Module Text
James Fulcher and John Scott (2007), SOCIOLOGY, 3rd edition, Oxford University Press. Available from Campus Bookshop
Each of the lecture and seminar topics is linked to chapters in this book Fulcher and Scott also have a website linked to the book designed as a student resource
You are expected to have a copy of this book and to read the relevant chapter (or chapters) in preparation for each seminar on a social structure. The social structure seminars are shown in red (below). Everyone should bring notes to these seminars indicating theorists and/or theorists they have identified in the chapter and what they say about the social structure.
Themes and Questions
Cities
First essay:
Please make sure that your essay drafts and essays have a
a
bibliography and
references
following the Harvard
system - Most of your referencing should be to books - Where you
use internet
sources, these should also be referenced following the
key word/number
rule. You should also have a
good introduction.
Education
The
sociology of
education focuses on the relationship between education
and
society, and one of its primary concerns is educational
inequality;
which is the subject of this lecture. We shall be looking in particular at
inequalities related to
race and
class, as seen from the perspective of
Conflict
theory and
Interaction
theory. The aim is to show how sociology
can help us understand one of the key issues in contemporary education.
Presentation Question: Outline and discuss one or more sociological
explanations of educational inequality.
Large Group Discussion: What is meant by 'equality of opportunity'?
Can education secure 'equality of opportunity' for everyone?
Schools are an important
social and
cultural
institution in Britain.
Discuss the view that schools systematically disadvantage some social and
cultural groups and advantage others.
Crime
Education
Identity
Globalisation
Media
Power
Race
Religion
Sex
Stratification
Structures
Wealth
Work
"
Define and explain the concept 'contemporary
social structures' and the role of such
structures in regulating social life and
beliefs. Discuss with the
use of examples."
|
Issues:
education equality and hierarchy equality of opportunity theories to explain inequality class race |
Theories:
Karl Marx on class and capital Emile Durkheim on moral education Talcott Parsons on social and cultural systems Robert Merton adaptations to structure/culture strain Pierre Bourdieu on cultural capital |
Basic reading: Fulcher and Scott Chapter 9. "Education" - See subject index for further reading
In what ways can the mass media as a social structure argued to act as a key vehicle through which dominant ideas, beliefs and norms are shaped and sustained? Explain with the use of examples.
|
Issues:
Does the media reflect of shape public opinion? What are media and mass media? What is mass society |
Theories:
Marx and Engels - Economic base Gramsci Kornhauser Habermas - public sphere |
Basic reading: Fulcher and Scott Chapter 10. "Communication and the media"
Examine the role of religion as a contemporary social structure in providing belief and meaning to social subjects. Discuss with the use of examples.
|
Issues:
sacred and profane sacred and secular secularisation |
Theories:
Marx on religion Durkheim on religion Durkheim on church |
Basic reading: Fulcher and Scott Chapter 11. "Religion, belief, and meaning"
What do you understand by crime and deviance? In what ways can both be understood to be part of the social structure of contemporary societies?
|
Issues:
crime and deviance shaping by law and by social relations |
Theories:
Lombroso Durkheim Merton Durkheim and Merton page |
Basic reading: Fulcher and Scott Chapter 7. "Crime and deviance"
Further reading:
Socialisation, Identity and Interaction
This session will explore the key concepts of the complex process of
socialisation, identity and interaction. The focus of the first part of
the session will be an exploration of the various social structures and
agencies of socialisation and the various stages of (self and group)
identity. The session will also look at competing theoretical perspectives
of socialisation, identity and interaction.
Small Group Discussion Questions:
What is 'primary socialisation' and 'secondary socialisation'? Outline the
role of the family, peer group and education in the socialisation process.
What is the cultural importance of the family, peer group and education as
important agencies of socialisation?
Essay:
Examine two different sociological accounts of how individuals acquire
their
identities through the process of
socialisation. Use
examples to support your discussion.
|
Issues:
agencies of socialisation primary socialisation secondary socialisation family - peer group - education self-identity group-identity interaction |
Theories:
Emile Durkheim on moral education Talcott Parsons on role Symbolic interaction Sigmund Freud and psychoanalysis |
Basic reading: Fulcher and Scott Chapter 9. "Socialisation, identity, and interaction"
Sex, Gender and Sexuality
This session will explore the process of becoming a woman or a man.
Sociologists have shown that what may appear to be a straightforward
'natural' process is quite otherwise. The session will look at definitions
of 'sex,' 'gender' and 'sexuality 'from competing perspectives and emphasis
will be placed on social structures and different agencies role in gender
and sexual identity and understanding.
Small Group Discussion Questions:
Outline the differences between 'sex', 'gender' and 'sexuality'. What role
does socialisation and different social structures play in the construction
of gender and sexual identity?
Are gender differences necessary for society, or do they contribute to
perpetuating inequalities?
Essay:
What do you understand by the concepts
sex -
gender and
sexuality? In what ways may gender differences be argued to
perpetuate inequalities within society? Use examples to support your
arguments.
|
Issues:
natural constructed |
Theories:
Engels on family Simone De Beauvoir on Engels Shulamith Firestone on Engels Kate Millett Michel Foucault Judith Butler on De Beauvoir |
Basic reading: Fulcher and Scott Chapter 5. "Sex, gender, and sexuality"
Race and Ethnicity
Steve Fenton (1999) has used the phrase 'the liberal expectancy' to
describe the expectation in liberal democratic societies that divisions and
differences associated with race and ethnicity would, by now, have
vanished. However, 'race' and 'ethnicity 'continue to be the basis of many
people's identities, and appear to be a source of ongoing inequality and
discrimination. This session will explore the nature of race and ethnicity
and consider their influences upon life chances and experiences.
Small Group Discussion Questions:
What do you understand by 'race' and 'ethnicity'? Why do race and ethnicity
continue to function as a basis for building identities?
Consider the influence of race and ethnicity upon life chances and
experiences.
Essay:
Define the concepts
race and
ethnicity. What evidence is
there to suggest that both constitute important factors within the
social structure in determining life chances?
|
Issues:
citizenship slavery caste and class stratification discourse |
Theories:
Racist: Hitler - Rosenberg Non racist: USA background William Edward Du Bois William Lloyd Warner Oliver Cromwell Cox Non racist: UK background John Rex Stuart Hall Paul Gilroy |
Basic reading: Fulcher and Scott Chapter 6. "Racial and ethnic identities"
Inequality, Poverty and Wealth
What factors contribute to the extremes of wealth and poverty found in
society today? This is not simply an economic, or a political question, it
is also a sociological one. Against those who argue, simplistically, that
wealth and poverty are primarily the result of individual enterprise and
initiative on the one hand, and individual laziness and welfare dependency
on the other, sociologists argue that wealth and poverty are closely
related to structures of social inequality, which generate both poverty and
wealth. The seminar examines some key sociological explanations of social
inequality.
Presentation Question: Define: (a)
'wealth'; (b)
'poverty'; (c)
'structured inequality'. How do sociologists explain the
unequal
distribution of 'wealth' in society?
Large Group Discussion: "Why are the 'wealthy', wealthy, and the
'poor', poor?"
Define:
wealth -
poverty and
structured inequality.
Examine at least two sociological explanations of poverty in society.
|
Issues:
Stratification and hierarchy Social structures Equality Marx's economics Class |
Theories:
Malthus and Ricardo Marx and Engels Pierre Bourdieu |
Basic reading:
Fulcher and Scott Chapter 18. "Inequality, poverty, and wealth"
See Wikipedia articles on
structural inequality and
Structural inequality in education
Fulcher and Scott Chapter 2 "Theories and Theorising"
See subject index for further reading
Work, Employment and Leisure
We appear to be living at a time of unprecedented technological change and
intensifying international economic competition. Some see these as exciting
times, giving opportunities for greater personal freedom, more flexible
patterns of work, and increasing amounts of leisure. For others, these are
troubled times, dominated by growing financial and job insecurity, casual
part-time work and unemployment, and increasing social exclusion. This
lecture introduces you to some important changes currently taking place in
work, employment and leisure, and to the ideas of sociologists who are
attempting to understand and explain them.
Presentation Question: Define: (a)
work; (b)
employment;
(c)
gendering of occupations; (d) domestic labour; (e)
Fordism; (f) post-
Fordism; (g)
leisure.
Large Group Discussion: The overwhelming proportion of part time
work in the UK is done by women. How would you explain this?
Outline and discuss some of the positive and negative consequences of
technological change for the work, employment, and leisure of people
in contemporary
society.
|
Issues:
Technology Modernity Postmodernism |
Theories:
Zygmunt Bauman |
Basic reading: Fulcher and Scott Chapter 17. "Work, employment, and leisure"
Fulcher and Scott Chapter 2 "Theories and Theorising"
See subject index for further reading
Stratification,
Class and
and
Status
One of the key concerns of sociologists has been to explain the different
types of
inequality found in all societies. For example, the unequal
distribution of wealth, power and social status, is not random, but is
structured along lines of class, race/ethnicity and gender. Such
inequalities tend to be very resistant to change, and persist from
generation to generation. This lecture introduces you to some of the ways
in which sociologists have attempted to explain such inequalities.
Presentation Question: Define: (a) 'social stratification'; (b)
'social class'; (b) 'social status'? Identify some key economic and non-
economic factors in social stratification. Which do you think are the most
important?
Large Group Discussion: Does class matter in Britain today?
Define:
social stratification -
social class and
social
status. With the use of examples, consider the role that
social class
plays in maintaining social divisions within society.
|
Issues:
stratification class status |
Theories:
Marx and Engels and social structure Max Weber on status Shulamith Firestone on caste |
Basic reading: Fulcher and Scott Chapter 19. "Stratification, class, and status"
Fulcher and Scott Chapter 2 "Theories and Theorising"
See subject index for further reading
Power - division and protest are all features of the structure of British politics and society. Define these concepts and consider what evidence there is to suggest that the UK is facing a crisis of political participation.
| Issues: | Theories: |
Basic reading: Fulcher and Scott Chapter 20: "Power, division, and protest"
What is globalisation? How is globalisation transforming contemporary societies? Discuss with the use of examples.
[You could consider different aspects of globalisation, such as integration of world markets, integration of political systems, the influences of technology, information technology, the "contraction" of time and space, and the "global village"].
| Issues: | Theories: |
Basic reading: Fulcher and Scott Chapter 16. "Globalisation"
Further reading:
What is it that makes the global city distinctive and how have its global
functions affected urban society?
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