Master
2021/2022
History and Theory of Social Movements
Type:
Elective course (Complex Social Analysis)
Area of studies:
Sociology
Delivered by:
School of Sociology
Where:
Faculty of Social Sciences
When:
1 year, 4 module
Mode of studies:
offline
Open to:
students of all HSE University campuses
Master’s programme:
Complex Social Analysis
Language:
English
ECTS credits:
3
Contact hours:
28
Course Syllabus
Abstract
A fundamental premise of this theory-oriented research field is that social conflicts are inherent in social life. Thus conflict is considered to be one of the main, basic, categories of social sciences. It is used both by the theorists, analysts in various fields of social sciences and by the applied researchers to address specific conflict situations. This course focuses on the examination of the conflict as a social action/agency and as interaction, in relation to the categories of consensus and violence. The course introduces both the classical sociological theories of conflict and modern ones, their analytical capabilities and limitations are to be discussed. In this regard, particular attention is paid to the ratio of "structural" and "direct" violence and related conflicts. he course focuses on the sociological approach to the understanding and the research of civil society (as opposed to legal or political science traditions). Therefore, the course involves the development of the students’ basic knowledge of sociological theories and methods for the study of social movements, stimulating students' interest in field studies of various social movements, in acquiring skills to study collective action. The course combines three important segments: 1. An excursus into the social history of social movements in their various forms - from migrations and revolutions to grassroots initiatives and atypical forms of solidarity. The analysis of current Russian cases studied by native and foreign researchers will be covered as well. The experience of cultural studies and social anthropology in the study of social movements will also be addressed. 2. The analysis of the main paradigms, the development of theoretical models and of the language to describe social movements, developing skills to identify and to analyze a priori axiomatic assumptions that underlie scientific and non-scientific texts, the theoretical analysis of synonyms and related concepts (social movements, social mobilization, forms of solidarity, collective action , civil society, etc.). 3. Learning cognitive/rational limitations and advantages of empirical methods used in the study of social movements and the consequent social and political effects; discussing of methodological research and methodological problems that arise in connection with the growing area of Internet research and the formation of research traditions at the intersection of computer science, linguistics, political science, economics, sociology and other disciplines. As the final work of the students will be invited to prepare, conduct and present their own research on the profile subjects in small working groups of 2 to 3 persons. Training objectives of the course: - To form students' understanding of the issues of social movements; - To generate ideas about the most important historical examples of social movements - the "classic" of the revolution, mass migration, and the crowd of fashion, social movements and revolutions of the 20th century, the role of the Internet in the development of social movements, etc. - To generate theoretical and conceptual competence as to the main paradigms, theories and concepts dealing with the subject of social movements and civil society; - To develop the analytical skills for public discourse on the major issues of social movements; to promote the skills of the critical assessment of contemporary discourses on social movements.
Learning Objectives
- The course focuses on a particular conflict component -- conflict behaviour -- as treated and discussed in both classical writings and contemporary research. It aims in depth familiarity with and knowledge of central approaches and theories in the study of conflict dynamics, in general, and conflict behaviour, in particular.
Expected Learning Outcomes
- an understanding of the field's theoretical history, an assessment of the strengths and weaknesses of prior research and theory, as well as a means to discover remaining theoretical questions
- an understanding of the field's theoretical history, an assessment of the strengths and weaknesses of prior research and theory, as well as a means to discover remaining theoretical questions.
- For each assigned reading, students are expected to understand and discuss the theoretical argument of each article and book chapter assigned on social movements. In addition to the theoretical argument, the students should know how each study collected and used the data available to support or refute social theory.
- students are able to discriminate between different approaches and theories in the peace and conflict studies.
- students are able to use post-modern approaches and theories for the analysis of conflict behaviour instances
- students are expected master the basic concepts and methods of theory-oriented research in the field
- students are expected to be able to discriminate between different approaches and theories in the peace and conflict studies
- students are expected to evaluate critically the strengths and weaknesses of theories in the field
- students are expected to use approaches and theories for the analysis of conflict behaviour instances
- Students enrolled will acquire two sets of skills. The first of these skills will be gaining knowledge on the development of social movement theory. This includes an understanding of the field's theoretical history, an assessment of the strengths and weaknesses of prior research and theory, as well as a means to discover remaining theoretical questions.
- students get oriented in the field of Marxian, neo-Marxian conflict restarch
- The second set of skills include attaining knowledge on the conduct of historical methods. This will be accomplished both by reading materials as well as through a guided research project. The reading materials will include both methodological pieces as well as empirical examples in the social movement literature
- To develop the analytical skills for public discourse on the major issues of social movements; to promote the skills of the critical assessment of contemporary discourses on social movements
- To form students' understanding of the issues of social movements; - To generate ideas about the most important historical examples of social movements - the "classic" of the revolution, mass migration, and the crowd of fashion, social movements and revolutions of the 20th century, the role of the Internet in the development of social movements, etc.
- To generate theoretical and conceptual competence as to the main paradigms, theories and concepts dealing with the subject of social movements and civil society
Course Contents
- Introduction I.
- Introduction II.
- Classical Sociology on Conflict I.
- Classical Sociology on Conflict II.
- Modern Social Conflict I.
- Modern Social Conflict II.
- Postmodern prospective on social conflict:
- Introduction to Social Movements and Historical Sociology
- Political Context and Opportunity
- Resources and Organization
- Culture, Media, and Framing
- Recruitment, Participation, and Collective Identity
- Protest in Institutions, Institutionalization, and Abeyance
- Political & Beneficiary Consequences
- Infrastructure, Space, & Multi-Organizational Fields
- Cultural, Economic, & Organizational Consequences
Assessment Elements
- An essayTiming of delivery - an essay is to be handed over on completion of the course (date is to be determined) late for 2 days reduces the estimate of 0.5 (1.5) points, the delay of 4 days - 1 point (3 points), in the absence of the essay score is 0 points.
- Сurrent control: Classroom activities (online, if available) / HomeworkHomework can be presented in writing. In writing, homework is a summary of the original source with student’s "comments", made according to certain requirements (which are communicated to the students at the first seminar)
- exam -- an essay + homeworkDue to emergency the exam will be compressed to the homework+essay. The exam (final control) is conducted in writing (essays on topics and materials of the course; the volume of 3-4 thousand words, evaluated on a 10-point scale). If the teacher needs an interview with the author of the essay, the interview is conducted on the day of the exam on the Skype platform (https://www.skype.com/). You must connect to the exam according to the schedule sent by the teacher to the students ' corporate emails on the eve of the exam. The student's computer must meet the following requirements: a working camera and microphone, and Skype support. To participate in the exam, the student must: put their photo on the avatar, appear for the exam according to the exact schedule, and turn on the camera and microphone when answering. During the exam, students are forbidden to turn off the camera, use notes and hints. A short-term communication failure during the exam is considered to be a communication failure of less than a minute. A long-term communication violation during the exam is considered to be a violation of a minute or more. If there is a long-term communication failure, the student cannot continue to participate in the exam. The retake procedure involves the use of complicated tasks.
- An essayTiming of delivery - an essay is to be handed over on completion of the course (date is to be determined) late for 2 days reduces the estimate of 0.5 (1.5) points, the delay of 4 days - 1 point (3 points), in the absence of the essay score is 0 points.
- Сurrent control: Classroom activities (online, if available) / HomeworkHomework can be presented in writing. In writing, homework is a summary of the original source with student’s "comments", made according to certain requirements (which are communicated to the students at the first seminar)
- exam -- an essay + homeworkDue to emergency the exam will be compressed to the homework+essay. The exam (final control) is conducted in writing (essays on topics and materials of the course; the volume of 3-4 thousand words, evaluated on a 10-point scale). If the teacher needs an interview with the author of the essay, the interview is conducted on the day of the exam on the Skype platform (https://www.skype.com/). You must connect to the exam according to the schedule sent by the teacher to the students ' corporate emails on the eve of the exam. The student's computer must meet the following requirements: a working camera and microphone, and Skype support. To participate in the exam, the student must: put their photo on the avatar, appear for the exam according to the exact schedule, and turn on the camera and microphone when answering. During the exam, students are forbidden to turn off the camera, use notes and hints. A short-term communication failure during the exam is considered to be a communication failure of less than a minute. A long-term communication violation during the exam is considered to be a violation of a minute or more. If there is a long-term communication failure, the student cannot continue to participate in the exam. The retake procedure involves the use of complicated tasks.
Interim Assessment
- 2021/2022 4th module0.5 * Сurrent control: Classroom activities (online, if available) / Homework + 0.5 * An essay
Bibliography
Recommended Core Bibliography
- Corrigall-Brown, C. (2012). Patterns of Protest : Trajectories of Participation in Social Movements. Stanford, Calif: Stanford University Press. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=edsebk&AN=713481
- Gautney, H. (2012). Protest and Organization in the Alternative Globalization Era : NGOs, Social Movements, and Political Parties. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=edsebk&AN=479610
Recommended Additional Bibliography
- Tufekci, Z. (2014). Social Movements and Governments in the Digital Age: Evaluating a Complex Landscape. Journal of International Affairs, 68(1), 1–18. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=bsu&AN=100052744
- Vanden, H. E., Funke, P. N., & Prevost, G. (2017). The New Global Politics : Global Social Movements in the Twenty-First Century. Abingdon, Oxon: Routledge. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=edsebk&AN=1481128