: SOC2101 Introduction to Sociology Co-requisite(s) All of the social sciences celebrate thinkers who have made a fundamental

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1 1 Lingnan University Department of Sociology and Social Policy SOC3201 Classical Sociological Theory 1st Term, Instructor: Professor Peter Baehr Room WYL 209; Tel ; Recommended Study Year : 3 No. of Credits/ Term : 3 Mode of Tuition : Lecture-Tutorial Class Contact Hours : Three hours per week Category in Major Prog : Major Required Discipline : Sociology Prerequisite(s) : SOC2101 Introduction to Sociology Co-requisite(s) : None Exclusion(s) : None Exemption Requirements(s) : None Brief Course Description All of the social sciences celebrate thinkers who have made a fundamental contribution to their disciplines. This course introduces you to three major thinkers of sociology - Karl Marx, Max Weber and Emile Durkheim - and the traditions of social thought they helped to establish. These authors are typically regarded as classical thinkers because they helped establish the key coordinates of sociology as a discipline. Sociological classics are not timeless, nor are they an authoritative guide to many modern problems. Nonetheless, they do provide some vital intellectual resources for the student of society; people who think that they can dispense with the classics would be best advised to understand them first. I will suggest that each of these thinkers offer both complementary and divergent insights into modern society,

2 2 and into the methods with which it is best studied. Aims This course has four chief aims. First, it will be historical, locating the classical authors in the events and movements of their time. Second, it will be comparative; the thought of the classics authors on specific issues will be analyzed and similarities and differences traced. Third, the course will be applied, examining the classics pertinence for contemporary social problems, especially in the Hong Kong/China context. Finally, it will attempt to reveal salient continuities between classical and modern social theory. Learning Outcomes Upon successful completion of this course, students 1. Will be able to identify the foundational theories of sociology 2. Will be able speak and write clearly on the three major theorists covered in this course 3. Will be able to recognize the variety of sociological approaches to social life and assess their potential (or lack of it) to shed light on enduring issues of social integration and social cleavage. Assessment of Learning Outcomes The above learning outcomes will be assessed, respectively, by 1. Requiring students to write a term paper (30%) on at least one of the classical sociological authors, and to write an examination (40%) that encompasses two or more of them 2. Tutorial group presentations and class participation (30%) 3. Regular instructor feedback throughout the term to gauge student comprehension. Hence: Continuous Assessment (tutorial presentation, class participation, term paper) = 60% Examination = 40%

3 3 Good Practices 1. The instructor will be regularly available to see students in his office, talk to them by phone and communicate with them through 2. The instructor will return all student work within two weeks of its submission 3. Students will attend all classes of this course and do so on time 4. Students will produce the work that is required of them on the day that it is required 5. Students and the instructor will create a respectful atmosphere in which plural and contrasting views can be expressed

4 4 Indicative Content A) Introduction 1. Origins of Sociology; the nature and purpose of classical sociological theory B) Karl Marx 2. Marx s Life and Times; Theory of Alienation 3. The Materialist Conception of History 4. Classes and Revolution 5. Marx s Legacy C) Max Weber 6. Weber s Life and Times; Theory of the origins and nature of modern capitalism 7. The Three Types of Rulership 8. Class, Status Groups, Parties 9. Rationalization and method; Weber s Legacy D) Emile Durkheim 10. Durkheim s Life and Times; Sociology as a Science 11. Types of solidarity and the division of labour 12. Suicide 13. The religion of society; Durkheim s Legacy E) Conclusions 14. The Nature of Classicality 15. Continuities: Modern Sociological Theory Particularly Relevant Reading: Marx, Karl, Karl Marx: Selected Writings, (ed. David McLellan) Oxford, Oxford University Press, (Hereafter referred to as K. Marx, Selected Writings.) Weber, Max, From Max Weber: Essays in Sociology (eds. H.H. Gerth and C.W.

5 5 Mills), London: Routledge, (Hereafter referred to as Gerth and Mills.) Durkheim, E. Durkheim, Emile Durkheim: Selected Writings (ed. A. Giddens), Cambridge University Press. Aron, Raymond, Main Currents in Sociological Thought, Vol.1 & 2, Harmondworth: Penguin, These two volumes cover not only Marx, Durkheim, and Weber but also Montesquieu, Tocqueville, Comte and Pareto. (Hereafter referred to as Aron ) Bottomore, Tom and Robert Nisbet, A History of Sociological Analysis. This is an edited collection that contains many useful essays on key thinkers and topics. A number of the essays are referenced in the tutorial reading. (Hereafter referred to as Bottomore and Nisbet) Collins, Randall, Four Sociological Traditions, Oxford: Oxford University Press, Another excellent book; clear and rigorous. (Hereafter referred to as Collins ) Giddens, Anthony, Capitalism and Modern Social Theory, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, Tough going in parts but sophisticated and subtle. (Herafter referred to as Giddens ) Morrison, Ken, Marx, Durkheim, Weber: Formations of Modern Social Thought, London: Sage, The book that many students of classical sociological theory find the clearest. (Hereafter referred to as Morrison ) Recommended/ Supplementary Readings Baehr, Peter, Founders, Classics, Canons. Modern Disputes over the Origins and Appraisal of Sociology s Heritage, New Brunswick, N.J.: Transaction, 2016; second edition. Calhoun, Craig, et al. (eds.), Classical Sociological Theory, Malden, Mass: Blackwell Pub

6 6 Collins, Randall, Four Sociological Traditions Selected Readings, Oxford: Oxford University Press, Frisby, David, Sociological Impressionism: A Reassessment of Georg Simmel s Social Theory, London: Routledge, Mouzelis, N.P., Back to Sociological Theory: The Construction of Social Orders, New York: St. Martin s Press, Parkin, Frank. Durkheim, Oxford: Oxford University Press, Parkin, Frank. Max Weber, London: Tavistock, 1982 Ritzer, George, Classical Sociological Theory, 2nd ed., N.Y.: McGraw-Hill, Scott, John, Sociological Theory: Contemporary Debates, London: Aldershot, Stones, Rob (ed.), Key Sociological Thinkers, London: Macmillan Press, Swedberg, Richard. Max Weber and the Idea of Economic Sociology, Princeton: Princeton University Press, Turner, Jonathan, The Structure of Sociological Theory, N.Y.: Wadsworth Company, Turner, Jonathan, Leonard Beeghley & Charles H. Powers, The Emergence of Sociological Theory, 6th ed., Singapore: Thomson Wadsworth, Most of the reading items can be found at the University Library under the reserve section as 2 day items. When preparing for your presentations and term papers, you are advised to acquire your reading items well in advance.

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8 8 DETAILED COURSE DESCRIPTION Lecture of September 6: Introduction to the course. Tutorials of September 8: Housekeeping; allocation of tutorial presentations. Lecture of September 13: Karl Marx ( ): the context of his life and thought. Labour, alienation and praxis. Marx s theory of misrecognition ( false consciousness ) Reading Giddens, chap. 1: Morrison, pp ; K. Marx, Selected Writings, Part I, esp. Chap. 8.; S. Avineri, Social and Political Thought of Karl Marx, chaps. 1-5; and D. McLellan, Marx Before Marxism, esp. chaps. 4-8; Bertell Ollman, Alienation; George Ritzer, The McDonaldization of Society. Steven Lukes, In Defense of False Consciousness, The University of Chicago Legal Forum (2011), download it here: (or request the pdf directly from me.) Tutorial of September 15: NO TUTORIALS THIS WEEKBUT THE FIRST PRESENTATION GROUPS COME TO SEE ME IN MY OFFICE DURING THE TUTORIAL TIMES TO PREPARE FOR SEPTEMBER 22 TUTORIALS Lecture of September 20: The historical materialist conception of history; the general schema of development; the base-superstructure model; the class theory of the state. Reading (on the Marxian theory of history and class) Giddens, chaps. 2 and 3; Morrison, pp ; Edward G. Grabb, Theories of Social

9 9 Inequality, chap. 2; K. Marx, Selected Writings, Part III, chap. 18, Part IV, chap. 30; G. de Ste. Croix, The Class Struggle in the Ancient Greek World, Chap. 2, sections i, ii and iii, and G. de Ste. Croix, Class in Marx s conception of history; ancient and modern, New Left Review 146 July/August 1984, pp ) Tutorials of September 22 Use readings under the lecture of September 13. Also watch Charlie Chaplin s Modern Times (1936), especially parts 1/9 and 7/9. The film can be found on Youtube - Questions: Marx s account of alienation aims to explain the unhappiness that results from unfulfilling work. Do you think that Marx s view of alienation still applies to employment in our society today and, if so, in what kind of work and in what ways? (If you have any relevant experience of alienating work yourself, tell us about it, but connect it to the readings.) What, according to radical theorists like Marx and Steven Lukes, are the obstacles to people seeing their situation clearly? Lecture of September 27: Capital: Marx s mature investigations into the structure and dynamic of the capitalist mode of production; exploitation and the theory of surplus-value; contradiction, crisis-tendencies and the emergence of communism. Reading Giddens, chap. 4; Morrison, pp ; K. Marx, Selected Writings, Part IV, chap. 32; R.G. Rajan, Fault Lines: How Hidden Fractures Still Threaten the World Economy, Introduction and Chapters 1 and 4; Murray Smith (2008), Causes and the Consequences of the Global Economic Crisis: A Marxist-Socialist Analysis, Thomas Piketty, Capital in the 21 st Century. (This large text is a major attempt to

10 10 update Marx. The best short way into is to Google Piketty. You will find there many summaries of his argument.) Tutorials of September 29 Use readings under the lecture of September 20. Questions: What, according to Marx, is the basis of the division of society into two groups exploiter and exploited? Amongst the factors of production (capital, land, labour, entrepreneur, and technology) in modern Hong Kong, which one(s) are most important for class divisions? Connect your answer to the Readings. [Students who do this question as a term paper should find at least two additional sources explaining and evaluating Marx s theory.] Lecture of October 4: Max Weber ( ): the context of his life and thought. Class, status-groups and parties; the theory of social closure. Weber s political sociology: the three types of legitimate domination ; politics and ethics. Reading (Set A) Giddens, chap. 11; Morrison, pp ; Gerth and Mills, Introduction and chap. 7; M. Weber, F. Parkin, Max Weber, chap. 4; Frank Parkin, Marxism and Class Theory: A Bourgeois Critique (chapters 4, 5 and 6 deal with social closure ); Edward G. Grabb, Theories of Social Inequality, chapter 3 and ; R. Collins, Four Sociological Traditions, pp ; R. Swedberg, Max Weber and the idea of Economic Sociology, chaps. 1, 2 and 3; L. Scaff. Fleeing the Iron Cage, esp. chaps. 1-3; R. Aron, Main Currents in Sociological Thought Vol. 2, pp

11 11 (Set B) Giddens, chap. 11; Morrison, pp ; Gerth and Mills, chaps. 4 ( Politics as a Vocation ), 8 and 9; M. Weber, Economy and Society Vol. I, chap 3, Vol. II, chaps. 10, 11, 14 and Appendix II ( Parliament and government in a reconstructed Germany ; W. J. Mommsen, The Age of Bureaucracy, esp. pp ; F. Parkin, Max Weber, chap. 3; L.A. Scaff. Fleeing the Iron Cage, chap. 5. Supplementary item: So, Alvin Y (2000). Changing patterns of Class and Status-group struggles in Hong Kong: a World System Analysis, Development and Society 29(2), pp1-21. Tutorials of October 6 Use readings Set A under lecture of October 4 Questions: On Weber s account, what are the main sources of power and conflict in modern society? Over the years, Hong Kong society has witnessed many social conflicts including the 1925 Seamen strike, the 1967 riots, the 2003 mass protest 1 July, and the ongoing Occupy Movement. Choose one of these episodes and consider the extent to which Weber helps us understand it. Lecture of October 11: Rationalisation, Protestantism and the uniqueness of the west. Weber s economic sociology and the contrast between the religions of China and the West. Reading

12 12 Giddens, chap. 9 and pp ; Morrison, , , ; M. Weber, Author s Introduction to The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism; M. Weber, General Economic History, Part 4; M. Weber, The Protestant sects and the spirit of capitalism, in Gerth and Mills, chap. 12; M. Weber, The Religion of China, esp. the last chapter which compares Confucianism with Protestantism; F. Parkin, Max Weber, chap. 2; Randall Collins, Weber s Last Theory of Capitalism in Collins Weberian Sociological Theory, chapter 2; Also, and particularly good for the tutorial: Richard Swedberg, How to Analyze the Chinese Economy with the Help of Max Weber: A Practical Guide to His Economic Sociology, Center for the Study of Economic Sociology, 2014, (This article is very helpful in contextualizing Weber s arguments about China in the context of his economic sociology.) Zhao Dingxin, Max Weber and Patterns of Chinese History, Chinese Journal of Sociology 2(1): (I have a pdf of this article. Request it directly from me.) Christopher Adair Toteff, Max Weber on Confucianism versus Protestantism, Max Weber Studies, 14 (1) (I have a pdf of this article. Request it directly from me.) David A. Palmer, The Body: Health, Nation and Transcendence. This is a chapter on Chinese practices of the body in the modern era. It contains few explicit references to sociological theory, but can be easily linked to several basic issues in

13 13 the sociology of the body, health, identity, religion, and secularisation. Link: Tutorials of October13 Use reading under lecture of October 11 What did Weber believe to be the distinctive contribution of Protestantism to the rise of capitalism? Why did Weber believe that Confucianism was a major obstacle to the rise of rational capitalism in China? Assess the validity of Weber s contrast between Protestantism and Confucianism. Lecture of October 18: Weber s interpretive sociology; the ideal-type; science and its limitations; modernity, conflict and life-spheres Reading Giddens, chaps. 10 and 11; Morrison, pp ; Gerth and Mills, chap. 5 ( Science as a vocation ) and chap. 8 ( Religious rejections of the world and their directions ); Raymond Aron, Main Currents in Sociological Thought Vol. 2, chapter on Max Weber Chinese version under the French title Les étapes de la pensée sociologique; Lawrence A. Scaff, Fleeing the Iron Cage: Culture, Politics and Modernity in the Thought of Max Weber, chap October - NO TUTORIALS THIS WEEK. USE THE TIME TO WORK ON YOUR TERM PAPER Lecture of October 25:

14 14 Emile Durkheim ( ): the context of his life and thought. The rules of sociological method. Durkheim s conception of religion. Reading Giddens, chaps. 5 and 6; Morrison, pp ; R. Aron, Main Currents in Sociological Thought Vol 2, chapter on Weber (Chinese version under the French title Les étapes de la pensée sociologique); Emile Durkheim: Selected Writings, pp ; Emile Durkheim, The Rules of Sociological Method (read it all; the text is short); F. Parkin, Durkheim, chap. 1; K. Thompson, Emile Durkheim, pp , ; and R. Bendix, Two sociological traditions, in R. Bendix and G. Roth, Scholarship and Partisanship [Bendix s essay contrasts Weber and Durkheim; you can borrow this book from me; not in library]. On Religion: Giddens, pp ; Emile Durkheim: Selected Writings, pp , ; Emile Durkheim, Elementary Forms of Religious Life, chap. 7; F. Parkin, Durkheim, chaps. 3 and 4; and K. Thompson, Emile Durkheim, pp ; S. Lukes, Emile Durkheim: His Life and Work, chaps. 11,13 and 23. Tutorials of October 27 Use reading under lecture of October 25 Questions: How does Durkheim s social fact approach to sociology differ from Weber s interpretive approach? Which approach do you think is more useful in understanding modern social problems (choose at least one)? Do you think Durkheim and Weber s approaches can be combined? (Those who choose this question should read Durkheim s The Rules of Sociological

15 15 Method, as well as Weber s Basic Sociological Terms. Weber s work appears as Ch1 of Economy and Society, and his book The Theory of Social and Economic Organization. For your examples, try to understand the methodology involved.) Lecture of November 1: Suicide. Reading Giddens, pp ; Morrison, pp ; E. Durkheim, Suicide; K. Thompson, Emile Durkheim, pp ; S. Lukes, Emile Durkheim: His Life and Work, chap. 9; Raymond Aron, Main Currents in Sociological Thought 2, pp Howard I. Kushner & Claire E. Sterk (2005) The Limits of Social Capital: Durkheim, Suicide, and Social Cohesion, American Journal of Public Health 95(7), pp [for an alternative view of Durkheim s work, with discussion on fatalistic & altruistic suicide] +Wu Fei (2010) Suicide and Justice: A Chinese Perspective, Routledge, especially Ch 1 & 10 [Insightful perspectives; with discussion on rural Chinese women.] +David Cook (2007) Martyrdom in Islam, Cambridge University Press. +Paul S.F. Yip (2008) Suicide in Asia: Causes and Prevention, Hong Kong University Press [with statistical data and discussion on older persons] + Online statistical database on Hong Kong s suicide figures, with category breakdown, Compiled by the Hong Kong Jockey Club Centre for Suicide Research and Prevention, University of Hong Kong. Tutorials of November 3

16 16 Use reading under November 1 Question: Why, according to Durkheim, do people kill themselves? Give an account of Durkheim s analysis based on integration and regulation. As a mini case study, choose one specific social group and collect information on their suicide situation. You may use items with + in the reading set as a starting point, or search for your own case. Make clear references. Discuss whether Durkheim s analysis is helpful in understanding your case, or whether other factors give a better explanation. Lecture of November 8: Durkheim on integration and conflict: from mechanical to organic solidarity; the forced division of labour. Durkheim s political sociology: the state, occupational groupings and individual liberty Reading Giddens, chap. 5; Morrison, ; Emile Durkheim: Selected Writings, pp ; F. Parkin, Durkheim, chap. 1; and K. Thompson, Emile Durkheim, pp ; S. Lukes, Emile Durkheim: His Life and Work, chap. 7; Raymond Aron, Main Currents in Sociological Thought 2, pp World Bank, China Building a Modern, Harmonious and Creative Society, John Delury, Harmonious in China, Policy Review, April-May, 2008, Chan, Kin-man, Harmonious Society, ww.cuhk.edu.hk/centre/ccss/publications/km_chan/ckm_14.pdf Harmonious Society, Wikipedia,

17 17 Xu Feng (2008), Gated Communities and Migrant Enclaves: the Conundrum for Building Harmonious Community/ Shequ, Journal of Contemporary China 17(57) Tutorials of November 10 Use reading under Lecture of November 8 Questions: Consider the official concept of harmonious society in China in relation to Durkheim s distinction between mechanical and organic solidarity. By making connection to features of Durkheim s two forms of social solidarity, suggest at least one factor that is likely to enhance or disrupt social solidarity. Lecture of November 15: The Nature of Classicality. Tutorial of November 17: Open Tutorial (on term paper) Lecture of November 22: REVISION No Tutorials on November 24: Classes cancelled for Congregation (Degree Awards) ASSESSMENT A) Tutorial Presentations = 30% Tutorial presentations should be clear, invite discussion and be between 25 and 30 minutes long. They should end with at least two questions posed to the tutorial group

18 18 for discussion. Attendance in tutorials is mandatory; students who miss tutorials without good reason (explained to the instructor), will have marks deducted from the continuous assessment portion of their grade. All students are expected to contribute to the tutorials by asking questions, by contributing ideas, all underpinned by reading for the course. Each presentation group will be matched assigned with a comment group, but all students are expected to participate in discussion and raising questions. Rubric for Tutorial Presentations (This rubric, and the one for the term paper, follow Prof. Gregory Whitten s rubric models; I am grateful for permission to use them.) Assessment Exceeds Meets Expectations/ Needs Improvement Criteria Expectations/ Acceptable (less than 55%) Outstanding (85%- (55% - 84%) 100%) Conceptual Cover a good Concepts/theories Concepts/theories understanding range of relevant and important and important of subject concepts/ theories ideas pertinent to ideas pertinent to matter Important ideas the topic are the topic are not pertinent to the accurately used accurately used topic are skillfully applied Integration of The presentation The presentation The presentation does sources and displays a high level of displays a moderate not establish that the evidence relevance between the level of relevance article/book is relevant

19 19 student s article and between the student s to concepts covered in the concepts covered article and the concepts class. in class. covered in class. Uses good Makes good eye Makes fairly good Make little or no body contact with eye contact with eye contact with language, eye audience audience audience contact, Shows Shows some Shows little or no appropriate enthusiasm and enthusiasm and enthusiasm and voice tone confidence confidence confidence Uses voice tone Uses voice tone Uses voice tone effectively relatively ineffectively or to effectively monotone Makes Proper use of Generally good use of Poor use of effective use presentation tools with presentation tools. presentation tools of presentation little or no distractions Some distractions but and/or many tools (e.g. appropriate they are not distractions (e.g. too (slides/handou animation/pictures, overwhelming (e.g. much ts) appropriate reasonable animation/pictures, too information on one animation/pictures, fair much information on slide, clear titles, etc.) information on one one slide, absence of slide, fair titles, etc.) titles, etc.) Term Paper = 30% You can choose a title from the tutorial questions - students should ask me for extra reading but are expected to search for their own or you can formulate your own question provided it is first negotiated with me. Students are not allowed to choose,

20 20 for the term paper, the same question that they answered in the tutorial. Term papers should be around 3000 words, typed, and double-spaced. The deadline is Thursday 24 November at 5.00pm. Please submit two hard copies to me (one of them will be sent to the External Examiner). Make sure to keep a soft copy safely in your possession. Term papers must be fully referenced either using footnotes or endnotes. A list of references on the final page of the paper is insufficient. Typically, a term paper will utilize at least eight references, so you must read more than the texts listed below (do your own research in the library!). Term Paper Rubric Excellent Acceptable Poor (85%-100%) (55% - 84%) (less than 55%) Accuracy The paper uses the The paper communicates The paper information from most of the relevant contains several appropriate sources information in a factual errors and clearly, fully, generally correct and conceptual directly, and understandable way. confusions. The accurately. The The response is mostly response is barely paper is clearly related to a particular related to any area related to a particular area of course coverage. of course area of course coverage. coverage

21 21 Analytic The answer and The answer and opinions The answer and depth opinions provided are provided are generally opinions provided well-supported with supported though some are barely or not obvious and direct assumptions are not supported by any reference to pertinent obvious or stated clearly. argument or appeal information. Some propositions may to information in The argument not be defended well. articles, books, examines all sides of The argument mentions lectures, or other an issue thoroughly. all sides of an issue, relevant source. though not all sides are The argument is analyzed in equally narrow, superficial, appropriate depth. and/or one-sided. Clarity of The written response The quality of writing is There are frequent exposition is excellent with no good with few, though language errors in glaring errors of noticeable, errors in usage, spelling, spelling, usage, or usage, spelling, and and/or grammar. grammar. grammar. When you write the term paper, you must note the sources of quotations, data and general information in the essay. These sources/references should appear in alphabetical order in your list of references/bibliography. According to Lingnan University and Social Sciences Programme policy, plagiarism is presentation of another person's work without proper acknowledgment of the source. Plagiarism (unattributed copying) is heavily penalised and may attract a zero mark and disciplinary action. The grading process will involve the use of anti-plagiarism

22 22 software. Those who need extra help in polishing their written English may make use of the Writing Tutorial Service offered by Lingnan s Centre for English and Additional Languages (CEAL). You can make an appointment via the link End of Term Exam = 40% A comprehensive examination requiring you to answer questions on Marx, Durkheim and Weber Peter Baehr September 2016

23 23 SOC3201 Classical Sociological Theory Tuesday Lectures ( ; WYL104) Course Schedule 2016/17 first Semester Thursday Tutorials (1:30-2:20 WYL103; LKK110) Date Topic Date Topic 6 Sep Introduction 8 Sep Housekeeping; allocation. 13 Sep Marx 1 15 Sep First presentation groups to see me in my office in tutorial times 20 Sep Marx 2 22 Sep Marx 1 27 Sep Marx 3 29 Sep Marx 2 4 Oct Weber 1 6 Oct Weber 1 11 Oct Weber 2 13 Oct Weber 2 18 Oct Weber 3 20 Oct No tutorials 25 Oct Durkheim 1 27 Oct Durkheim1/Weber 3 1 Nov Durkheim 2 3 Nov Durkheim 2 8 Nov Durkheim 3 10 Nov Durkheim 3 15 Nov Classicality Revisited 17 Nov Open tutorial (term paper

24 24 consultation) 22 Nov Revision 24 Nov (Term paper due)