London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE)

Modules

Principles of sociology [21]

Note: this is a replacement unit for 10 Introduction to sociology.

Section A: Theory and method
What is sociology? the difference between lay and sociological knowledge of societies; the differences between sociology and related social sciences; the nature of sociological problems: social order, social change, social institutions and relationships between the individual and society; The concepts of role, identity and socialisation.
Sociological method: the scope of sociological research; the importance of conceptual thinking and measurement in social research; different theoretical models and analogies;  the centrality of the debates concerning social research; the research process.
Theory and method: the concept of social theory; methodology: ontological, epistemological and technical questions; theories of knowledge: positivism/empiricism, interpretivism/phenomenology and social realism.
Theories of society: modernity and the genesis of sociology; classical social theory: Marx, Weber, Durkheim; modern social
theory: structural-functionalism, interactionism, phenomenology and rational choice; the idea of postmodern societies and the implications for sociology.
Section B: Globalisation and social change
Understanding and defining the concept of globalisation, the major theories that aim to explain globalisation, the economic, political and cultural levels of globalisation.
Section C: Students should specialise in one of the following and should relate theories and examples to sociological data from their own society.
Religion: religious belief, practice, and power; religion and social change; religion, modernity, and globalisation.
Gender: The relationship between sex, gender and sexualities; equality and difference, oppression and discrimination; work/home life balance. Race and Ethnicity: definitions of 'race' and ethnicity; 'race' and ethnicity as social division; changing approaches to racial and
ethnic studies.
Power: Power, Modernity and Sociology;  Marxism and the analysis of power; Weber: power, stratification and domination; The power of elites; The pluralist model of power; Power to and power over; Postmodernist perspectives on power.
Organisations: a sociological approach to organisations, theories for understanding organisations, methods of organisational
analysis, structure, control and communications within organisations. Social Inequality and Social Injustice: social inequality and social injustice; global perspectives on inequality and injustice;
classical perspectives on social inequality; structural dimensions of inequality; analysing social injustice; states, social injustice and the pursuit of human rights; agendas of inequality and injustice.