Концепции современности в актуальных направлениях культурсоциологии

Магистратура 2026/2027

Статус: Курс по выбору (Философские исследования)

Кто читает: Школа философии и культурологии

Где читается: Факультет гуманитарных наук

Когда читается: 2-й курс, 2 модуль

Охват аудитории: для всех кампусов НИУ ВШЭ

Преподаватели: Павленко Екатерина Сергеевна

Язык: английский

Кредиты: 3

Контактные часы: 52

Full Syllabus Ask Question

Abstract

The speed of change in the modern world, as well as an abundance of information about these changes makes it extremely difficult to understand the general direction and trends of these transformations. Cultural sociology directs its attention to the life world, practices, forms of life, forms of labor and forms of leisure, art, and politics in order to discover the social logic that stands behind the multitude of heterogeneous processes. Social logic does not need either mystification or denunciation; it requires understanding and explication by concepts and heuristics that would allow us to comprehend the processes in which we, regardless of our desire, are involved, as well as to see the risks and opportunities that are hidden behind these processes. The goal of the course is to study and critically assess basic approaches to the analysis of modern society in cultural sociology. The syllabus of the course will include such approaches as the strong program in the sociology of culture by J. Alexander, the concept of the experience society by G. Schulze, the theory of emotional labor by A. Hochschild, the sociology of emotions by E. Illuz, the theory of the society of singularities by A. Reckwitz, as well as other influential programs in modern cultural sociology.

Learning Objectives

Studying the historical and theoretical background for the formation of modern cultural sociology in the classical sociological tradition
Mastering the conceptual apparatus of modern cultural sociology
Developing practical skills to independently apply key heuristics and methods of cultural sociology
The formation of a common understanding of the main trends and directions of development of modern society

Expected Learning Outcomes

Differentiate and contrast different trends within contemporary cultural sociology and juxtapose them against fundamental sociological problems
Evaluate and justify conceptual positions in contemporary cultural sociology in relation to problematics of modern societies
Identify and recognize concepts and theoretical arguments pertaining to contemporary cultural sociology
Can explain with argumentation the historical and theoretical background for the formation of modern cultural sociology in the classical sociological tradition
Illustrates the cultural sociological approach to studying Modernity with examples
Defines and distinguishes separate theoretical frameworks within the Sociology of Modernity
Operates key theoretical concepts and designs research using cultural sociological frameworks

Course Contents

What is Modernity
Strong Program of Cultural Sociology and Modernity
Cultural Trauma as Key Modern Phenomenon
How Modernity changes Emotions

Assessment Elements

Homework
For critical report/presentation you can take 1 of the texts that we discussed, or text we didn’t discuss, but they are in the relevant books provided for the course. Write a critical note/presentation as a response to that text. This implies that you need to go searching for critical replies, reviews, remarks, commentaries, about the text/idea you’ve chosen. The note/presentation should also include your own critical remarks with necessary references.
Class participation
Final Essay

Interim Assessment

2026/2027 2nd module
0.25 * Class participation + 0.45 * Homework + 0.3 * Final Essay

Bibliography

Recommended Core Bibliography

Arlie Russell Hochschild. (2012). The Managed Heart : Commercialization of Human Feeling: Vol. Updated, with a new preface. University of California Press.
Cabanas, E., & Illouz, E. (2019). Manufacturing Happy Citizens : How the Science and Industry of Happiness Control Our Lives. Medford, MA: Polity. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=edsebk&AN=2212443
Cultural trauma : slavery and the formation of African American identity, Eyerman, R., 2001
Emile Durkheim, & Steven Lukes. (2014). The Rules of Sociological Method : And Selected Texts on Sociology and Its Method. [N.p.]: Free Press. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=edsebk&AN=1963188
Emile Durkheim. (2013). The Elementary Forms of Religious Life. [N.p.]: Digireads.com Publishing. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=edsebk&AN=1537440
Giesen, B., & Eisenstadt, S. N. (2016). Triumph and Trauma. London: Routledge. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=edsebk&AN=1106282
Hochschild, A. R. (1975). The Sociology of Feeling and Emotion: Selected Possibilities. Sociological Inquiry, 45(2/3), 280–307. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1475-682X.1975.tb00339.x
Illouz, E. (1997). Consuming the Romantic Utopia : Love and the Cultural Contradictions of Capitalism. Berkeley: University of California Press. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=edsebk&AN=6839
Illouz, E. (2007). Cold Intimacies : The Making of Emotional Capitalism. Cambridge, UK: Polity. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=edsebk&AN=572564
Illouz, E. (2008). Saving the Modern Soul : Therapy, Emotions, and the Culture of Self-Help. Berkeley: University of California Press. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=edsebk&AN=213396
Illouz, E. (2008). The Purchase of Intimacy. American Journal of Sociology, 113(6), 1768–1770. https://doi.org/10.1086/590994
Illouz, E. (2018). Emotions As Commodities : Capitalism, Consumption and Authenticity. London: Routledge. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=edsebk&AN=1606502
Intellectuals and the German nation : collective identity in an axial age, Giesen, B., 1998
Max Weber. (2016). The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism. Dancing Unicorn Books.
Suicide : a study in sociology, Durkheim, E., 2010
The antinomies of classical thought: Marx and Durkheim, Alexander, J. C., 2016
The Cambridge companion to Durkheim, , 2005
The civil sphere, Alexander, J. C., 2006
The division of labor in society, Durkheim, E., 1997
The elementary forms of religious life, Durkheim, E., 2008
The modern reconstruction of classical thought: Talcott Parsons, Alexander, J. C., 2014
The Protestant ethic and the spirit of capitalism, Weber, M., 1992
The rules of sociological method, Durkheim, E., 1982
Wilf, E., Williams, S. J., Munoz, B., Scheff, T. J., Flam, H., Kuzmics, H., … Goodman, J. (2009). Theorizing Emotions : Sociological Explorations and Applications. Frankfurt: Campus Verlag. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=edsebk&AN=837637

Authors

KURAKIN DMITRIY YUREVICH
PAVLENKO EKATERINA SERGEEVNA

Course Syllabus