Curriculum Information

Building on the foundations of sociological thinking introduced in year one, this module considers theories that expand our understanding of how individuals and groups co-exist in increasingly complex societies. We begin our survey of contemporary social theories by reflecting on the purpose of theory of itself. What is theory? Why is it necessary to use theory to think about society? By understanding social theory as a means to make sense of our place in the world, we can see how sociological theorists are above all else attempting to locate and address the concerns of the day. it questions the distinction between the 'classical' and the ‘contemporary’ so as to highlight the intellectual decisions, values and problems involved in the packaging of social theory under these terms. It also provides critical introductions to the following theorists and issues: Talcott Parsons and his legacy; Symbolic Interactionism up to Goffman and beyond; The Frankfurt School: Critical theory and the crisis of western Marxism; Jurgen Habermas and the decline of the public sphere; Michel Foucault and his understanding of ‘power’; thus tracing contemporary social thought from structuralism, which explained how individuals and groups are subject to domination within a symbolic order that imposes meaning upon them, to post-structuralism, which challenged these power structures through the development of alternative positions.