Postgraduate Course: Contemporary Social Theory (PGSP11276)
Course Outline
| School | School of Social and Political Science |
College | College of Humanities and Social Science |
| Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 11 (Postgraduate) |
Availability | Available to all students |
| SCQF Credits | 20 |
ECTS Credits | 10 |
| Summary | This course is aimed both at students looking to support their empirical work with a clear understanding of relevant theoretical debates and those with a specialist interest in social theory. The course explores recent attempts at theorising the social world, introducing students to contemporary social theory through an examination of topics central to social inquiry. It is made up of a number of units, each of which looks at a key theoretical debate or dispute. The unit topics are chosen because they relate to dilemmas relevant to a wide range of social scientific inquiries. Units vary somewhat from year to year, but may include: gender: humanist vs. anti-humanist approaches; theorizing the body; and the analysis of power. |
| Course description |
Indicative topics include:
- Power and interests in the work of Lukes
- Actor-network theory and power
- Bourdieu: habitus and social change
- Archer: theorising structure and agency
- Butler and the performance of gender
- The absence/presence of the body in social theory
- Bodies in everyday life: symbolic interactionism
The body as project: consumption and technology
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Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
| Pre-requisites |
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Co-requisites | |
| Prohibited Combinations | |
Other requirements | None |
Information for Visiting Students
| Pre-requisites | None |
Course Delivery Information
| Not being delivered |
Learning Outcomes
1. To develop students' knowledge of conceptual and theoretical debates current in the social sciences
2. To develop students' ability to critically explore the limitations of existing theoretical positions
3. To develop students' capabilities to think critically about the application of theoretical ideas to social scientific research
4. To improve students' abilities to debate issues using concepts discussed in the course
5. To develop students' abilities to write accurately and critically about contemporary theoretical debates
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Reading List
Lukes, S. (2005), Power: A Radical View, Second edition. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan
Butler, J. (2004), Undoing Gender, London: Routledge
Archer, M. (2003) Structure, Agency and the Internal Conversation, Cambridge: Cambridge UP
S. Williams and G. Bendelow (1998) The Lived Body London: Routledge
C. Shilling (2012) The Body and Social Theory London: Sage
B. S. Turner (2008) The Body and Society: Explorations in Social Theory London: Sage |
Additional Information
| Graduate Attributes and Skills |
Not entered |
| Keywords | Not entered |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Dr Stephen Kemp
Tel: (0131 6)50 3978
Email: S.Kemp@ed.ac.uk |
Course secretary | Mr Andrew Macaulay
Tel: (0131 6)51 5067
Email: Andrew.Macaulay@ed.ac.uk |
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