Sociological Theories 2021

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1. About this Course

This course is an introductory course to sociological theories. In the class of ‘Introduction to Sociology’(spring semester), students study basic ideas of sociology focusing on empirical topics such as city, gender and religion. In this course of ‘Sociological Theories,’ we focus on theories rather than empirical topics. Detailed information will be provided on www.sakurai.jp. Please check the website before registration. Detailed information will be provided on www.sakurai.jp. We will use the textbook from the first class. Please bring your textbook.

This course will be conducted based on an online system (on-demand recorded video with scheduled restriction) except for two examinations conducted in the classroom. Examinations will be conducted on November 5th and January 14th (both 4th period, Friday). Students need to come to the classroom in building 11 to take these two examinations. For the rest of the classes, the lecture will be conducted online. Students log in to the Waseda Moodle and watch videos. The video will be uploaded by Friday, and students study the video in a week. Before watching the video, students must read the textbook carefully.

Lectures will be conducted online. Please watch the video uploaded on Waseda Moodle in one week after the scheduled date. For instance, the first lecture 'Classical Paradigms' will be uploaded by 9/24. Students need to watch it by 10/01.

2. Textbook

David Inglis and Christopher Thorpe, 2019, An Invitation to Social Theory, 2nd edition, Polity Press
ISBN-13:978-1-5095-0640-8 (paperback)
The digital version is also available on Amazon.

3. Schedule


09/30 1. Classical Paradigms
An introduction to classical studies of sociology.
10/07 2. Functionalist and System Theory Paradigms
Evolutionism, Emile Durkheim, Talcott Parsons, Niklas Luhmann
10/14 3. Marxist and Critical Theoretical Paradigms
Historical materialism, ideology and critical theory
10/21 4. Phenomenological Paradigms
Phenomenology, Alfred Schutz, Ethnomethodology, Social constructionism
10/28 5. The Symbolic Interactionist Paradigms
Symbolic interactionism, Erving Goffman
11/04 6. Rational Choice and Exchange Theory Paradigms
Exchange theory, Rational choice theory.
11/11: 1st Examination (2nd period, in the classroom)
The 4th period, November 5th (Friday). This examination will be conducted in-person (in the classroom).
11/18. 7. The Process Sociological Paradigm
Simmel and Elias
11/25 8. Structuralist and Post-Structuralist Paradigms
Durkheim and Saussure, Structuralism, Post-structuralism, Michel Foucault.
12/02 9. Post-Modernist Paradigms
Modernity and post-modernity, the media.
12/09 10. Structurationist Paradigms
Bourdieu and Giddens
12/16 11. Feminist Paradigms
Liberalism, Marxism and feminism.
01/06 12. The Actor-Network Theory Paradigm
The actor-network theory
01/13. Globalization Paradigms
The economic, political social and cultural aspects of globalization.
01/20 2nd Examination (2nd period, in the classroom)


4. Grading

Examination 100%