Content Description

Introduction

This module establishes the foundations for the rest of your degree programme. The title – Understanding Contemporary Society – is deliberately wide-ranging. The material encompasses three of the major disciplines in the School’s work: sociology, cultural studies, social policy. However our intention is not simply to deliver a body of knowledge for you to learn, revise and then repeat back to us in your assessed work. The overriding purpose is to encourage you to develop the independence of mind, the scholarly habits, and above all the passion to explore contemporary society with enthusiasm and rigour.

Aims

This module aims to equip students with:

Knowledge of a range of contemporary and historical debates within social analysis

An understanding of approaches to thinking about society in the disciplines of sociology, cultural studies and social policy

An understanding of the practical, political and ethical dimensions of social analysis

Skills in discovering and critically appraising relevant academic literature

Learning Outcomes

Students should develop a knowledge and understanding of key concepts and theoretical approaches that have been developed and

are developing within social analysis the distinctiveness of, and relationship between, the disciplines of

sociology, cultural studies and social policy the role of cultural processes and media forms in social life social diversity and inequality, and their impact on the lives of individuals

and groups

Students should develop the following intellectual skills

an ability to critically read and appraise theoretical and empirical material an ability to identify, comprehend and apply key theoretical frameworks in

the understanding of contemporary society an ability to critically evaluate academic research studies an ability to critically reflect on the role of social analysis in relation to

social policy debates

Students should develop the following Professional/practical skills

an ability to undertake and present work within the conventions of academic scholarship

an ability to communicate with clarity through the formal and specialised vocabulary of their field of study

Students should develop the following Transferable/ key skills

an ability to reflect on their own learning and experience through the tools of social analysis

an ability to gather, retrieve, and synthesise information from a range of print and electronic sources

an ability to manage their time and work independently

Overview of Lectures

Part One: Introduction

These opening sessions set out what distinguishes social and cultural analysis from other ways of understanding the social world. This section also introduces the range of information sources you will be expected to use in your research.

1. Understanding contemporary society2. Key socio-demographic factors3. Information Resources4. Social Research and Society

Part Two: Researching Contemporary Society

The following sessions are based on key sites of enquiry and the range of methods and strategies employed by researchers to make sense of familiar aspects of social life.

After two lectures introducing research methods, there will be three lectures using recent research studies to illuminate important social issues, and to give you a sense of how contemporary researchers produce their findings. The final lecture of the term will lead into your first assessed essay, a review of a recent academic journal article of your choice.

5. Research philosophies6. Images and objects as data7. Children as unpaid carers8. Understanding Celebrity 9. Globalisation, migration and anxiety10. Understanding social research

Part Three: Social change and modernity

Focuses on social change. The first few sessions give a brief introduction to key thinkers and their approaches to modernity.

11. Modernity and the state12. Marx and historical materialism13. Weber, religion and the rise of capitalism14. Adorno: critique of mass culture

Part Four: Social change and contemporary society

This part of the module continues the chronological exploration of how social thinkers have tried to understand social change. The lectures will explore the

concept of culture and its role in social change, feminism, globalisation, multiculturalism, and social inequality.

15. Culture and social change: Raymond Williams16. Feminism and feminist social theory17. Liquid modernity: Zygmunt Bauman18. Multiculturalism, identity and difference19. Social justice and social inequality

20. Module Revision

Form of Assessment:

After Lecture 5: Formative Essay (1,5000 words) After Lecture 10: Critical review of journal article (1,500 words) 20% After Lecture 17: Essay on modern society (3,000 works) 40% After Lecture 20: Essay on contemporary society (3,000 words) 40%

General Reading and Learning Strategies

We are keen that this course is both "post A Level" and also accessible to those without previous knowledge of social studies. Accordingly we are trying to introduce you to a wide range of readings and first hand research studies. We do not make the course dependent on a single textbook. You will be asked to read a variety of pieces each week that will be the basis of the discussions in the seminars. However, it would be advisable for you to have at least one textbook to guide your studies, particularly if you have not taken social studies before. The textbook we recommend is:

Macionis, J. and Plummer, K. (2008) Sociology: A Global Introduction, 4th

ed. Harlow: Pearson.

There are many other textbooks that could prove useful, for example:

Abbott, P., Wallace, C. and Tyler, M. (2005) Introduction to Sociology: Feminist Perspectives, 3rd ed. London: Routledge.

Bennett, T. and Watson, D. (eds.) (2002) Understanding Everyday Life, Oxford: Blackwell.

Cohen, R. and Kennedy, P. (2007) Global Sociology, 2nd ed. Basingstoke: Palgrave. Fulcher, J. and Scott, J, (2007) Sociology, 3rd ed. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Giddens, A. (2009) Sociology, 6th ed. Cambridge: PolityHamilton, P. and Thompson, K. (eds.) (2002) The Uses of Sociology, Oxford:

Blackwell.

The following books are not conventional textbooks, but contain interesting perspectives on the nature of social studies:

Bauman, Z. and May, T. (2001) Thinking Sociologically, 2nd ed. Blackwell: Oxford. Lemert, C. (2008) Social Things: An Introduction to the Sociological Life, 4th ed.

Lanham: Rowman and Littlefield.

You will quickly discover that social science has a distinctive vocabulary. You may find it useful to consult a sociology dictionary, for example:

Bruce, S. and Yearley, S. (2006) The Sage Dictionary of Sociology, London: Sage.Jary, D. and Jary, J. (2000) Collins Dictionary of Sociology, Glasgow: Harper Collins.

Scott, J. and Marshall, G. (2005) The Oxford Dictionary of Sociology, Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Turner, B. (2006) The Cambridge Dictionary of Sociology, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Preparing for Seminars

The weekly seminars with your personal tutor are an integral part of the module and attendance should be regarded as compulsory. Each week you will be asked to prepare some reading and come equipped to the seminar to speak on topics related to the reading and the lecture.

It is vital for your performance in the first year that you follow the guidance of your seminar leader (which may provide the seminar leader’s own perspective on the module and go beyond the reading list suggestions) and devote several hours each week to seminar preparation. The essays on this module require considerable preparation and reading around the subject. Failure to attend and failure to prepare as you go through the module will lead to lower marks.

In the seminar discussions themselves you should endeavour to:- listen with respect to others’ contributions- offer thoughts and discussion of your own grounded in the academic literature you have been recommended- use the time to good effect to ask for clarifications relating to the subject matter and forthcoming assessments. As your seminar leader will be marking your essays on this module, they should be the initial person to whom you should direct questions.

Assessment

1. Formative Essay (1,500 words)

EITHERi) Briefly outline the distinctive features of a sociological approach to understanding human life and then illustrate how a sociological approach would make sense of ONE of the following: your biography; your first few weeks at university; a contemporary social issue of your choice.

OR

ii) Drawing on relevant social statistics, briefly summarise the key socio-demographic trends in the UK and discuss their consequences for social policies.

In this essay we are looking for evidence that:

- you are able to write coherently and fashion your own arguments- you are able to consult and interpret a range of information sources- you are able to accurately reference your work both within the body of the essay, and in the list of references at the end of your essayAlthough the mark you are given for this piece will not count in your overall module mark, completing this assessment is a condition of passing the module and proceeding to the second year.

As this is your first university essay you may find it helpful to consult study skills texts, for example:

Creme, P. and Lea, M. (2008) Writing at University, 3rd ed. Maidenhead: Open University Press

Redman, P. (2006) Good essay writing: a social sciences guide, 3rd ed. London: Sage

Bonnett, A. (2008) How to Argue, 2nd ed. Harlow: Pearson

You should also consult the University’s skills website:www.nottingham.ac.uk/pathways

and above all follow the referencing guidelines in the School Student Handbook and Neville, C. (2007) The Complete Guide to Referencing and Avoiding Plagiarism, Maidenhead: Open University Press, noting that the School’s preferred system of referencing is the Harvard system.

2. Review of academic journal article (1, 500 words) 20% of the module mark

For this assessment you are required to write a review of up to 1, 500 words of a research study of your choice published in an academic journal within the following limits:

i) It should not be one of the five main articles discussed in lectures 5, 7, 8 or 9.

ii) You must choose to review a journal article which includes data collection by the researcher(s) (i.e. the researcher(s) gathered their own data, interview material, observations or images).

iii) You should not choose to review a piece using advanced statistical techniques unless you really understand log-linear regression, multivariate analysis and factor analysis.

iv) You should choose an article published since 2000 from one of these journals:

British Journal of SociologySociologySociological ReviewSociology of Health and IllnessAmerican Journal of SociologyAmerican Sociological ReviewCultural StudiesMedia, Culture and SocietyWork, Employment and SocietyJournal of Ethnic and Migration StudiesEthnic and Racial StudiesCritical Social PolicyJournal of Social PolicySocial Policy and AdministrationSocial Policy and SocietyBritish Journal of Social WorkEuropean Journal of Social WorkSocial Work and Society

Your review should contain the following:

- a brief summary of the research- an account of the research method(s) employed- an evaluation of the research and its findings which is more sophisticated than the simple assertion “the researcher was biased”.

You MUST submit a photocopy of the article you discuss along with your review

Some questions to consider in writing your review of the article:

Here are a few questions that might help you when writing this assessment. They are intended as guidance only, not all of these questions may be appropriate. You should NOT write your essay as a report which tries to answer these questions sequentially, they are intended to give you a starting point.

1. Why did you choose to study the piece in question?2. In which particular field of social research is the piece located?3. How does the research relate to past studies of the topic?4. What are the key concepts used by the researcher(s)?5. What are the sites of social investigation chosen?6. How were the areas/people investigated chosen?7. How representative are the cases studied by the researcher(s)?8. What is the stated purpose of the research?9. Can you identify central hypotheses?10. What research techniques are used in the study?11. What are the main forms of data presented?12. How is the data used by the researcher(s)?13. What are the central claims of the author(s)?14. Do you feel these claims are justified by the evidence presented in the study?15. Are the findings reliable? Are they valid?16. In what ways is the research distinctively social scientific?17. Are there any ethical issues to consider?18. Does the research have broader political objectives?19. Did the conclusions surprise you in any way?20. How, if at all, might the research have been improved?

3. First Assessed Essay on Modernity (3,000 words) (40% of the module mark)

For any two of the following thinkers, assess their intellectual contribution to the understanding of modern society:John Locke, Thomas Paine, Jean Jacques Rousseau, Immanuel Kant, Charles Darwin, Friedrich Nietzsche, Sigmund Freud, Karl Marx, Max Weber, Theodor Adorno.

4. Second Assessed Essay on contemporary society (3,000 words) (40% of the module mark)

For any two of the following thinkers, assess their intellectual contribution to the understanding of contemporary society:Raymond Williams, Heidi Hartmann, Iris Marion Young, Zygmunt Bauman, Stuart Hall, Paul Gilroy, John Rawls, David Miller, Martha Nussbaum, Amartya Sen

Considerations for BOTH the 3,000 word assessed essays:

- Think carefully about your choice of thinkers: are there any connections between them?- We have designed the essays to encourage you to develop the skill of reading thinkers in their own words. Initially this might be difficult, so you should support your reading by looking at general social studies textbooks and secondary commentaries on the thinkers you choose to write about.- It is important for you to show evidence of having read and understood some of the first hand works written by the thinkers you address in your essay.- Although the reading list looks long, it only shows a fraction of the sources that are of potential relevance to support your essay writing. Students often panic when an item on the reading list is out on loan. You should remember there are likely to be other sources nearby on the shelves and available electronically, particularly in academic journal articles, that might help you. Part of the challenge of university study is finding sources your teachers haven’t encountered.- Essays that depend on vague internet sources and wikipedia are extremely unlikely to have the depth and reliability that university assessed work requires. Always consider the scholarly authority (or lack of it) of the sources you are using. Last year several students were awarded marks of zero for copying material from inappropriate sources.- You should ensure that your essay develops a logical argument, follows standard referencing conventions, and has a full bibliography.

Understanding Contemporary SocietyLecture and Seminar Programme

Lecture 1 Understanding contemporary society

This lecture explores what makes social scientific knowledge distinctive. It will address the difference between social science and common sense, define what the American sociologist C. Wright Mills termed “the sociological imagination”, and encourage students to think about their experiences at university in social scientific terms.

Seminar Reading and Preparation

- Read the brief extracts below from C. Wright Mills on the sociological imagination, the first chapter of Bauman and May and the introductory chapter of any sociology textbook. How might you apply these ideas to your own life and to social issues that concern you? How might you begin to understand your first week at university in sociological terms? What does it mean to “think sociologically”? What distinguishes social science from common sense?

Further reading

Wright Mills, C. (1970) [1959] The Sociological Imagination, Harmondsworth: Penguin.

Bauman, Z. and May, T. (2001) Thinking Sociologically, 2nd ed. Blackwell: Oxford. (Ch. 1)

Berger, P. (1966) Invitation to Sociology, Harmondsworth: Penguin.

Abercrombie, N. (2004) Sociology, Cambridge: Polity Press.Back, L. (2007) The Art of Listening, Oxford: Berg.Bauman, Z. (2000) ‘Sociological Enlightenment – For Whom, About What?’,

Theory, Culture and Society, Vol. 17, No. 2, pp. 71-82.Fuller, S. (2006) The New Sociological Imagination, London: Sage.Highmore, B. (2009) A Passion for Cultural Studies, Basingstoke: Palgrave

MacmillanJenkins, R. (2002) Foundations of Sociology, Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan

The January assessment requires you to review an academic journal article, so it would be a good idea early on to begin to learn how to find and read academic journal articles. This piece will give you an idea of how sociologists take an everyday phenomenon and use sociological theory and methods to make sense of it. Journal articles like this are available in hard copy in the library, but also electronically via the E-Library Gateway.

Green, E. and Singleton, C. (2009) “Mobile connections: an exploration of the place of mobile phones in friendship relations”, Sociological Review, Vol. 57, No. 1, pp. 125 – 144

Quotations from C. Wright Mills (1970) [1959] The Sociological Imagination, Harmondsworth: Penguin

1. The sociological imagination defined

“The sociological imagination enables its possessor to understand the larger historical scene in terms of its meaning for the inner life and the external career of a variety of individuals” (Wright Mills 1970: 11).

“The first fruit of this imagination – and the first lessons of the social science that embodies it – is the idea that the individual can understand his own experience and gauge his own fate only by locating himself within his period, that he can know his own chances in life only by becoming aware of those all individuals in his circumstances” (Wright Mills 1970: 12).

“No social study that does not come back to the problems of biography, of history, and of their intersections within a society, has completed its intellectual journey” (Wright Mills 1970: 12).

2. The distinction between personal troubles and public issues

“Perhaps the most fruitful distinction with which the sociological imagination works is between ‘the personal troubles of milieu’ and ‘the public issues of social structure’. This distinction is an essential too of the sociological imagination and a feature of all classic work in social science. Troubles occur within the character of the individual and within the range of his immediate relations with others; they have to do with his self and with those limited areas of social life of which he is directly and personally aware (…) Issues have to do with matters that transcend these local environments of the individual and the range of his inner life. They have to do with the organization of many such milieux into the institutions of a historical society as a whole, with the ways in which various milieux overlap and interpenetrate to form the larger structure of social and historical life (…) In these terms, consider unemployment. When, in a city of 100,000 only one man is unemployed, that is his personal trouble (…) But when in a nation of 50 million employees, 15 million men are unemployed, that is an issue, and we may not hope to find its solution within the range of opportunities open to any one individual. The very structure of opportunities has collapsed. Both the correct statement of the problem and the range of possible solutions require us to consider the economic and political institutions of the society, and not merely the personal situation and character of a scatter of individuals” (Wright Mills 1970: 14-15).

Lecture 2 Key Socio-demographic factors in UK Society

The aim of this lecture is to provide students with an outline of the key social and demographic factors in the UK and also to provide an assessment of their significance. The key point of the lecture is to demonstrate that policy and sociological analysis cannot be divorced from population characteristics.

Seminar Reading and Preparation

Read the annual publication summarising social trends in Britain, Social Trends:Office for National Statistics (2009) Social Trends, Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan. Available at:www.statistics.gov.uk/socialtrends39

Also see:

National Statistics Online (2008) “More detailed topics for population and migration”.Available at:www.statistics.gov.uk/cci/nscl.asp?id=7588

National Statistics Online (2008) Annual Abstract of Statistics. Available atwww.statistics.gov.uk/statbase/Product.asp?vlnk=94&Pos=&ColRank=1&Rank=422

UK Data Archive, available at:www.data-archive.ac.uk/

An example of how statistics shape policy can be found at Cheshire County Council’s web site:www.cheshire.gov.uk/census

Questions for the seminar

- What are the most important socio-demographic trends in the UK and why?- To what extent are social policy and public services shaped by socio-demographic trends?

Further Reading

Halsey, A. & Webb J., (2000) Twentieth Century British Social Trends, Basingstoke: Macmillan.

Thomas, B. and Dorling, D. (2007) Identity in Britain, Bristol: Policy Press Briscoe, S. (2005) Britain in Numbers, London: Methuen Dorling, D. et al (2007) Poverty, wealth and place in Britain, 1968-2005, Bristol:

Policy PressMacbeth, H. & Collinson, P., (2002) Human Population Dynamics: Cross-

disciplinary perspectives. (Available as an eBook via the University Library online catalogue).

Lecture 3 Beyond the textbook: Finding, interpreting and referencing information

This lecture will explore the vast range of information sources at the disposal of university students and researchers today. In the age of the Internet, how can we separate trustworthy material from the unreliable? What kinds of material do researchers publish? What are academic journals, and why should you read them? What is peer review and does it ensure published academic work is rigorous?

The lecture and the seminar will also address the increasingly vexed question of plagiarism. With so much research material freely available, why should students resist the temptation to pass off others’ work as their own? What are the conventions by which researchers acknowledge their use of sources and the ideas influencing their work? How should you use these in your own assessed work at university?

Seminar Preparation

For the seminar, as guided by your seminar leader, you should:

- prepare a bibliography of the source materials you are reading for your formative essay using a standard referencing format (we advise the Harvard system)- find at least three recent academic journal articles about a topic or issue that interests you, list them in a standard referencing format, and along with your bibliography take them to the seminar to be checked for accuracy.- consider what plagiarism is, and how you might avoid being accused of it in your own work at university. You can do this by carefully reading the Academic Integrity pages at the University of Nottingham’s Staff and Educational Development Unit web site, and taking the online tutorials in Academic Integrity and Plagiarism:

www.nottingham.ac.uk/sedu/academic-integrity/student

Further Reading

Neville, C (2007) The Complete Guide to Referencing and Avoiding Plagiarism, Maidenhead: Open University Press. (This text is essential for learning to reference)

O’Dochaartaig, N. (2007) Internet Research Skills, London: Sage.

Brabazon, T. (2007) The University of Google: Education in the (post) information age, Aldershot: Ashgate

Keen, A. (2008) The Cult of the Amateur: how blogs, MySpace, YouTube, and the rest of today’s user-generated media are destroying our economy, our culture, and our values, New York: Doubleday

Pears, R. and Shields, G. (2005) Cite them Right: the essential guide to referencing and plagiarism, Newcastle: Pear Tree Books

Rumsey, S. (2008) How to Find Information, 2nd ed. Maidenhead: Open University Press

The university also has a study skills website: www.nottingham.ac.uk/pathways

Lecture 4 October 19th Social Research and Society

This lecture aims to provide an introduction to the place of research in society. It draws upon the lecturer's experience and research in describing what researchers do, and how they try to use argument and evidence to influence change in society. In this case the lecture draws upon some research exploring the management of mental illness in primary care.

Seminar Reading

Shaw, I. (2004) "Doctors, Dirty work Patients and `Revolving Doors’ ", Qualitative Health Research, Vol. 14, No. 8, pp. 1032-1045

See also:

Shaw, I., Clegg Smith, K., Middleton, H. and Woodward, L. (2005) "A Letter of Consequence: Referral Letters From General Practitioners to Secondary Mental Health Services", Qualitative Health Research, Vol. 15, No. 1, pp. 116-128.

Further Reading

As students of contemporary society, it is important for you to have a sense of the role social research plays in influencing policy, politics and wider discussion about the nature of society. There are a number of debates about the purpose of social science research which it would be useful to be aware of in advance of the article review assessment due in January

A basic source is the website of the Economic and Social Research Council, the government-funded body which finances much of the social research undertaken by academics at UK universities. The website makes the case for the importance of social research: www.esrc.ac.uk.

An overview of the role of research in society can be found in Silverman, D. (1998) “Research and Social Policy” in C. Seale (Ed.) Researching Society and Culture, London: Sage

One of the major British academic journals, the British Journal of Sociology, regularly debates the place of social research in society. Examples include recent debates about “public sociology”:

Burawoy, M. (2005) "For Public Sociology", British Journal of Sociology, Vol. 56, No. 2, pp. 259-294 and the responses in the British Journal of Sociology, Vol. 56, No. 3, Sept. 2005.

This article from the journal calls for social studies to attend to key policy issues:Lander, H., Brown, P. and Halsey, A. (2004) “Sociology and Political Arithmetic: Some Principles of a New Policy Science”, British Journal of Sociology, Vol. 55, No. 1, pp. 3-22

See also the journal Sociology, Vol. 41, No. 5, special issue on sociology and its public face(s).

Lecture 5 Research philosophies and traditions: quantitative and qualitative

This lecture will outline the two main traditions in social science research: the scientific and the humanistic. These traditions draw on philosophical frameworks: positivism and interpretivism, and two of their key sources are the early twentieth century thinkers Emile Durkheim and Max Weber.The lecture will explore the practical manifestations of these ideas in social research: quantitative and qualitative research.

Seminar Reading and Preparation

First, read any of the major sociology textbooks, or the relevant parts of the following, on the differences between quantitative and qualitative research:

Bryman, A. (2008) Social Research Methods, 3rd ed. Oxford: Oxford University Press (Ch. 6 ‘The nature of quantitative research’ and Ch. 16 ‘The nature of qualitative research’).

Flick, U. (2009) An Introduction to Qualitative Research, 4th ed. London: Sage.

Grix, J. (2004) The Foundations of Research, Basingstoke: Palgrave. Macmillan (Ch. 4 ‘The Building Blocks of Research’, Ch. 5 ‘Introducing the Key Research Paradigms’ and Ch. 7 ‘Introducing Research Methods’).

Kalof, L., Dan, A. and Dietz, T. (2008) Essentials of Social Research, Maidenhead: Open University Press

O’ Connell Davidson, J. and Layder, D. (1994) Methods, Sex and Madness, London: Routledge.

Punch, K. (2005) Introduction to Social Research, 2nd ed. London: Sage. Seale, C. (ed.) (2004) Researching Society and Culture, 2nd ed. London: Sage.

Second, as guided by your seminar leader, read ONE of the following recent journal articles in the light of your general reading about quantitative and qualitative research:

Holdsworth, C. (2006) ‘ “Don’t you think you’re missing out, living at home?” Student experiences and residential transitions’, Sociological Review, Vol. 54, No. 3, pp. 495-519.

Crossley, N. (2008) “Social Networks and Student Activism; on the politicising effect of campus connections”, Sociological Review, Vol. 56, No. 1, pp. 18-38.

Nayak, A. (2006) ‘Displaced masculinities: Chavs, Youths and Class in the Post-industrial City’, Sociology, Vol. 40, No.5, pp. 813-831.

Evans, S. (2009) “In a Different Place: Working-class Girls and Higher Education”, Sociology, Vol. 43, No. 2, 340-355.

- What are the strengths and weaknesses of the piece?- What marks it out as a piece of social research?- What philosophical assumptions underlie the piece?- What does the researcher try to explain?- Can you make sense of their work through variable analysis?- How does the author convey the experiences being studied?

More advanced reading on the philosophy of social science:

Benton, T. and Craib, I. (2001) Philosophy of Social Science, Basingstoke: Palgrave.

Blaikie N. (2007) Approaches to Social Enquiry, 2nd ed. Cambridge: Polity.Bishop, R. (2007) The Philosophy of the Social Sciences, London: Continuum.Bryman, A. (1988) Quantity and Quality in Social Research, London: Unwin

Hyman.Smith, M. (1998) Social Science in Question, London: Sage.Williams, M. and May, T. (2000) Introduction to the Philosophy of Social Research,

London: Routledge.

Classic statements of scientific sociological and interpretive positions:

Durkheim, E. (1982) [1895] The Rules of Sociological Method, London: Macmillan.Durkheim, E. (2006) [1897] On Suicide, London: Penguin.

Weber, M. (1968) Economy and Society, Vol. 1, New York: Free Press (Ch. 1 ‘The Definition of Sociology and Of Social Action’).

Weber, M. (1949) The Methodology of the Social Sciences, New York: Free Press.

Lecture 6 Researching Visual and Material Culture: Images and Objects as Data

The previous lecture illustrated the importance of numbers and words as data used by social researchers to describe human life. In recent decades two new approaches have broadened the range of materials researchers work with to make sense of social and cultural life. Visual culture studies highlight the importance of images, material culture studies focus on the objects through which humans relate to each other and to the wider world. The lecture will outline these approaches and underline the importance for social research of noticing the everyday, the commonplace and the taken for granted.

Seminar Reading and Preparation

Extracts from:

Rose, G. (2007) Visual Methodologies, 2nd ed. London: Sage.

Woodward, I. (2007) Understanding Material Culture, London: Sage.

In addition, your seminar leader may ask you to read one of the papers by Knowles or Hurdley listed below.

As guided by your seminar leader, bring to the class either:- An image you have taken with a camera/found in the media - An object from your everyday life

Drawing on the seminar readings, analyse the image or object’s social and cultural significance.- How does the object or image tell a story about contemporary social life?- Does the object or image represent social categories and emphasise cultural difference?- What is the usual context in which the image or object operates? How does that context influence the meanings it produces?

Further reading on Visual Cultural Analysis

Knowles, C. (2006) “Seeing race through the lens”, Ethnic and Racial Studies, Vol. 29, No. 3, pp. 512-529

Back, L. (2007) “Listening with the Eye” in The Art of Listening, Oxford: Berg (Ch. 4).

Banks, M. (2001) Visual Methods in Social Research, London: Sage.Berger, J. (1972) Ways of Seeing, London: PenguinEmmison, P. and Smith, P. (2000) Researching the Visual, London: Sage.Edensor, T. and Millington, S. (2009) “Illuminations, Class Identities and the

Contested Landscapes of Christmas”, Sociology, Vol. 43, No. 1, pp. 103-121Evans, J. and Hall, S. (1999) Visual Culture: the reader, London: Sage.Howells, R. and Matson, R. (eds.) (2009) Using Visual Evidence, Maidenhead:

Open University PressKnowles, C. and Sweetman, P. (eds.) (2004) Picturing the Social Landscape: Visual

Methods and the Sociological Imagination, London: Routledge. Mirzoeff, N. (2009) An Introduction to Visual Culture, 2nd ed. Abingdon: Routledge. Pink, S. (2006) Doing Visual Ethnography, 2nd ed. London: Sage.Schirato, T and Webb, J. (2004) Understanding the Visual, London: Sage.Stanczak, G. (Ed.) (2007) Visual Research Methods, Thousand Oaks: Sage.

Sturken, M. and Cartwright, L. (2001) Practices of Looking, Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Twine, F. (2006) “Visual Ethnography and social theory: Family photos as archives of interracial intimacies”, Ethnic and Racial Studies, Vol. 29, No. 3, pp. 487-511

See also the special issue section, ‘Working Visually’, in the online journal Sociological Research Online (2005), Volume 10, Issue 1 available at:www.socresonline.org.uk/10/1/contents.html

Further reading on Material Culture Studies

Hurdley, R. (2006) ‘Dismantling Mantelpieces: Narrating Identities and Materialising Culture in the Home’, Sociology, Vol. 40, No. 4, pp. 717-733.

Appadurai, A. (1986) The Social Life of Things, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Benzecri, C. (2008) “Azul y Oro: The Many Social Lives of a Football Jersey”, Theory, Culture and Society, Vol. 25, No. 1, pp. 49-76

Berger, A. (2009) What Objects Mean: An Introduction to Material Culture, Walnut Creek: Left Coast Press

Buchli, V. (2003) The Material Culture Reader, Oxford: Berg.Candlin, F. and Guins, R. (eds.) (2009) The Object Reader, Abingdon: Routledge Dant, T. (1999) Material Culture in the Social World, Maidenhead: Open University

Press.Dant, T. (2004) Materiality and Society, Maidenhead: Open University Press.Miller, D. (1997) Material Cultures: why some things matter, London: UCL Press.Miller, D (2001) Home Possessions: Material Culture Behind Closed Doors, Oxford:

Berg.Miller, D. (2008) The Comfort of Things, Cambridge: Polity PressTilley, C. et al. (eds.) (2006) Handbook of Material Culture, London: Sage.Tolia Kelly, D. (2004) ‘Locating processes of identification: studying the

precipitates of re-memory through artefacts in the British Asian home’, Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers, Vol. 29, No. 3, pp. 314-329.

Turkle, S. (2007) Evocative Objects, Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press

Lecture 7 ‘Children’s unpaid caring roles in the family: What we know and how we know it’.

This is the first of three lectures where we take a topic, and consider how to explore it through the concepts and techniques of social studies. The aim is to give you examples of how researchers have analysed a topic area, with a view to preparing you for the assessment.

How can we understand children’s unpaid (informal) caring roles in contemporary societies? How have researchers in the UK and around the world generated reliable data about this hidden group of children? What is there to be learnt from making global comparisons? These are three of the main themes of this lecture.

This lecture examines the extent and nature of caring amongst children in the UK, and compares this with what we know about young carers in other countries, notably the USA, Australia and Africa. It also looks at the social policy responses to young carers in these different countries and explains why, despite the similarities in what children do across nations, awareness and policy responses globally are very different.

Seminar Reading and Preparation

Becker, S. (2007) ‘Global perspectives on children’s unpaid caregiving in the family: Research and policy on ‘young carers’ in the UK, Australia, the United States and Sub-Saharan Africa’, Global Social Policy, Vol. 7, No. 1, pp. 23-50.

The lecture uses this article to examine these themes. It is critical that students read the article BEFORE attending the lecture. The article will also be the basis of the seminar discussion.

- Think about your own family. What would happen if someone became seriously ill or disabled? Whose responsibility would it be to look after them? Why? How might this affect all members of your family?- Why do children become unpaid carers in contemporary society?- List the tasks and responsibilities that young carers have to undertake in their families. How do these differ between countries and cultures?- Is it acceptable for adults to be carers? Is it acceptable for children to be carers? Why?- How have researchers been able to make a hidden, ‘private problem’, into a public, ‘social issue’?

Further reading

Aldridge, J. (2004) ‘Research informing policy: the case of young carers’, in Becker, S. and Bryman, A. (eds) Understanding Research for Social Policy and Practice, Bristol: The Policy Press, pp. 22-26.

Aldridge, J. and Becker, S. (1999) ‘Children as carers: the impact of parental illness and disability on children’s caring roles’, Journal of Family Therapy, Vol. 21, No. 3, pp. 303-20.

Aldridge, J. and Becker, S. (2003) Children Caring for Parents with Mental Illness: Perspectives of Young Carers, Parents and Professionals, Bristol: The Policy Press.

Becker, S., Aldridge, J. and Dearden, C. (1998) Young Carers and Their Families, Oxford: Blackwell Science.

Bibby, A. and Becker, S. (2000) Young Carers in Their Own Words, London: Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation.

Cree, V. (2003b) ‘Worries and problems of young carers: issues for mental health’, Child and Family Social Work, Vol. 8, No. 4, pp. 301-309.

Dearden, C. and Becker, S. (2000) Growing Up Caring: Vulnerability and Transition to Adulthood - Young Carers’ Experiences, Leicester: Youth Work Press for the Joseph Rowntree Foundation.

Dearden, C. and Becker, S. (2004) Young Carers in the UK: The 2004 Report, London: Carers UK.

Available at www.carersuk.org/Policyandpractice/PolicyResources/Research/YoungcarersReport2004.pdf

Dearden, C. and Becker, S. (2005) ‘Growing up caring: young carers and vulnerability to social exclusion’, in Barry, M. (ed.) Youth Policy and Social Inclusion: Critical Debates with Young People, London: Routledge, pp. 251-269.

Evans, R. and Becker, S. (2009) Children Caring for Parents with HIV and AIDS: Global Issues and Policy Responses, Bristol: Policy Press

Haugen, G. (2007) “Caring children: exploring care in post-divorce families”, Sociological Review, Vol 55, No. 4, pp. 653-670

HM Government (1999) Caring About Carers – A National Strategy for Carers, London: Department of Health.

Jones, A., Jeyasingham, D. and Rajasooriya, S. (2002) Invisible Families: The Strengths and Needs of Black Families in which Young People have Caring Responsibilities, York: Joseph Rowntree Foundation.

Newman, T. (2002) ‘“Young carers” and disabled parents: time for a change of direction?’, Disability and Society, Vol. 17, No. 6, pp. 613-625.

Robson, E. and Ansell, N. (2000) ‘Young carers in Southern Africa’, in Holloway, S. L. and Valentine, G. (eds.) Children’s Geographies: Playing, Living, Learning, London: Routledge, pp. 174-193.

Shah, R. and Hatton, C. (1999) Caring Alone: Young Carers in South Asian Communities, Illford: Barnardos.

Thomas, N., Stainton, T., Jackson, S., Cheung, W.Y., Doubtfire, S. and Webb, A. (2003) ‘“Your friends don’t understand”: Invisibility and unmet need in

the lives of “young carers”’, Child and Family Social Work, Vol. 8, No. 1, pp. 35-46.

Lecture 8 Understanding Celebrity Culture

This lecture explores the cultural significance of celebrity in the context of modern consumer societies. In particular the lecture seeks to explore whether celebrity has a function beyond the reproduction of the economic system, and how it might be said to contribute to a wider culture of meaning, reflection and criticism more generally.

Seminar Reading and Preparation

Turner, G. (2004) Understanding Celebrity, London, Sage, Ch.5.

- Which if any celebrities do you relate to?- How does your relationship to celebrities differ from face to face relationships? Are the former somehow less real and authentic than the latter? (This distinction between "para social" and social relationships is one debate in the Turner chapter).

- How do celebrities "work", why are they seemingly so important today?- Are there differences between male and female celebrities?- What, if anything, do you remember about the death of Princess Diana in 1997?

- How do celebrities contribute to the work and play of identity construction?- How should we think sociologically about celebrities? How would these ideas make sense of the recent death of Michael Jackson?

Further Reading

Cashmore, E. (2006) Celebrity Culture, London: Routledge.Cavicchi, D. (1998) Tramps Like Us: Music and Meaning among Springsteen Fans,

Oxford: Oxford University Press (available as an eBook via the University online Library catalogue).

Elliott, A. (1999) The Mourning of John Lennon, Berkeley: University of California Press.

Evans, J. and Hesmondhalgh, D. (eds.) (2005) Understanding Media: Inside Celebrity, Maidenhead: Open University Press.

Giroux, H. (1999) The Mouse that Roared, Maryland, Rowman and Littlefield.Hermes, J. (1999) ‘Media figures in identity construction’ in P. Alasuutari (ed.)

Rethinking the Media Audience, London: Sage.Kear, A. and Steinberg, D. (1999) Mourning Diana, London: Routledge. (available

as an eBook via the online Library catalogue)Marshall, P. (ed.) (2006) The Celebrity Culture Reader, London: Routledge.

McGuigan, J. (2000) ‘British Identity and the People’s Princess’, Sociological Review, Vol. 48, No. 1, pp. 1-18.

McNamara, K. (2008) ‘Publicising Private Lives: Celebrities, Image control and the reconfiguration of public space’, Social and Cultural Geography, Vol. 10, No. 1, pp. 9-23

Rojek, C. (2001) Celebrity, London: Reaktion.Ruddock, A. (2007) Investigating Audiences, London: SageStevenson, N. (2006) David Bowie: Fame, sound and Vision, Cambridge: Polity

Press.

Lecture 9 Globalisation, forced migration, nationalism and anxiety

This lecture focuses on a recent study of anti-asylum seeker sentiments and mobilisation in an English seaside suburb. The article in question is contextualised with reference to sociological literature on globalisation, forced migration, as well as some of the political (nationalist) reactions in relatively stable and affluent parts of the world. Among the underlying questions to be addressed is the challenge of how to interpret xenophobia in 'Fortress Europe'.

Seminar Reading:

Grillo, R. (2005) ‘ “Saltdean can't cope”: Protests against asylum-seekers in an English seaside suburb’, Ethnic and Racial Studies, Vol. 28, No. 2, pp. 235-260.

Seminar preparation

For this seminar you should prepare by:- writing a detailed summary of Ralph Grillo's article;- researching definitions of the following terms: asylum seekers, refugees, racism, xenophobia, class.- reflecting on your response to, and experiences of, migration.

Further Reading:

Anderson, B. (1991) Imagined Communities, London: Verso.Bulmer, M. and Solomos, J. (2009) ‘Migration: policies, practices, activism’, Ethnic

and Racial Studies, Vol. 31, No. 1, pp. 1-4Castles, S. (2003) ‘Towards a sociology of forced migration and social

transformations’, Sociology, Vol. 37, No. 1, pp. 13-34.Castles, S. (2007) ‘Twenty First Century Migration as a Challenge to Sociology’,

Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, Vol. 33, No. 3, pp. 351-71Delanty, G. (2008) ‘Fear of others: Social Exclusion and the European Crisis of

Solidarity’, Social Policy and Administration, Vol. 42, No. 6, pp. 676-690Eriksen, T.H. (2002) Ethnicity and Nationalism, London: Pluto.Grillo, R. (2007) ‘An excess of alterity? Debating difference in a multicultural

society’, Ethnic and Racial Studies, Vol. 30, No. 6, pp. 978-98Holloway, S. (2005) ‘Articulating Otherness? White rural residents talk about

Gypsy travellers’, Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers, Vol. 30, No. 3, pp. 351-367.

Hubbard, P. (2005) ‘Accommodating Otherness: anti-asylum centre protest and the maintenance of white privilege’, Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers, Vol. 30, No. 1, pp. 52-65.

Huysmans, J. (2006) The politics of insecurity: fear, migration and asylum in the EU, Abingdon: Routledge.

Jenkins, R. (1997) Rethinking Ethnicity, London: Sage.McCrone, D. (1998) The Sociology of Nationalism, London: Routledge.

McDowell, L. (2009) ‘Old and New European Economic Migrants: Whiteness and Managed Migration Policies’, Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, Vol. 35, No. 1, pp. 19-36

Richmond, A. (2002) ‘Globalization: implications for immigrants and refugees’, Ethnic and Racial Studies, Vol. 25, No. 5, pp. 707-727.

Solomos, J. and Back, L. (1996) Racism and Society, Basingstoke: Macmillan Press.Vertovec, S. (2009) Transnationalism, Abingdon: Routledge

Lecture 10 Understanding social research: how researchers use argument and evidence

The lecture will help prepare you for your assessed critical review of an academic journal article by outlining some of the main concepts and approaches used in evaluating social science research.

Background Reading

Plano Clark, V. and Creswell, J. (2009) Understanding Research: A Consumer’s Guide, Boston: Merrill

Black, T. (1993) Evaluating Social Science Research, London: Sage.Devine, F. and Heath, S (1999) Sociological Research Methods in Context,

Basingstoke: Palgrave.Hammersley, M. (1998) Reading Ethnographic Research, Harlow: Pearson.Israel, M. and Hay, I. (2006) Research Ethics for Social Scientists, London: Sage.Seale, C. (1999) The Quality of Qualitative Research, London: Sage.Williams, M. (2001) Making Sense of Social Research, London: Sage.

Lecture 11 Modernity and the state

This lecture will give a broad overview of what we mean by modernity and modern society in terms of the main religious, economic, political and cultural evolutions that occurred from the 17th to the 20th centuries. It will also summarise the extent to which the state developed as a means of managing and ordering these changes.

Seminar Reading and Preparation

Berman, M. (1982) ‘Introduction: Modernity - Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow’, from All That Is Solid Melts Into Air, London: Verso.

Kant, I. (1784) ‘What is Enlightenment?’ from P. Hyland (Ed.) (2003) The Enlightenment: a sourcebook and reader, London: Routledge

Given the many social changes to which the concept ‘modernity’ is attached does it make any sense to place them under a single descriptive heading at all?

Further Reading

This text compiles many of the key readings in modern thought, and provides some cultural and intellectual context:Matthews, S. (Ed.) 2008 Modernism: A Sourcebook, Basingstoke: Palgrave

Adams, J., Clemens, E. & Orloff, A. (eds.) (2005) Remaking Modernity, Durham, NC & London: Duke University Press.

Bauman, Z. (1991) Modernity and Ambivalence, Cambridge: Polity.

Bauman, Z. (2000) Liquid Modernity, Cambridge: Polity Press.Berman, M. (1982) All that is Solid Melts into Air, London: Verso. Bhambra, G. (2008) Rethinking Modernity: Postcolonialism and the Sociological

Imagination, Basingstoke: PalgraveDelanty, G. (2000) Modernity and Postmodernity, London: Sage.Giddens, A. (1998) Conversations with Giddens, interviewed by C. Pierson,

Cambridge: Polity.Hall, S. & Gieben, B. (eds.) (1992) Formations of Modernity, Cambridge: Polity.Lemert, C. (2005) Postmodernism is Not What You Think, 2nd ed. Boulder, Co. &

London: Paradigm. Sayer, D. (1991) Capitalism and Modernity, London: Routledge. Touraine, A. (1995) Critique of Modernity, Oxford: Blackwell.

A selection of key texts in the development of modern thought:

Locke, J. (1988) [1690] Two treatises of government, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Rousseau, J.J. (1968) [1762] The Social Contract, Harmondsworth: PenguinPaine, T. (1984) [1791] Rights of Man, Harmondsworth: Penguin. Darwin, C. (2003) [1859] On the origin of species by means of natural selection,

Peterborough, Ont.: Broadview Press.Freud, S. (2004) [1930] Civilization and its discontents, London: Penguin

Lecture 12 Marx: an introduction to historical materialism

Few thinkers are as well known but little understood as Karl Marx. In the aftermath of the credit crunch and the global financial crisis does the work of capitalism’s foremost critic have renewed relevance? The lecture will focus on Marx’s analysis of social change, and his historical materialist approach, summarising Marx’s ideas and arguing for his ongoing relevance.

Seminar Reading and Preparation

Marx, K. and Engels, F. (1848) The Communist ManifestoMarx, K. and Engels, F. (1845) The German IdeologyMarx, K. (1859) Preface to a Contribution to a Critique of Political Economy

All available online from www.marxists.org and in numerous collections of Marx’s writings, for example:

Antonio, R. (2003) Marx and modernity: key readings and commentary, Malden, MA: Blackwell.

McIntosh, I. (ed.) (1997) Classical Sociological Theory: A Reader, Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press.

McLellan, D. (ed.) (2000) Karl Marx: Selected Writings, 2nd ed. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Pierson, C. (ed.) (1997) The Marx Reader, Cambridge: Polity Press.

From your reading of Marx consider the following questions:

- what does Marx see as the driving force of social change?- what attitude does Marx have towards the bourgeoisie?- what does Marx mean by the forces of production and the relations of production?- what is the central feature of Marx’s materialist approach?

Further Reading

Barnett, V. (2009) Marx, Abingdon: RoutledgeBerman, M. (1999) Adventures in Marxism, London: Verso.Carver, T. (1991) The Cambridge Companion to Marx, Cambridge: Cambridge

University Press.Carver, T. (1998) The Postmodern Marx, Manchester: Manchester University Press.Cohen, G. (2000) Karl Marx’s Theory of History: A Defence, Oxford: Oxford

University Press.Collier, A. (2008) Marx: a beginner’s guide, Oxford: OneworldElster, J. (1986) An Introduction to Karl Marx, Cambridge: Cambridge University

Press. Harvey, D. (1989) The Condition of Postmodernity, Blackwell: Oxford. Ch. 5 (a

clear statement of Marx's theory of capitalism)Osborne, P. (2005) How to Read Marx, London: Granta.Rockmore, T. (2002) Marx after Marxism: The Philosophy of Karl Marx, Oxford:

Blackwell.Wheen, F. (2000) Karl Marx, London: Fourth Estate.Wolff, J. (2002) Why Read Marx Today? Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Lecture 13 Weber: religion and the spirit of capitalism

The German thinker Max Weber is often contrasted with Karl Marx. Weber offers a somewhat different emphasis in his historical account of why modern capitalism developed in Western Europe rather than East or South Asia. The lecture will explore Weber’s famous text, The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism, drawing out the importance of religious ideas for social change, and also Weber’s discussion of rationalization and its role in modernity.

Seminar Reading and Preparation

Weber, M. (2001) [1920 and 1904-5] The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism, London: Routledge (extracts) and Gerth, H. and C. Mills (eds.) (1948) From Max Weber, London: Routledge (extracts on bureaucracy)

1. The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism

This text is widely regarded as a sociological classic, and from the extracts you should try to establish:- what Weber means by the spirit of capitalism as illustrated by his quotations from Benjamin Franklin- what is the Protestant Ethic and what applicability does it have to today's society?- what Weber means by his widely quoted metaphor of the "iron cage" towards the end of the Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism

Think more broadly about how Weber's view of social change compares with that of Marx and Engels.

2. Bureaucracy

What are the features of bureaucracy according to Weber? Do you agree that bureaucracy is indestructible?Is bureaucracy an inescapable feature of modern life?

You can find more of Weber’s writings in various collections:

Kalberg, S. (2005) Max Weber: Readings and Commentary on Modernity, Malden: Blackwell.

Whimster, S. (ed.) 2004 The Essential Weber: A Reader, London: Routledge.McIntosh, I. (ed.) (1997) Classical Sociological Theory: A Reader, Edinburgh:

Edinburgh University Press.Weber, M. (1978) Max Weber, Selections in Translation, ed. & transl. by W.G.

Runciman Cambridge University Press.Gerth, H. and C. Mills (eds.) (2009, 1991 and 1948) From Max Weber, London:

Routledge (various editions)

Further Reading

Campbell, C. (2006) “Do today's sociologists really appreciate Weber's essay The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism?”, Sociological Review, Vol. 54, No. 2, pp. 207-223.

Kasler, D (1988) Max Weber: An introduction to his life and work, Cambridge: Polity Press.

Lowith, K. (1982) Max Weber and Karl Marx, London: Allen and Unwin.Marshall, G. (1982) In search of the spirit of capitalism, London: Hutchinson.Poggi, G. (2006) Weber, Cambridge: Polity.Poggi, G. (1983) Calvinism and the capitalist spirit: Max Weber's Protestant ethic,

London: Macmillan.Radkau, J. (2009) Max Weber, Cambridge: Polity

Ringer, F. (2004) Max Weber, Chicago: Chicago University Press.Turner, B. (1993) Max Weber: From History to Modernity, London: Routledge.

Lecture 14 Adorno and Horkheimer: Critique of mass culture

Theodor Adorno, together with his collaborator Max Horkheimer, formed part of what has come to be known as the “Frankfurt School”, an influential group of mid twentieth century scholars associated with Critical Theory. The lecture will outline the background to Adorno’s work, focusing on his critical approach to the emerging cultural forms of his time.

Seminar Reading and Preparation

Extracts from: Adorno, T. and Horkheimer, M. (1997) [1944] Dialectic of Enlightenment, London:

Verso.

i) From the reading, Dialectic of Enlightenment, Why do Adorno and Horkheimer argue Enlightenment has turned into its opposite?

ii) From the reading ‘The Culture Industry’: What is Adorno's attitude to popular culture? What do you think he was trying to suggest by the term, "culture industry"

iii) Think about what popular culture consists of today. Do you think Adorno's ideas are still applicable?

Further reading

Adorno, T. (2001) The Culture Industry: Selected Essays on Mass Culture, London: Routledge.

Adorno, T. (2002) The Stars Come Down to Earth and other essays on the irrational in culture, London: Routledge.

Gibson, N. and Rubin, A. (eds.) (2002) Adorno: A Critical Reader, Oxford: Blackwell.

Huhn, J. (2004) The Cambridge Companion to Adorno, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Jager, L. (2004) Adorno: A political biography, New Haven: Yale University Press.Jarvis, S. (1998) Adorno: A Critical Introduction, Oxford: Blackwell.Jay, M. (1984) Adorno, London: Fontana.Thomson, A. (2006) Adorno: A guide for the perplexed, London: Continuum.Wilson, R. (2007) Theodor Adorno, London: Routledge.Witkin, R. (2003) Adorno on popular culture, London: Routledge.

Lecture 15 Culture and Social Change: Raymond Williams

Seminar Reading and Preparation

Williams, R. (1989) [1958] Resources of Hope, London: Verso (Ch. 1 ‘Culture is Ordinary’)

This week's lecture and seminar relates to the work of Raymond Williams, a key figure in post-war intellectual life in Britain, who played a major role in generating ideas about the study of popular culture.

i) How does Williams define culture?ii) What are the ways in which Williams compares and contrasts his views to those of Marxists?iii) How does Williams try to contest the argument that an expanding culture is a debased culture?iv) How do Williams's ideas relate to those of Adorno and Horkheimer?

Further Reading

Williams, R. (1958) Culture and Society, 1780 – 1950, London: Chatto and Windus.Williams, R. (1960) ‘Advertising: The Magic System’, New Left Review, 4, pp. 27-

32.Williams, R. (1962) The Long Revolution, London: Pelican.Williams, R. (1977) Marxism and Literature, Oxford: Oxford University Press.Williams, R. (1980) Culture and Materialism, London: Verso. (esp. essay on

Advertising)

Arnold, M. (1960) Culture and Anarchy, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Barker, C. (2000) Cultural Studies: theory and practice, London: Sage.Couldry, N. (2000) Inside Culture, London: Routledge (ch. 2.)Day, G. (2009) “After Raymond Williams: Cultural Materialism and the Break-up of

Britain”, Times Literary Supplement, 9th January 2009, p.29Eagleton, T. (Ed.) (1989) Raymond Williams: critical perspectives, Cambridge:

PolityHartley, J. (2003) A Short History of Cultural Studies, London: SageJones, P. (2006) Raymond Williams’s Sociology of Culture: a critical reconstruction,

Basingstoke: Palgrave MacmillanKenny, M. (1995) The First New Left, London: Lawrence and Wishart.Lewis, G. (2007) ‘Racializing culture is ordinary’, Cultural Studies, Vol. 21, No. 6,

pp. 866-886Marwick, A. (1996) British Society since 1945, London: Penguin.McGuigan, J. (1992) Cultural Populism, London: Routledge.Mulhern, F. (2009) ‘Culture and Society Then and Now’, New Left Review, No. 55,

Jan-Feb, pp. 31-45, O’Connor, A. (2006) Raymond Williams, Lanham: Rowman and Littlefield.Storey, J. (Ed.) (1996) What is Cultural Studies?, London: Arnold (ch. by Hall)Stevenson, N. (1995) Culture, Ideology and Socialism, Avebury: Aldershot.Turner, G. (2002) British Cultural Studies, 3rd ed. London: Routledge.

Lecture 16 Feminism & Feminist Social Theory

The lecture will introduce students to some of the major traditions within contemporary feminism (radical, Marxist, socialist) and how these have criticized traditional sociological theory to account for women’s subordination. It will use as its starting point the debate that dominated feminists of the ‘second wave’ between the ‘dual systems’ of patriarchy and capitalism as sources of women’s oppression. Marxists feminists sought to counteract the gender-blindness of Marxism by extending theories of social class to incorporate gender differences while radical feminists argued towards a concept of patriarchy or male power. Heidi Hartmann’s classic essay and the contentions that it produced shall form the basis of analyzing how feminists attempted to reconcile systems of patriarchy and capitalism into a progressive gender struggle, thereby extending malestream sociological theories and concepts.

Key reading:

Hartmann, H. (1981) ‘The Unhappy Marriage of Marxism and Feminism: Towards a More Progressive Union’ in L. Sargent (ed.), Women and Revolution: A discussion of the unhappy marriage of Marxism and feminism, Boston: South End Press.

Seminar Preparation

Consider the following questions:- What does feminism mean to you? - What is patriarchy? - What is ‘dual systems’ theory? How useful is it for explaining women’s subordination and what are its limitations? - On what grounds have feminists critiqued Marxism? What are the tensions between Marxism and feminism?

Further reading

For a critique of Hartmann see the work of Iris Marion Young:

Young, I. (1981) “Beyond the Unhappy Marriage: a critique of dual systems theory”, in L. Sargent (Ed.) Women and Revolution, London: Pluto Press

Young, I. (1990) Justice and the Politics of Difference, Princeton: Princeton University Press

Andermahr, S., Lovell, T. and Wolkowitz, C. (2000) A Glossary of Feminist Theory, London: Edward Arnold. Entries on ‘Marxist feminism, ‘radical feminism’, ‘socialist feminism’, ‘materialist feminism’, ‘patriarchy’.

Barrett, M. (1980) Women's oppression today: problems in Marxist feminist analysis, London: NLB.

Barrett, M. & McIntosh, M. (1985) ‘Ethnocentrism and socialist-feminist theory’, Feminist Review, No. 20, pp. 23-47.

Barrett, M. and Philips, A. (eds.) (1992) Destabilizing Theory: Contemporary Feminist Debates, Cambridge: Polity.

Bradley, H. (2007) Gender, Cambridge: Polity.Bryson, V. (2004) ‘Marxism and feminism: can the 'unhappy marriage' be saved?’,

Journal of Political Ideologies, Vol. 9, No. 1, pp. 13-30.Delphy, C. (1984) Close to Home: A Materialist Analysis of Women's Oppression,

London: Hutchinson.Genz, S. and Brabon, B. (2009) Postfeminism: Cultural Texts and Theories,

Edinburgh: Edinburgh University PressGunew, S. (1990) (ed.) Feminist Knowledge; Critique and Construct, London:

Routledge.

Hennessy, R. (2003) ‘Class’ in M. Eagleton (ed.) A Concise companion to feminist theory, Oxford: Blackwell.

Holmes, M. (2007) What is Gender? London: Sage.Hughes, C. (2002) Key Concepts in Feminist Theory and Research, London: Sage

(available as E-book via Library online catalogue)Jackson, S. (2001) ‘Why a Materialist Feminism is (still) Possible – and Necessary’,

Women’s Studies International Forum, Vol. 24, Nos. 3/4, pp. 283-93.Jackson, S. and S. Scott (eds.) (2002) Gender: a sociological reader, London:

Routledge.McKinnon, C. (1983) ‘Feminism, Marxism, Method, and the State: An Agenda for

Theory’, Signs, Vol. 7, No. 3, pp. 515-44.McRobbie, A. (2009) The Aftermath of Feminism, London: SageNicholson, L (ed.) (1997) The second wave: a reader in feminist theory, New York,

N.Y.; London: Routledge.Tong, R (1998) Feminist Thought: A More Comprehensive Introduction, Boulder:

Westview Press. Walby, S. (1990) Theorizing Patriarchy, Oxford: Basil Blackwell.Walby, S. (1997) Gender Transformations, London: Routledge.

Lecture 17 Liquid Modernity: Zygmunt Bauman

This lecture focuses on - and critically engages with - Zygmunt Bauman's wide-ranging analyses of the current historical era, which he terms 'liquid modernity'. Its symptoms and manifestations arguably stretch from the global economy to intimate relationships, from international politics to consumerism, from identity politics to ethics, from work to social exclusion and poverty.

Seminar Reading

Bauman, Z. (2000) Liquid Modernity, Cambridge: Polity (ch. 2)

Seminar preparation

In reading the text bear in mind some comments made by Bauman very early in the book:

- "These are reasons to consider fluidity or liquidity as fitting metaphors when we wish to grasp the nature of the present, in many ways novel, phase in the history of modernity" (Bauman 2000: 2).- "Ours is an individualized, privatized version of modernity, with the burden of pattern weaving and the responsibility for failure falling primarily on the individuals shoulders" (Bauman 2000: 7-8)

What are the differences Bauman identifies between heavy, Fordist capitalism and light capitalism?

What is Bauman's attitude to the growing emphasis on the individual?

Do you agree that contemporary society "engages its members primarily in their capacity as consumers rather than producers" (Bauman 2000: 76)? What are the implications of this?

Do you think Bauman has captured some of the important social changes of the present day?

Further Reading

Bauman, Z. (1998) Work, Consumerism and the New Poor, Buckingham: Open University Press.Bauman, Z. (2003) Liquid Love, Cambridge: Polity.Bauman, Z. (2006) Liquid Fear, Cambridge: Polity.Bauman, Z. (2007) Liquid Times, Cambridge: Polity.Bauman, Z. (2007) Consuming Life, Cambridge: Polity.Bauman, Z. (2008) The Art of Life, Cambridge: Polity.Bauman, Z. (2009) Living on Borrowed Time, Cambridge: Polity

Appadurai, A. (1990) ‘Disjuncture and difference in the global cultural economy’, in: Featherstone, M. (ed.) Global Culture: Nationalism, Globalization and Modernity, London: Sage.

Atkinson, W. (2008) ‘Not all that was solid has melted into air (or liquid): A critique of Bauman on individualization and class in liquid modernity’, Sociological Review, Vol. 56, No. 1, pp. 1-17

Bauman, Z. with Tester, K. (2001) Conversations with Zygmunt Bauman, Cambridge: Polity.

Beck, U. (2000) What is Globalization? Cambridge: Polity.Blackshaw, T. (2005) Zygmunt Bauman, London: Routledge.Elliott, A. (ed.) (2007) The Contemporary Bauman, Abingdon: Routledge.Jacobsen, M. and Poder, P. (eds) (2008) The Sociology of Zygmunt Bauman:

challenges and critique, Aldershot: Ashgate (NB: this is quite advanced).Karner, C. and Aldridge, A. (2004) ‘Theorizing religion in a globalizing world’,

International Journal of Politics, Culture and Society, Vol. 18, Nos. 1-2, pp. 5-32.Smith, D. (2000) Zygmunt Bauman: Prophet of Postmodernity, Cambridge: Polity.Tester, K. (2004) The Social Thought of Zygmunt Bauman, Basingstoke: Palgrave

Macmillan.

Lecture 18 Multiculturalism, Difference and Identity: Stuart Hall

This lecture will explore recent debates about multiculturalism. In the aftermath of recent “terror” attacks, the nature of a multicultural society has been subject to serious examination. This follows a lengthy intellectual effort to get the identities and experiences of migrants and their descendants taken seriously and examined without recourse to distortion and simplification. No scholar contributed more to this endeavour than the Jamaican-born intellectual Stuart Hall.

The lecture will explore how Hall took on, and redefined, some of the ideas of Raymond Williams, within and beyond the field of cultural studies. Hall’s treatment of identity as complex, mixed and multi-dimensional will be emphasised.

Seminar Reading and Preparation

Hall, S. (2006) ‘Cosmopolitan Promises, Multicultural Realities’ in R. Scholar (ed.) Divided Cities: The Oxford Amnesty Lectures 2003. Oxford: Oxford University Press, pp. 20-51.

- How might Stuart Hall’s ideas help us understand multicultural society?- How would you describe British identity today?- How, if at all, does your own identity relate to the idea of Britishness?

- What implications do events since September 11th 2001 and July 7th 2005 have for multiculturalism?- Is it easier to conceive of a multicultural city than a multicultural nation?

Further Reading

Hall, S. (1990) ‘Cultural Identity and Diaspora’ in J. Rutherford (ed.) Identity, London: Lawrence and Wishart.

Hall. S. (1991) ‘Old and New Identities, Old and New Ethnicities’ in A.D. King (ed.) Culture, Globalisation and the World System, London: Macmillan.

Hall, S. (1992) ‘New Ethnicities’ in J. Donald and A. Rattansi (eds). Race, Culture and Difference, London: Sage.

Hall, S. (1992) ‘The Question of Cultural Identity’ in S. Hall, D. Held and T. McGrew (eds.) Modernity and Its Futures, Cambridge: Polity.

Hall, S. (1996) ‘Who needs identity?’ in S. Hall and P. Du Gay (eds.) Questions of Cultural Identity, London: Sage.

Hall, S. (1997) ‘The Centrality of Culture: Notes on the Cultural Revolutions of Our Time’ in K. Thompson (ed.) Media and Cultural Regulation, London: Sage.

Hall, S. (2000) ‘The Multicultural Question’ in B. Hesse (ed.) Unsettled Multiculturalisms, London: Zed Books.

MacCabe, C. (2008) ‘An interview with Stuart Hall, December 2007’, Critical Quarterly, Vol. 50, No. 1-2, pp. 12-42

Gilroy, P., Grossberg, L. and McRobbie, A. (eds) (2000) Without Guarantees: Essays in Honour of Stuart Hall, London: Verso

Meeks, B. (2007) Culture, Politics, Race and Diaspora: the thought of Stuart Hall, Kingston: Ian Randle

Morley, D. and Chen, K. (eds) (1996) Stuart Hall: Critical Dialogues in Cultural Studies, London: Routledge

Procter, J. (2004) Stuart Hall, London: Routledge.Schwarz, B. (2005) ‘Stuart Hall’, Cultural Studies, Vol. 19, No. 2, pp. 176-202.

See also the special issue of the journal Cultural Studies, July 2009, Vol. 23, No. 4, discussing Stuart Hall’s legacy.

Another influential thinker in debates about multiculturalism is Paul Gilroy:

Gilroy, P. (1987) There Ain’t No Black in the Union Jack, London: Hutchinson.Gilroy, P. (2004) After Empire, London: RoutledgeGilroy, P. (2006) ‘Multiculture in times of war: An inaugural lecture given at the

London School of Economics’, Critical Quarterly, Vol. 48, No. 4, pp. 27-45.

The theory and politics of multiculturalism

Commission for Integration and Cohesion (2007) Our Shared Future, available at www.integrationandcohesion.org.uk

Cantle, T. (2008) Community Cohesion, Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.Dench, G., Gavron, K. and Young, M. (2006) The New East End, London: Profile

Books.Finney, N. and Simpson, L. (2009) ‘Sleepwalking to Segregation’?, Bristol: Policy

Press

McGhee, D. (2008) The End of Multiculturalism? Maidenhead: Open University Press

Modood, T. (2007) Multiculturalism, Cambridge: Polity.Parekh, B. (2006) Rethinking Multiculturalism, 2nd ed. Basingstoke: Palgrave

Macmillan.Parekh, B. (2008) A New Politics of Identity, Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.Pilkington, A. (2008) ‘From institutional racism to community cohesion: the

changing nature of racial discourse in Britain’, Sociological Research Online, Vol, 13, No, 3. Available at www.socresonline.org.uk/13/3/6.html

Runnymede Trust (2000) Commission on the Future of Multiethnic Britain, London: Profile Books.

Seidler, V. (2009) Embodying Identities: culture, difference and social theory, Bristol: Policy Press

Wetherell, M., Lafleche, M. and Berkeley, R. (eds.) (2007) Identity, Ethnic Diversity and Community Cohesion, London: Sage.

Lecture 19 Social Justice and Social Inequality

This lecture outlines the main theories of social justice which have been developed to understand and critique various injustices. It concentrates in particular upon inequalities of income/wealth and gender. Possible approaches to social reform suggested by this synergy of theoretical conceptualisation and empirical data are outlined.

Seminar Reading and Preparation

Miller, D. (2005) ‘What is Social Justice?’, in N. Pearce and W. Paxton (eds.) Social Justice: Building a Fairer Britain, London, Politico’s. - Can we really distinguish clearly and usefully between just and unjust forms of inequality?- How would you define notions like “fairness” and “social justice”?

Further Reading

Arrighi, B. (ed.) (2001) Understanding Inequality, Lanham, Md.: Rowman & Littlefield.

Baker, J. et. al (2009) Equality, 2nd ed. Basingstoke: Palgrave MacmillanBarry, B. (2005) Why Social Justice Matters, Cambridge: Polity. Butler, T. and Watt, P. (2007) Understanding Social Inequality, London: Sage.Clayton, M. & Williams, A. (eds.) (2004) Social Justice, Oxford: Blackwell.Cohen, G. A. (2000) If You're an Egalitarian, How Come You're so Rich?,

Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press.Cohen, G. A. (2008) Rescuing Justice and Equality, Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard

University Press.Dean, H. (2009) ‘Critiquing Capabilities: The distractions of a beguiling concept’,

Critical Social Policy, Vol. 29, No. 2, pp. 261-278Graham, P. (2007) Rawls, Banbury: Oneworld.Hills, J. (2004) Inequality and the State, Oxford: Oxford University Press. Hills, J. & Stewart, K. (eds.) (2005) A More Equal Society?, Bristol: Policy Press.Hills, J., Sefton, T. and Stewart, K. (2009) Towards a more equal society? Bristol:

Policy PressMiller, D. (1999) Principles of Social Justice, Cambridge, Mass: Harvard University

Press.Nussbaum, M. and Sen, A. (eds.) (1993) The Quality of Life, Oxford: Clarendon

PressPogge, T. (2007) John Rawls, Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Rawls, J. (1971) A Theory of Justice, Cambridge, Mass: Harvard University Press.Rawls, J. (2001) Justice as Fairness, Cambridge, Mass: Harvard University Press.Sen, A. (1999) Development as Freedom, Oxford: Oxford University PressSen, A. (2009) The Idea of Justice, London: Allen LaneSvallfors, S. (ed.) (2005) Analyzing Inequality, Stanford: Stanford University Press.White, S. (2007) Equality, Cambridge: Polity Press.

Lecture 20 Revision Session

This lecture will briefly summarise the module as a whole and provide advice and guidance about the final assessed essay.

Seminar Preparation

You should meet your tutor this week with an outline of how you propose to approach the final assessed essay. Your seminar leader will be available to respond to any concerns and questions