Postgraduate Course: Power: Conceptualising, theorising and investigating (SCIL11020)
Course Outline
| School | School of Social and Political Science |
College | College of Humanities and Social Science |
| Course type | Standard |
Availability | Available to all students |
| Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 11 (Postgraduate) |
Credits | 20 |
| Home subject area | Sociology |
Other subject area | None |
| Course website |
None |
Taught in Gaelic? | No |
| Course description | Power is a central concept for social and political analysis. This course introduces students to some major approaches to theories of power, and their application to substantive areas of research. It begins by considering key issues in the conceptualisation of power, and its relation to cognate concepts such as authority, legitimacy and domination. Then it explores the development of theories of power, identifying major debates, and approaches, and engaging with the ideas of key figures such as Machiavelli, Max Weber, Robert Michels, Steven Lukes, Michael Mann, Dennis Wrong, Michel Foucault, and Pierre Bourdieu. It also considers how certain dimensions of society (e.g. economy, politics, religion and morality, gender, social identity) pose particular questions and highlight particular issues for the investigation of social power. Within this broad frame, exact focus and content varies from year to year. The course will require students to engage in-depth with selected key texts, both theoretical investigations and empirical studies, and to reflect on the relevance of these issues for their own dissertation research. |
Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
| Pre-requisites |
|
Co-requisites | |
| Prohibited Combinations | |
Other requirements | None |
| Additional Costs | None |
Information for Visiting Students
| Pre-requisites | None |
| Displayed in Visiting Students Prospectus? | No |
Course Delivery Information
| Not being delivered |
Summary of Intended Learning Outcomes
By the end of the course students should be able to:
- summarise contending definitions of power, and outline major theories of power
- identify and critically assess major themes and debates in the theorisation of power
- formulate a position on the pros and cons of contending conceptions of power
- interpret conceptions of power in terms of the socio-historical contexts in which they are generated
- analyse the ways substantive fields of research inform conceptions of power
- critically assess how specific conceptions of power may shape empirical research |
Assessment Information
| Students will be assessed by way of a 4000 word essay on a topic addressing the theorisation of power, and agreed with the course convenor. This may concern either a general approach to the theorisation of power, or the investigation of power in a particular social context. Students will be expected to show initiative in going beyond the set readings for the course. The development of bibliographic and literature review skills will be emphasised. |
Special Arrangements
| None |
Additional Information
| Academic description |
Not entered |
| Syllabus |
A typical series of ten weeks of lecture topics would be:
1. Introducing Key Issues in the Study of Power
2. Cognate Concepts¿Domination, Authority and Legitimacy
3. European Sources for Theories of Power
4. American Debates about Social Power
5. Epistemological Approaches to Power
6. Historical Approaches to Power
7. State and Economy
8. Religion and Morality
9. Gender and Patriarchy
10. Identity and Personhood |
| Transferable skills |
Not entered |
| Reading list |
Richard N. Adams (1988) The Eighth Day: Social Evolution as the Self-Organisation of Energy, Austin: University of Texas Press.
David Beetham (1991) The Legitimation of Power, New York: Palgrave.
Pierre Bourdieu (1990), 'Structures, Habitus, Practices' (pp. 52-65), and 'Modes of Domination' (pp. 122-134), in The Logic of Practice, Polity.
Pierre Bourdieu (1989), 'Social Space and Symbolic Power' Sociological Theory 7(1): 14-25.
Kate Davis, et al. (eds.) (1991), The Gender of Power, Sage.
Bent Flyvbjerg (1998), Rationality and Power: democracy in practice, U of Chicago Pr..
Michel Foucault (1979) The history of sexuality, Vol. 1. London: Penguin.
Michel Foucault (1980), 'Two Lectures' (pp. 78-108), in Power/Knowledge, Pantheon
Books.
J. K. Galbraith (1983 The Anatomy of Power, Houghton Mifflin.
John A. Hall (1985) Powers and Liberties: the causes and consequences of the rise of the West, Blackwell.
Mark Haugaard, (ed.) (2002), Power: A Reader, Manchester UP.
Barry Hindess (1996), Discourses of Power, Blackwell.
Bertrand De Jouvenel (1962), On Power: Its Nature and the History of Its Growth, Beacon Press.
John Law (ed.) (1991), A Sociology of Monsters: essays on power, technology and
domination, Routledge.
Derek Layder (2004), Emotion in Social Life: the Lost Heart of Society, London: Sage
Steven Lukes (ed.) (1986), Power, NYU Press.
Steven Lukes (2005), Power: a radical view, Palgrave.
Nicola Machiavelli (1985), The Prince, H. C. Mansfield Jr. (trans.), Chicago UP.
Michael Mann (1986), The Sources of Social Power, vol. 1, Cambridge UP
Robert Michels, (1949) Political Parties, Free Press.
Peter Morriss (2002), Power: a philosophical analysis, Manchester U. P.
Gaetano Mosca (1939), The Ruling Class, McGraw-Hill.
Gianfranco Poggi (2001), Forms of Power, Polity.
Bertrand Russell (2004), Power: a new social analysis, Routledge,
James C. Scott (1990), Domination and the Arts of Resistance: hidden transcripts, Yale UP.
John Scott (2001), Power, Polity.
Charles Tilly (1991), 'Domination, Resistance, Compliance¿ Discourse', Sociological Forum 6(3): 593-602.
Sylvia Walby (1990), Theorizing Patriarchy, Basil Blackwell.
Max Weber (1978), '16. Power and domination' and '17. Political and hierocratic organizations' (pp.53-56), in Economy and Society, U of California Pr..
Eric R. Wolf (1990), 'Facing Power¿Old Insights, New Questions', American
Anthropologist 92(3): 586-596 [Also in E. R. Wolf, (2001), Pathways of Power]
Dennis H. Wrong (2002), Power: Its Forms, Bases, and Uses, 3rd Edition, Transaction |
| Study Abroad |
Not entered |
| Study Pattern |
This course is taught as a weekly two-hour seminar. In addition to doing assigned readings, students will be expected to view relevant teaching materials on WebCT, prior to each class meeting, and may be assigned individually or in groups to lead discussion of some of those materials.
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| Keywords | Not entered |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Dr Jonathan Hearn
Tel: (0131 6)50 4242
Email: J.Hearn@ed.ac.uk |
Course secretary | Miss Jodie Fleming
Tel:
Email: Jodie.Fleming@ed.ac.uk |
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