies this to our current time period. The concept of modernization often implies linear
progress, but the historical record more strongly suggests that nonlinearity and discontinuities are the norm.
This is not just a lecture course – you will also write a research paper, which might serve as the literature
review and “front end” of an empirical research project in a future graduate school course. (You will be
provided with detailed instructions for the research paper.)
REQUIRED TEXTS (available in the KSU Bookstore)
1) Social Movements 1728-200, 2nd Edition (Tilly & Wood) 2009
2) Globalization & Inequalities: Complexity and Contested Modernities
(Walby) 2009
3) Ecological Futures: What History Can Teach Us (Chew) 2008
SCHEDULE
TUESDAY
THURSDAY
WEEK 1 January 11
Introduction to Social Change
(Basic Concepts and Overview)
January 13
Introduction to Modernization
(Basic Concepts and Overview)
WEEK 2 January 18
Introduction: Social Movements
January 20
Social Movements (Chapter 1)
WEEK 3 January 25
TOPICS DUE
Social Movements (Chapter 2)
January 27
Social Movements (Chapters 3 & 4)
WEEK 4 February 1
Social Movements (Chapters 5 & 6)
February 3
Social Movement Theories
WEEK 5 February 8
Social Movements (Chapter 7)
February 10
EXAM ONE ESSAYS DUE
Social Movements & Social Change
WEEK 6 February 15
February 17
Globalization & Inequalities (Chapter 1) Globalization & Inequalities (Chapter 2)
WEEK 7 February 22
February 24
ANNOTATED
Globalization & Inequalities (Chapter 4)
BIBLIOGRAPHIES DUE
Globalization & Inequalities (Chapter 3)
WEEK 8 March 1
March 3
Globalization & Inequalities (Chapter 5) Globalization & Inequalities (Chapter 6)
March 8
March 10
SPRING BREAK
SPRING BREAK
WEEK 9 March 15
March 17
SOURCES DUE
Globalization & Inequalities (Chapter 8)
Globalization & Inequalities (Chapter 7)
2
WEEK 10
March 22
Globalization & Inequalities
(Chapter 9)
March 24
Globalization & Inequalities
(Chapter 10)
WEEK 11
March 29
Globalization & Inequalities
(Chapter 11)
March 31
Globalization & Inequalities
(Chapter 12)
WEEK 12
April 5
EXAM TWO ESSAYS DUE
Future Trajectories
April 7
NO CLASS (Southern
Sociological Society conference)
WEEK 13
April 12
April 14
FIRST DRAFTS DUE
Ecological Futures (Chapter 2)
Ecological Futures
(Introduction and Chapter 1)
WEEK 14
April 19
April 21
Ecological Futures (Chapter 3) Ecological Futures (Chapter 4)
WEEK 15
April 26
April 28
Ecological Futures (Chapter 5) FINAL DRAFTS DUE
Research Paper Discussion Groups
May 5
EXAM THREE
FINAL EXAMS
EVALUATION
Your grade will be based on three essay exams on the three texts and accompanying
lectures, ten online quizzes on the readings, and on a research paper.
1) Essay Exams 1 & 2 will be take-home and word-processed. They must be submitted
both in hard copy format in class as well as to Turnitin.com. Essay Exam 3 will be
written in a bluebook during the Final Exam period.
2) The quizzes will be posted online between Thursday and Tuesday for the first two
units, on the weekly readings from the first two books.
3) The research paper will include five assignments: the topic, an annotated bibliography,
sources, first draft, and final draft. The paper will be worth 200 points in total.
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3 essay exams
10 online quizzes
100 points each>
10 points each>
RESEARCH PAPER
Topic
Annotated bibliography
Complete sources
First draft
Final draft
300 points
100 points
25 points
25 points
25 points
25 points
100 points
200 points
COURSE TOTAL: 600 points
POLICIES
1) ATTENDANCE
This is a lecture class. Reading the required books is important, but it is no substitute for
attending and taking good lecture notes -- I do not lecture straight out of the book. If you
ever have to miss class, make sure to get the notes for the lecture you missed from a fellow
student. If you have a university-sanctioned reason to miss an exam, such as an athletic
event, you must notify me in advance in order to make-up the exam, preferably prior to
the regularly scheduled time. If you are sick, you must let me know the day of the exam
in order to qualify for making up the exam.
2) CHEATING
It is your responsibility to maintain academic integrity. Do not cheat or plagiarize, and do
not aid and abet others in cheating or plagiarizing. My policy for a first offense is that if
you are caught cheating or helping a fellow student cheat your grade for that assignment
will be a ZERO. Any subsequent infractions will result in your expulsion from the course
with an F, and a referral to the University Administration for further sanctions.
3) ACCOMMODATIONS
Any student requiring accommodations or services due to a disability must contact the
disabled Student Support Services office in the Student Development Center (Student
Center #267 – 770-423-6443), which is located in the Carmichael Student Center addition.
I will work with dSSS to make a reasonable accommodation for testing once verification
has been provided to me by the office.
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