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This course will engage with a range of classical and contemporary social theories dealing with the complexity of the social and everyday life. Even though social theories aim to provide a general interpretation of the social forces that have shaped the modern, contemporary world; we use them every day in informal ways. This course focuses on how social theorists have set out to make sense of the world. Course themes pose questions about: What is action? How is society possible? What determines social change, the relationship between the individual and society, the nature of power, the place of subjectivity and the body and how does knowledge and language operate? Students will be introduced to a selection of theoretical perspectives in an approachable manner that includes Marx and Durkheim, interpretative and poststructuralist, feminist and actor-network theories of the contemporary social world.
This course focuses on how social theorists have set out to make sense of the world. Students will be introduced to a selection of theoretical perspectives that includes political economic, structural functionalist, interpretative, poststructuralist, feminist and actor-network theories. This will be done in an approachable manner and use material that is relevant to our contemporary social world.
By the end of the course, students will be able to:Negotiate between the different arguments proposed by social theorists.Engage in reflexive thinking about theorizing and the discipline of sociology.Understand the relevance of contemporary social theory for substantive problems of social and political analysis.
15 points of 100 level SOCI with B grade or better; or 30 points of 100 level SOCI; alternatively students without 100 level SOCI but with a B average or better in 60 points in related subjects may be admitted to one 200 level SOCI course.
SOCI301, SOCI393 (2013).
Michael Grimshaw
Seidman, Steven; Contested knowledge : social theory today ; 4th ed; Blackwell Pub, 2008.
Learn Course Reader Assignment Sheet Cover Plagiarism Statement Referencing for Sociology Using EndNote for referencing Writing guides for Sociology
Domestic fee $670.00
International fee $2,850.00
* All fees are inclusive of NZ GST or any equivalent overseas tax, and do not include any programme level discount or additional course-related expenses.
For further information see Language, Social and Political Sciences .