Political Sociology: from Theory to Practice

2019/2020

Academic Year

ENG

Instruction in English

5

ECTS credits

Delivered at:

School of Sociology

Course type:

Elective course

When:

1 year, 1 module

Instructor

Almakaeva, Anna

Course Syllabus

Abstract

This course will discuss dynamics and reconfigurations of politics in the contemporary world. It will focus on controversies and debates between institutional politics (based on representation, centralisation, hierarchies, civism, etc.) and empirical enquiries of citizens discussing politics (through participation, decentralisation, networks, bifurcation, etc.). This will give the ground for a reflexion about a «new spirit» of politics and its difficulties in the contemporary world, especially in France and Russia. The course will be organized in two parts, dealing respectively with new forms of criticism and participation in society (I) and reconfigurations of the politics and of government (II).

Learning Objectives

• know seminal texts in political sociology
• construct productive research questions using approaches of political sociology
• distinguish and apply various social data to research questions in political sociology
• have skills to criticize and evaluate the quality of outcome of different studies in political sociology
• meaningfully construct research questions in political sociology

Expected Learning Outcomes

• know basic concepts and principles of political sociology
• know seminal texts in political sociology
• be able to construct productive research questions using approaches of political sociology
• be able to built comparative research designs in political sociology
• be able to distinguish and apply various social data to research questions in political sociology
• have the skill to criticize and evaluate the quality of outcome of different studies in political sociology
• have the skill to model comparative research designs in political sociology

Course Contents

• Introduction
  The first session will introduce the main concepts of comparative political sociology and lay out the course plan and requirements from student participation. We will collect and discuss different forms of political sociology and our understanding of it.
• Participative democracy
• Governance of Uncertainty
• Hegemonic contingencies
• Civil Disobedience
• Pragmatism and Power
• Elusive politics

Assessment Elements

• position paper 1
• position paper 2
• position paper 3
• position paper 4
• class presentation

Interim Assessment

• Interim assessment (1 module)
  0.2 * class presentation + 0.2 * position paper 1 + 0.2 * position paper 2 + 0.2 * position paper 3 + 0.2 * position paper 4

Bibliography

Recommended Core Bibliography

• A. Hickman, L., Barrena, S., Calcaterra, R. M., Colapietro, V., Egidi, R., Fabbrichesi, R., … Zalamea, F. (2017). Europe and American Pragmatism: Influences and Interactions. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=edsbas&AN=edsbas.C95B3D6F
• Byrnes, D. M. (2006). Can public policy be counter-hegemonic? Toward a pragmatics of “contingency” and “disruption.” TAMARA: Journal of Critical Postmodern Organization Science, 5(1/2), 73–89. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=bsu&AN=24327326
• Connolly, J. J. (2010). An Elusive Unity : Urban Democracy and Machine Politics in Industrializing America. Ithaca, N.Y.: Cornell University Press. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=edsebk&AN=1852763
• Daucé, F., Laruelle, M., Le Huérou, A., & Rousselet, K. (2015). Introduction: What Does it Mean to be a Patriot? Europe-Asia Studies, 67(1), 1. https://doi.org/10.1080/09668136.2014.986964
• Feng-Wen Chen, Meng-Xian Lin, & Ting Wang. (2018). Sustainable Resource Acquisition Path: A Dynamic Model of Embedded Entrepreneurial Network Governance under Uncertainty. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=edsbas&AN=edsbas.44CBF2E6
• Jane Mansbridge. (2015). On the Importance of Getting Things Done. Las Torres de Lucca, (1), 57. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=edsdoj&AN=edsdoj.6d3215633fa44ba7a5232a9126bba850
• Wolfe, J. (2017). Does Pragmatism Have A Theory of Power? Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=edsbas&AN=edsbas.8F420E5A

Recommended Additional Bibliography

• Bertrand, E., Daucé, F., Edele, M., Facon, I., Favarel-Garrigues, G., Galoumian, V., … Sieca-Kozlowski, E. (2009). NGOs and Power Ministries in Russia. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=edsbas&AN=edsbas.84D1C667
• Chateauraynaud, F. (2015). Sociologie pragmatique des transformations. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=edsbas&AN=edsbas.49601C2A
• Mansbridge, J., Hartz-Karp, J., Amengual, M., & Gastil, J. (2006). Norms of Deliberation: An Inductive Study. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=edsbas&AN=edsbas.54A0A53E
• Pidot, J. R. (2015). Governance and Uncertainty. Cardozo Law Review, 37(1), 113–184. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=asn&AN=110960723
• Principled Pragmatism and the ‘Inclusion Project’: Implementing a Gender Perspective in Peace Agreements. (2019). Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=edsbas&AN=edsbas.9C59F41E
• Sandra Laugier. (2015). Voice as Form of Life and Life Form. Nordic Wittgenstein Review, 63. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=edsdoj&AN=edsdoj.7b06af46fdf741458deb823f4bbe7aa8
• The Elusive politics of radical democratic philosophy. (2018). Contemporary Political Theory, 17(ppl 1), S43–S50. https://doi.org/10.1057/s41296-017-0098-y