Sociology: Norms, Power, Organization
ECTS : 6
Volume horaire : 36
Description du contenu de l'enseignement :
Social norms are the formal and informal rules that govern the behaviours of individuals in a specific society.
Respecting them leads to integration whereas violating them involves sanctions.
The purpose of this course is to examine social norms from a sociological perspective: how are they elaborated? Implemented? What are the consequences on the social structure and cohesion of society?
The connection between social norms, inequalities and power is also established and discussed during this course, allowing a discussion of some major French, British and American thinkers such as Michel Foucault, Pierre Bourdieu, Erving Goffman, Arlie R. Hochschild, Beverley Skeggs.
This course ambitions to be an open-minded discussion place where French and international students can meet and exchange ideas on current issues in an academic setting.
Objectives :
- Introducing sociology: the discipline, tools, main theories and concepts, key issues;
- Acquiring conceptual tools to analyse and understand social transformations in contemporary societies through three main topics: norms, power, organizations;
- Connecting concepts and concrete situations, theoretical analysis and empirical knowledge;
- Recognizing the main methods used in sociology;
- Familiarizing oneself with several key sociological schools of thought;
- Reading ambitious academic texts, getting a sociological culture;
- Improving writing skills and removing inhibitions when it comes to speaking English.
This course is on Moodle.
1 General introduction to sociology
2 General introduction to sociology: concepts and methods (Mills)
3 Norms and Deviance: poverty (Simmel)
4 Norms and Deviance: stigmatization and labelling theory (Goffman and Darmon)
5 Power and Domination: discipline and surveillance (Foucault)
6 Power and Domination: social reproduction and distinction (Bourdieu)
7 Mid-term exam
8 Power and Domination: education and work (Skeggs, Lareau)
9 Organizations and Inequalities: status (Ridgeway)
10 Organizations and Inequalities: gender (Hochschild)
11 Organizations and Inequalities: communication and networks (Boltanski and Chiapello)
12 Conclusion
Final Exam
Compétence à acquérir :
- Reading, understanding and discussing key sociological texts;
- Comparing and debating concepts and theories in sociology;
- Recognizing the main methods and tools used in sociology;
- Questioning key issues in contemporary societies;
- Writing sociological essays;
- Improving oral and written academic English.
Mode de contrôle des connaissances :
- Continuous assessment (50%)
o Mid-term exam (35%) - essay
o Class work (15%) - combining group presentations, facilitation, written tests and participation
- Exam (50%) - essay
The numerical grade distribution will dictate the final grade. The passing grade for a course is 10/20.
Class participation: Active class participation - this is what makes classes lively and instructive. Come on time and prepared. Class participation is based on quality of comments, not quantity.
Exam policy: In the exam, students will not be allowed to bring any document (except if allowed by the lecturer). Unexcused absences from exams or failure to submit cases will result in zero grades in the calculation of numerical averages. Exams are collected at the end of examination periods.
Bibliographie, lectures recommandées :
- ACKER, Joan (1990), "Hierarchies, Jobs, Bodies. A Theory of Gendered Organizations", Gender and Society, Vol. 4(2), pp.139-158;
- BOURDIEU Pierre (2001), "A Magnified Image", Masculine Domination, Polity press;
- BOURGOIS Philippe (2003), In Search of Respect. Selling Crack in El Barrio, Cambridge University Press;
- CASTELLS Manuel (2011), "Power in the Network Society", Communication power, Oxford University Press;
- FOUCAULT Michel (1977), "'Panopticism' from Discipline and Punish: The Birth of the Prison", Race/Ethnicity: Multidisciplinary Global Contexts, Vol.2, n°1, Autumn 2008;
- GIDDENS Anthony, Sociology, Polity press, 2006;
- GOFFMAN Erving (1963), "The Self and the Other", Stigma. Notes on the Management of Spoiled Identity, A Touchstone Book, 1986;
- HOCHSCHILD Arlie Russel (2003), The Managed Heart. Commercialization of Human Feeling, University of California Press;
- LAREAU Annette (2015), "Cultural Knowledge and Social Inequality", American Sociological Review, 2015, vol. 80(1), pp. 1-27;
- MAYER HACKER Helen (1951), "Women as a minority group", Social Forces, 30, 1951, pp.60-69;
- MILLS Charles Wright (1974), "The Sociology of Stratification", Power, Politics and People, Oxford University Press;
- RIDGEWAY Cecilia R., "Why Status Matters for Inequality", American Sociological Review, 2014, vol. 79 (1), pp. 1-16;
- SIMMEL Georg (1907), The Poor, Social Problems, vol.13, n°2, pp. 118-140, Autumn 1965, University of California Press;
- SKEGGS, Beverley (1997), "Ambivalent Femininities", in Formations of Class and Gender: Becoming Respectable (Chapter 6), London: Sage.
Murielle Bègue is a Doctor in sociology and has taught sociology, social sciences research methods and major contemporary issues in the university Paris-Dauphine-PSL since 2009. She has a Bachelor's degree in history from Paris IV-Sorbonne and graduated from Sciences Po Paris with a Master's degree.
Marjolaine Roger is a professeure agrégée in English, and has taught English and social sciences in the Université Paris-Dauphine since 2005. She has an MA in English studies from the Université Paris-III Sorbonne-Nouvelle, an MSc in Gender Studies from the London School of Economics, and a Postgraduate Certificate in Social Science Research Methods from the University of Kent in Canterbury.