Bachelor
2024/2025
Sociology
Type:
Compulsory course (International Program 'International Relations and Global Studies')
Area of studies:
International Relations
Delivered by:
Faculty of World Economy and International Affairs
Mode of studies:
offline
Open to:
students of one campus
Language:
English
ECTS credits:
4
Contact hours:
48
Course Syllabus
Abstract
The course is aimed at giving theoretical and methodological resources to reflect on various social and economic phenomena which bind traditional, modern and (post)modern society. The emergence of the ‘sociology of modern society’ was recognized as a break with tradition. At the same time, there is a strong debate on whether this break was intellectually fruitful especially after the turn to a (post)modern state. For example, the growing interest in the artifacts of traditional society, such as gift giving, bazaars, and communities, realizes the need towards the resocialization of economy and society based on new technologies. Social sciences have accumulated rich theoretical and empirical resources which could be applied to conceptualize and objectify present-day challenges of human coexistence. During the course, we will rely on these resources to discuss the agenda of contemporary society. This introductory course exposes the structure of social sciences and the relationships between subfields to provide the polemics between several disciplines – sociology, demography, anthropology, and economic science. It is divided into several sessions which represent main spheres of sociological investigation: social solidarity, gift exchange, money & market exchange, origins of capitalism, stratification & social inequality, family & childbirth, religion, social groups & social networks, trust & social capital, modern organizations & platforms. Lectures in each session rely on the theoretical debates, local cases, and comparative data which represent various countries.