Saint-Louis University - Bruxelles
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SOCA1211 - Analysis of sociological theories


USL-B


Credits : 5

Lecturer :
Mode of delivery :
Face-to-face , first term, 30 hours of theory.

Timetable :
First term
Wednesday from 13:30 to 15:30 at 119 Marais 3300

Language of instruction :
French (with the possibility of texts in English).


Learning outcomes :

This course offers an analytical approach to the main theoretical currents of sociology, as well as a reflection on the constitution and the object of sociology ("to think the social or the society").

Since there can be no question of claiming an encyclopedic exhaustiveness, the objective is to presenting guidelines and criteria allowing students to appropriate in a reasoned way a variety of conceptual resources (theoretical tools, but also postures and "gestures" sociological).

More specific learning objectives :

- Familiarization with a significant range of sociological theories.

- Put into perspective (historical and analytical) to situate the main sociological theories in relation to each other.

- Go beyond an abstract approach of theories by showing how a concept, once it has been historicized and mobilized in a situated investigation approach, becomes an operational tool whose relevance can be evaluated both from the point of view of logical coherence as in the development of hypotheses giving rise to empirical tests.

- Reflect on some constitutive concepts of sociological thought.

The theoretical contributions addressed in this course will be articulated to the following three concerns :

- 1. To gain a better understanding of the scope and limits of certain sociological theories by placing them in their historical context of emergence.

- 2. Realize that the conceptual tools provided by certain sociological theories do not lend themselves to any type of use, that is, that there are affinities between the questions that are raised and the theoretical resources available to them - in short that the choice of concepts and models of analysis is partly a function of the object and the interests of research.

- 3. How can one proceed from an interpretative pluralism which is at once rigorous and consistent in conceptual and methodological terms, and which does not fall into the facilities of a relativistic eclecticism.



Prerequisites :
For the Bachelor in Law :

For the Bachelor in History :

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 :


Co-requisites :
Course contents :

In a first part, the objective will be to question the conditions and the significance of the emergence of a sociological thought towards the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century. How was the social life of humans previously thought? What new regime of knowledge is introduced by the “sociological revolution”? What remarkable contributions should we retain from the main authors who have helped to found this discipline? Particular emphasis will be placed on the thought of the relationship between the individual and society, through concepts such as institution, rule, action (and the rationality of action), status, role, etc.

In this first part, we will not confine ourselves to presenting an approach relating to a “history of sociological ideas”. The link will be made with the contemporary context, which leads to formulate new questions, even to test the concepts and tools handed down by the "sociological tradition". In particular, we will take up the question of the relationship between individual and society on the basis of current conditions, in particular by examining the way of thinking about the institution (and the question of the rule) in a context where distrust is spreading. 'regard to institutions (as well as a difficulty in thinking of the rule other than in the mode of constraint or domination). The common thread of the course could be formulated as follows: how to think about the social in a context where certain approaches are tempted to “liquidate” the very notion of society? (cf. for example approaches relating to methodological individualism, so-called “postmodern” visions, or theories reducing the social to a power play).

In a second part, it will be made room for a series of insights on authors and theories, so as to provide, if not an exhaustive panorama (this horizon remaining out of reach), at least a location allowing one to orient oneself. in the field of sociological thought. In connection with the learning objectives specified above, we will have in mind the following concerns: how to situate the theories in relation to each other? (taking into account their presuppositions, the basic concepts, the context of the emergence of these theories, etc.); the articulation of theoretical resources with questions of method (or how to take into account both the plan of logical coherence and the plan of empirical testing? what conceptual tools to choose depending on whether one opts for the description anchored or the rise in generality, the “micro” or “macro” perspective, the point of view of the agent or the structure? etc.); how to identify the contributions and the limits of sociological theories by reinscribing them in a socio-historical context (without however reducing them to context ...)? etc.




Planned learning activities and teaching methods :

The theoretical course is completed by readings of texts that the student must perform on his own. The knowledge of the subject of the theoretical course and that of the complementary texts are the subject of an evaluation during the same examination (see below).

During the theoretical course, the teacher exposes the subject in a way that is pedagogically effective and attractive. Students are invited to ask questions and to debate, the size of the audience allowing an interactive pedagogy.
Students have written supports (documents, texts ...).
Note that the course notes are not exhaustive.
Good note-taking is essential.

In a course of analysis of sociological theories, it is important for students to confront texts, which is why students are expected to read and appropriate a series of bibliographic resources.
The texts to read are a complement or extension of the subject taught in the theoretical course.
The main reading keys are provided by the teacher.
The texts are made available to students via Moodle.

The course should be given in face-to-face mode, unless the sanitary conditions do not allow it. In this case, we will switch to a remote mode (according to modalities to be specified).




Assessment methods and criteria :

Oral exam.
The EU evaluation has two components whose weight in the overall score is calculated as follows:

- knowledge of the subject of the theoretical course: 60% of the overall mark (12/20)
- knowledge of additional texts: 40% of the overall score (8/20).

Note that the part relating to the reading of texts will be taken into account only if the student obtains at least one third of the points for the part of the examination corresponding to the theoretical course (4/12, on basis of minimum 2 Questions). Indeed, the part of the exam on the theoretical course evaluates basic skills which, if they are not acquired, do not allow to consider to take into account the reading part of texts. In other words, it is considered that a deficiency that is too serious in terms of basic skills (less than 4/12) can not be compensated by knowledge of texts with a complement status. The principle applied here refers to a logic of learning outcomes and not an arithmetic logic. If the text reading part is not taken into account at the evaluation level, the score out of 12 is adjusted in score out of 20 according to a rule of proportionality: 1/12 = 1.66 / 20 rounded to 2/20; 2/12 = 3.33 / 20 rounded to 3/20; 3/12 = 4.99 / 20 rounded to 5/20.

The evaluation method is the same during the two exam sessions.

Clarification referring to the context of a “health crisis” (covid-19): at the time of writing this descriptive sheet, we can announce that the objective is to organize an oral exam which will take place face-to-face; if the sanitary conditions do not allow it, the examination will remain oral but will switch to remote mode.




Recommended or required reading :

Selective bibliography :

- Jean-Michel Berthelot, L'intelligence du social. Le pluralisme explicatif en sociologie, Paris, P.U.F., 1990.
- Pierre Bourdieu, Jean-Claude Chamboredon et Jean-Claude Passeron, Le métier de sociologue, Paris, Mouton, 1968.
- Daniel Cefaï (dir.), L'enquête de terrain, Paris, La Découverte, 2003.
- Philippe Corcuff, Les nouvelles sociologies, Paris, Nathan, coll. 128, 1999 (1ère éd.).
- Jean-Pierre Durand et Robert Weil (dir.), Sociologie contemporaine, Paris, Vigot, 1989.
- Jean-Louis Fabiani, La sociologie comme elle s'écrit. De Bourdieu à Latour, Paris, EHESS, 2015.
- Anthony Giddens, Sociology, London, Polity Press, 1989.
- Johan Heilbron, Naissance de la sociologie, Marseille, Agone, 2006 (traduit du néerlandais; éd. orig. : 1990).
- Marc Joly, La révolution sociologique. De la naissance d'un régime de pensée scientifique à la crise de la philosophie (XIXe-XXe siècle), Paris, La Découverte, 2017.
- Bruno Karsenti, L'homme total. Sociologie, anthropologie et philosophie chez Marcel Mauss, Paris, P.U.F., 1997.
- Bernard Lahire, L'esprit sociologique, Paris, La Découverte, 2005.
- Michel Lallement, Histoire des idées sociologiques de Parsons aux contemporains, Paris, Armand Colin, 2007 (3ème édition).
- Cyril Lemieux (dir.), Pour les sciences sociales. 101 livres, Paris; EHESS, 2017.
- Danilo Martuccelli, Sociologies de la modernité, Paris, Gallimard, coll. Folio-essais, 1999.
- Laurent Mucchielli, La découverte du social. Naissance de la sociologie en France, Paris, La Découverte, 1998.
- Jean-Claude Passeron, Le raisonnement sociologique, Paris, Albin Michel, 2006 (nouvelle édition revue et augmentée; 1ère éd. : 1991.
- Neil J. Smelser (ed.), Handbook of Sociology, London, Sage, 1988.
- Luc Van Campenhoudt et Nicolas Marquis, Cours de sociologie, Paris, Dunod, 2014.