Face-to-face , first term, 30 hours of theory.

First term
Wednesday from 14:00 to 16:00 at 119 Marais 1200

The course is taught in French. There may be one or two texts in English.

The objective of this course is to present students with certain aspects of contemporary sociological theory.

The course thus does not aim to impart on students the acquisition of an encyclopaedic knowledge; rather, it strives to transmit beacons, or points of reference, that will enable students to identify various paradigms, theories and sociological “gestures” in this field of knowledge.

For the Bachelor in Law :

For the Bachelor in History :

For the Bachelor in Information and Communication :

For the Bachelor in French and Romance Languages and Letters : General :

For the Bachelor in Modern Languages and Letters: German, Dutch and English :

For the Bachelor in Philosophy :

For the Bachelor in Economics and Management :

For the Bachelor in Political Sciences: General :

For the Bachelor in Sociology and Anthropology :

None

The course aims to present and discuss certain divides whose impact is always salient, while considering the solutions that have been proposed to overcome these oppositions. Thus, one will initially take a schematic approach to oppose explanations through “structure” and explanations through “agency”. Subsequently, we will cover the theoretical attempts to go beyond this “couple” as well as the emergence of a constructivist issue in the field of sociology. The subject matter will conclude with the presentation of an original theoretical process “conceptualising institution”, a contemporary inquiry, that links in with certain founding sociological premises.

The course will alternate theoretical lectures and exemplifications. The structure is as follows:

Introduction: Of some traditional debates in sociology (and the means of resolving them)

1st Section: Conceptualising structure as an explanatory factor

Sub-section
Schools of thought covered
Authors covered

… In its stability

Structural functionalism
Spencer, Durkheim, Radcliffe-Brown, Parsons

Systemism
Luhmann

… As a product of domination/coercion

Marxism
(Hobbes), Marx, Althusser, Mills

Freudo-Marxism
Freud, Marcuse

The School of Frankfurt
Adorno, Habermas, Honneth

… As if it did not exist or no longer existed

Post-modernism

2nd Section: Conceptualising agency as an explanatory factor

Sub-section

Schools of thought covered
Authors covered

… In its collective dimension: social movements

The construction of a mobilisation context
Thompson

Historicity
Touraine

… In its individual dimension: individual resources

Sociology of the experiment
Dubet

Strategic analysis
Crozier

Network analysis

3rd Section: To go beyond the debate between structure and agency…

Sub-section
Schools of thought covered
Authors covered

… Through historical contextualisation

The historical sociology of N. Elias
Elias

… Through the structuration of the individual and society

The theory of structuration
Giddens

Genetic structuralism
Bourdieu

4th Section: Conceptualising the symbolic shaping of reality…

Sub-section
Schools of thought covered
Authors covered

… through structure

Structuralism
Levi-Strauss

The archaeology of knowledge and of power
Foucault

… through agency

Phenomenological constructivism
Schütz, Shepherd and Luckmann, Garfinkel

Pragmatic sociology
Boltanski and Thévenot

5th Section: Conceptualising the institution…

Sub-section
Schools of thought covered
Authors covered

… In a defined social context

Democracy in America: De Tocqueville

Witchcraft, oracle and magic among the Azande: Evans-Pritchard

The social nature of classifications: Douglas

… Such as “basic block” of human life

The unrelentingly social nature of human life: Wittgenstein

The philosophical dimension of sociology: Winch

6th Section: Some specific characteristics of the sociological outlook

Lectures that call upon student interaction. The students will take notes during class and will complete them in view of the oral examination (see below). Material to be read at home will be presented and discussed in class. Students will also be expected to take part in a scientific activity (details given during the course).

The examination will take place orally and will last approximately 20 minutes, with time allotted for students to prepare the questions they have drawn at random. The students may have their notes and will have to present a 5-minute report on the scientific activity in which they took part. Afterwards, they will answer the questions they drew at random. The questions are intended to assess a student's acquisition, or thorough understanding, of the subject material rather than simply test a student's knowledge. They will give students the opportunity to establish links between various parts of the course and to demonstrate their capacity to reflect on the sociological theories.

Et en Anglais, un truc du genre : "THe following book will be used as a
support during the course : Van Campenhoudt, Luc, Marquis, Nicolas "Cours
de sociologie", Paris : Dunod, 2014".

A more detailed course outline will be handed out to students during the term. Several texts will be communicated to the students. They will be considered as part of the subject material.