About the Course
Contemporary Social Theory is a postgraduate course as part of the Humanities and Social Sciences MA program. It constitutes the second-leg of a two-semester social theory course. CST is a compulsory three- credit course.
This course presents the students with an overview of contemporary theories in social sciences. The evolution of social theory in the twentieth century will be analyzed with reference to major themes during the term. Our aim will be to understand and make sense of ‘social theory’ that seems to follow a different historical and thematic trajectory when compared to political theory, cultural theory or history of philosophy. Social theory is often conceived and designed as a field close to, but not exactly similar to sociological theory.
During the lecture we will attempt to comprehend the views of major theorists, their relation to other theories and the way in which certain concepts are covered and analyzed in their theories. Among the major themes that are relevant to our discussion with regards to social theory will be society, community, individual, structure, agency, modernity, postmodernity and globalization.
To download the course syllabus, please click here.
Tentative Weekly Schedule
Week 1 - Introducing Social Theory
Week 2 - The Heritage of Hermeneutics: Dilthey, Weber & Gadamer
Week 3 - The Frankfurt School I: Adorno & Horkheimer
Week 4 - The Frankfurt School II: Freud, Adorno, Fromm & Marcuse
Week 5 - Structuralism: Saussure, Levi-Strauss & Barthes
Week 6 - Hegemony and Ideology: Althusser & Gramsci
Week 7 - Modernity as an Unfinished Project: Habermas
Week 8 - Discipline, Subjectivity & Power: Foucault
Week 9 - Between Structure and Agent, Theories of Structuration: Bourdieu & Giddens
Week 10 - The Poststructuralist Turn: Lacan & Derrida
Week 11 - Post-feminism and Queer Theory: Kristeva, Butler & Haraway
Week 12 - The Condition of Postmodernity: Harvey & Jameson
Week 13 - Hyperreality and Rhizomatics: Baudrillard, Deleuze & Guattari
Week 14 - Networks, Risks & Liquids: Castells, Beck & Bauman
Week 15 - Discussion of papers and evaluation of the term