Department of Social & Policy Sciences, Unit Catalogue 2009/10 |
SP20112: Structure and agency and other dualisms in social theory |
 Credits:
| 6 |
| Level:
| Intermediate |
| Period: | Semester 1 |
| Assessment:
| ES 70%, PR 30% |
| Supplementary Assessment: | SP20112 Coursework - Reassessment only (where allowed by programme regulations) |
| Requisites:
| |
| Description: | Aims: 1. To provide students with a good grounding in the key current debates in social theory about structure and agency, nature and nurture, reason and emotion; mind and body; subjectivity and objectivity, the personal and the social ; free will and determinism and the relationship between the individual and society. 2. To understand the way that dualistic ways of thinking and conceptualising the world have dominated our understanding of society and social relationships 3. To encourage students to reflect critically on the debates around philosophical dualisms in social theory. 4. Give students an understanding of how these themes emerge from classical sociology and how they relate to contemporary theoretical concerns. Learning Outcomes: As a result of this unit students will be better able to: 1. Distinguish the key approaches that inform debates in recent sociology. 2. Understand the complex relationship between the individual and society. 3. Identify how structure and agency and other dualisms inform theoretical and methodological debates in current sociology. 4. Recognise the pitfalls and possibilities of using dualistic approaches to situate their own analysis. 5. In the construction of their own research procedures, be aware of the limits that traditional dualisms impose upon our thinking about human societies. Skills: To think creatively and analytically; * To communicate an argument; * To evaluate others' arguments and research; * To learn independently and be able to assess own learning needs (i.e. identify strengths and improve weaknesses in methods of learning and studying); * To critically evaluate and assess research and evidence as well as a variety of other information; * To gather information, data, research and literature from a number of different sources (i.e. library, web-based, archives etc.); * To select appropriate and relevant information from a wide source and large body of knowledge; * To synthesise information from a number of sources in order to gain a coherent understanding; * To utilise problem solving skills; * To analyse and evaluate innovative practices in students' relevant degree discipline; * To effectively and efficiently apply principles of sociological/social policy analysis within a variety of environments; * To develop study & learning skills (note taking, avoiding plagiarism, using the library, gathering and using information, constructing a bibliography, referencing); * To develop basic information and computing technology skills (word processing, email, using the web to search for information); * To develop inter-personal and communication skills; * To develop essay research, preparation and writing skills; * To be able to construct a bibliography of varying complexity; * To develop time-management and administrative skills; * To develop team and group working skills; * To reflect upon his/her own academic and professional performance and take responsibility for personal and professional learning and development; * To solve problems in a variety of situations; * To manage time effectively and respond to changing demands; * To prioritise workloads, and utilise long- and short-term planning skills. Content: This unit will provide a critical overview of the structure agency debate and debates around other philosophical dualisms within the sociological tradition , examining the complex nature of the relationship between the individual and society. The unit addresses the role of values, norms and the agents of socialisation in the formation of culture and language; asking questions about how individuals learn social norms and roles and how expected patterns of behaviour and language regulate social life. We will explore questions around The nature/nurture debate, the divisions between subjectivity and objectivity, and the conceptual split between reason and emotion. Students will be introduced to debates aaround power, discourse and social control evaluating philosophical debates relating to the question of determinism and free will. Competing perspectives and key theorists will be explored through an examination of the following themes; the historical anatagonisms between the biological and social sciences; the question of nature and nurture in relation to gender identities and gender role socialisation; the social constructuction of linguistic frames of reference and the symbolic nature of language; the historical development of the concepts of rationality and reason from the enlightenment to the present day and the relationship between emotion and reason, emotion and social action; We examine social change, from 'above' and 'below' and the question of how we can acknowledge complexity in our theoretical frameworks. Key theories and perspectives covered in the unit include: structural functionalism; symbolic interactionism; structuration theory; complexity theory, critical social theory and the work of Foucault and Bourdieu. |