SC901-7-AU-CO:
Topics in Contemporary Social Theory
PLEASE NOTE: This module is inactive. Visit the Module Directory to view modules and variants offered during the current academic year.
2023/24
Sociology and Criminology
Colchester Campus
Autumn
Postgraduate: Level 7
Inactive
Thursday 05 October 2023
Friday 15 December 2023
20
04 March 2021
Requisites for this module
(none)
(none)
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This module approaches social theory through a critical analysis of modernity. We will engage with a broad range of questions, such as: How did modernity shape the idea of the social? How do contemporary theoretical and empirical developments challenge the modern idea of the social, as well as of gender, power, bodies and identities?
This module aims to give an overview of some of the most important and significant debates in contemporary social theory, while encouraging students to think analytically about theoretical questions and illustrating ways of doing so.
The last part of the course will be oriented around the issue of modern consumer culture and the commodity aesthetic, as well as contemporary challenges to that paradigm, such as postcolonial commodity culture, the culture of copies and counterfeits and an emerging pirate or ‘shanzhai’ modernity. The module ends with a discussion on the future of social theory. Overall, the module engages with social and economic formations of the moderns and to critically think if we need alternative concepts for a more inclusionary politics in the twenty-first century.
No additional information available.
No information available.
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Venn, C. and Featherstone, M. (2006) ‘Modernity’,
Theory, Culture & Society, 23(2-3), pp. 457–465. Available at:
https://doi.org/10.1177/0263276406064829.
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Arvidsson, A. (2020) ‘Capitalism and the Commons’,
Theory, Culture & Society, 37(2), pp. 3–30. Available at:
https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/0263276419868838.
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Federici, S. (2010) ‘Feminism and the Politics of the Commons in an Era of Primitive Accumulation’, in K. Van Meter, C. Hughes, and S. Peace (eds) Uses of a Whirlwind: Movement, Movements, and Contemporary Radical Currents in the United States. Edinburgh, UK: AK Press, pp. 283–293.
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Gilroy, P. (1993) Black Atlantic - Modernity & Double Consciousness. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
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Utsa Patnaik and Prabhat Patnaik (2021) ‘The Drain of Wealth’,
Monthly Review, 72(8). Available at:
https://monthlyreview.org/2021/02/01/the-drain-of-wealth/.
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Bhambra, G. (2014) ‘Postcolonial and Decolonial Reconstructions’, in
Connected Sociologies. London: Bloomsbury, pp. 117–140. Available at:
https://www.bloomsburycollections.com/book/connected-sociologies/ch6-postcolonial-and-decolonial-reconstructions.
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Heidegger, M. (2013) Question Concerning Technology. Harper Perennial.
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Butler, J. (1999) ‘Revisiting Bodies and Pleasures’,
Theory, Culture & Society, 16(2), pp. 11–20. Available at:
https://doi.org/10.1177/02632769922050520.
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Boothroyd, D. (1996) ‘Labial feminism: Body against body with Luce Irigaray’, Parallax, 2(2), pp. 65–79.
The above list is indicative of the essential reading for the course.
The library makes provision for all reading list items, with digital provision where possible, and these resources are shared between students.
Further reading can be obtained from this module's
reading list.
Assessment items, weightings and deadlines
| Coursework / exam |
Description |
Deadline |
Coursework weighting |
Additional coursework information
Please note that assessment information is currently showing for 2018-19 and will be updated in August 2019
Exam format definitions
- Remote, open book: Your exam will take place remotely via an online learning platform. You may refer to any physical or electronic materials during the exam.
- In-person, open book: Your exam will take place on campus under invigilation. You may refer to any physical materials such as paper study notes or a textbook during the exam. Electronic devices may not be used in the exam.
- In-person, open book (restricted): The exam will take place on campus under invigilation. You may refer only to specific physical materials such as a named textbook during the exam. Permitted materials will be specified by your department. Electronic devices may not be used in the exam.
- In-person, closed book: The exam will take place on campus under invigilation. You may not refer to any physical materials or electronic devices during the exam. There may be times when a paper dictionary,
for example, may be permitted in an otherwise closed book exam. Any exceptions will be specified by your department.
Your department will provide further guidance before your exams.
Overall assessment
Reassessment
Module supervisor and teaching staff
Dr Maitrayee Deka, email: maitrayee.deka@essex.ac.uk.
Maitrayee Deka
Michele Hall, Graduate Administrator, Telephone 01206 873051, Email: socpgadm@essex.ac.uk
Yes
No
Yes
Prof Benjamin Bradford
University College London
Professor
Available via Moodle
No lecture recording information available for this module.
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