Logo UAB
2022/2023

Fundamentals of Sociology

Code: 101105 ECTS Credits: 12
Degree Type Year Semester
2500259 Political Science and Public Management FB 1 A
2500262 Sociology FB 1 A
2503778 International Relations FB 1 A

Contact

Name:
Teresa Sorde Marti
Email:
teresa.sorde@uab.cat

Use of Languages

Principal working language:
catalan (cat)
Some groups entirely in English:
No
Some groups entirely in Catalan:
Yes
Some groups entirely in Spanish:
No

Teachers

Josep Verdaguer Lozano
Teresa Sorde Marti
Olga Serradell Pumareda
Marc Barbeta Viņas

Prerequisites

-

Objectives and Contextualisation

The aim of this course is to introduce the students into the sociological perspective, revising the main theoretical concepts from classical sociological theory with the ultimate goal to better understand the social phenomena in all their complexity. Sociology analyses social facts from a scientific perspective (that means methodologically and systematically) which is essentially differentiated from common sense. The idea is to capture those dynamics which are very often latent or hidden. Last but not least, the course is also aimed at equipping the students with the horizontal competence of Gender Perspective through the learning activities and the selected contents.

Competences

    Political Science and Public Management
  • Demonstrating good writing skills in different contexts.
  • Distinguishing the discipline's main theories and different fields: conceptual developments, theoretical frameworks and theoretical approaches underlying the discipline's knowledge and different areas and sub-areas, as well as their value for the professional practice through concrete cases.
  • Managing the available time in order to accomplish the established objectives and fulfil the intended task.
  • Realising effective oral presentations that are suited to the audience.
  • Showing a good capacity for transmitting information, distinguishing key messages for their different recipients.
  • Synthesizing and critically analysing information.
  • Working autonomously.
    Sociology
  • Analysing the problems arising from the implementation of public policies and conflict situations by recognising the complexity of the social phenomena and political decisions affecting democracy, human rights, social justice and sustainable development.
  • Demonstrating a comprehension of the analysis of social phenomena presented in English, as well as observing their strengths and weaknesses.
  • Demonstrating a comprehension of the approaches of the sociological theory in its different aspects, interpretations and historical context.
  • Describing social phenomena in a theoretically relevant way, bearing in mind the complexity of the involved factors, its causes and its effects.
  • Developing critical thinking and reasoning and communicating them effectively both in your own and other languages.
  • Developing self-learning strategies.
  • Enumerating the methodology and investigation techniques that support the main hypothesis about social relationships, the positions and practices of individuals in a social structure and the social changes.
  • Respecting the diversity and plurality of ideas, people and situations.
  • Searching for documentary sources starting from concepts.
  • Students must be capable of assessing the quality of their own work.
  • Students must be capable of managing their own time, planning their own study, managing the relationship with their tutor or adviser, as well as setting and meeting deadlines for a work project.
  • Working in teams and networking in different situations.
    International Relations
  • Act with ethical responsibility and respect for fundamental rights and duties, diversity and democratic values.
  • Analyse the behaviour of international actors, both state and non-state.
  • Identify data sources and carry out rigorous bibliographical and documentary searches.
  • Identify the main theories of international relations and their different fields (international theory, conflicts and security, international politics, etc.) to apply them in professional practice.
  • Make changes to methods and processes in the area of knowledge in order to provide innovative responses to society's needs and demands.
  • Produce and prepare the presentation of intervention reports and/or proposals.
  • Students must have and understand knowledge of an area of study built on the basis of general secondary education, and while it relies on some advanced textbooks it also includes some aspects coming from the forefront of its field of study.
  • Take account of social, economic and environmental impacts when operating within one's own area of knowledge.
  • Take sex- or gender-based inequalities into consideration when operating within one's own area of knowledge.

Learning Outcomes

  1. Analyse the indicators of sustainability of academic and professional activities in the areas of knowledge, integrating social, economic and environmental dimensions.
  2. Analyse the sex- or gender-based inequalities and the gender biases present in one's own area of knowledge.
  3. Clearly distinguishing between facts and value judgements.
  4. Communicate using language that is not sexist or discriminatory.
  5. Compare the different theoretical focuses on social structure.
  6. Consider how gender stereotypes and roles impinge on the exercise of the profession.
  7. Contextualizing them in their time.
  8. Define the most commonly used concepts to explain inequality.
  9. Defining the main sociological concepts.
  10. Demonstrating a comprehension of the analysis of social phenomena presented in English, as well as observing their strengths and weaknesses.
  11. Demonstrating good writing skills in different contexts.
  12. Describe and make adequate use of the main concepts in the relations between politics and society: regulation of social conflict, political power and legitimation, political system.
  13. Describe the main elements of the political process: socialisation, attitudes and political ideologies.
  14. Describing the major processes of life in society: socialization and institutionalization.
  15. Describing the structural framework of life in society.
  16. Developing critical thinking and reasoning and communicating them effectively both in your own and other languages.
  17. Developing self-learning strategies.
  18. Differentiating their theoretical and methodological assumptions.
  19. Distinguishing between a sociological hypothesis and a value judgement on democracy, human rights, social justice or sustainable development.
  20. Distinguishing the main qualitative methods and techniques.
  21. Explaining the elements that affect an individual's inclusion in society: family, education, media, culture, religion and ideology.
  22. Expressing their methodological basis.
  23. Identify data sources and carry out rigorous bibliographical and documentary searches.
  24. Identify the principal forms of sex- or gender-based inequality and discrimination present in society.
  25. Identify the social, economic and environmental implications of academic and professional activities within the area of your own knowledge.
  26. Identifying their validity or obsolescence in other times.
  27. Identifying these approaches: functionalism, interactionism, action sociologies, etcetera).
  28. Interpret the historical political and social frameworks as an explanatory background to current frameworks, for a better understanding of the current situation.
  29. Managing the available time in order to accomplish the established objectives and fulfil the intended task.
  30. Produce and prepare the presentation of intervention reports and/or proposals.
  31. Properly applying main concepts about societies, its processes and its structures.
  32. Propose new experience-based methods or alternative solutions.
  33. Propose projects and actions in accordance with the principles of ethical responsibility and respect for fundamental rights, diversity and democratic values.
  34. Propose projects and actions that incorporate the gender perspective.
  35. Realising effective oral presentations that are suited to the audience.
  36. Relate definitions and explanations of inequality with general theoretical and methodological debates.
  37. Respecting the diversity and plurality of ideas, people and situations.
  38. Searching for documentary sources starting from concepts.
  39. Showing a good capacity for transmitting information, distinguishing key messages for their different recipients.
  40. Students must be capable of assessing the quality of their own work.
  41. Students must be capable of managing their own time, planning their own study, managing the relationship with their tutor or adviser, as well as setting and meeting deadlines for a work project.
  42. Students must have and understand knowledge of an area of study built on the basis of general secondary education, and while it relies on some advanced textbooks it also includes some aspects coming from the forefront of its field of study.
  43. Synthesizing and critically analysing information.
  44. Using the main contributions of the sociological theory: Durkheim, Comte, Weber and Marx.
  45. Working autonomously.
  46. Working in teams and networking in different situations.

Content

Part 1. The Sociological Perspective

a) The perspective on society.

b) Society in perspective: socialization, institutionalization and stratification (i.e. social class, gender, ethnicity, age).

 

Part 2. Historical and social conditions of the emergence of sociology

a) Social forces at the origins of the discipline: Scientific Revolution, Capitalist Revolution and French Revolution.

b) Intellectual forces at the birth of sociological theory: The emergence of modernity. The genesis of sociological thought in France, Germany and the United States of America. Feminist contribution to the origin of sociology.

 

Part 3. Functional elements of classical sociological thought

a) Karl Marx: Sociology of social relations. The critique of the political economy. Materialism, mode of production and social classes. Origin, development and social structure of capitalism. Religion and its disappearance. The discomforts of modernity: alienation and reification. Social relations and gender. 

b) Émile Durkheim: Sociology of social facts. The rules of the sociological method. Normality and pathology. Social cohesion and division of labour: the forms of solidarity. Suicide as a social phenomenon. Elementary forms of religious life. The discomforts of modernity: anomy. Social facts and gender.

c) Max Weber: Sociology of social actions. Comprehensive sociology. Power, authority and domination. Religion, capitalism and modernity. Reason, rationality and rationalization: "The iron cage". The discomforts of modernity: the disenchantment of the world.  Social actions and gender. 

d) Marianne Weber: Sociology of Women. Equality and Autonomy. Marriage, domestic work and women's rights. Objective culture, gender issues and Modernity.

e) Georg Simmel: Sociology of social interactions. Social forms and social types. Social functions of conflict. Money, urban life and its effects on culture. Religious devotion. The comforts of modernity: theextension of social circles. Social interactions and gender. 

f) Jane Addams: Sociology of social reforms. Research, residence and reform. Poverty and social structure. Religious diversity. Democracy and participation. The disenchantment of modernity: urban transformations and segregation. Reforms and gender

g) Sigmund Freud: Social relations in the individual. Who “are I”? The analysis of the unconscious. Instincts and social bond. The constitution of the subject and sexuality. The masses and the "I". The future of religion. The discomforts of modernity: civilization and its discontents. Subjectivity and gender.

 

Part 4. Conclusions: Cross-cutting themes from classical sociological thought

Methodology

Lectures

Reading texts

Comprehension activities

Concepts comprehension activities

Annotation: Within the schedule set by the centre or degree programme, 15 minutes of one class will be reserved for students to evaluate their lecturers and their courses or modules through questionnaires.

Activities

Title Hours ECTS Learning Outcomes
Type: Directed      
Lectures, seminars 99 3.96 1, 2, 5, 7, 8, 9, 14, 13, 12, 16, 3, 20, 19, 18, 22, 35, 27, 23, 26, 24, 28, 36, 37, 43, 46, 31, 44, 6
Type: Supervised      
Tutorials 30 1.2 40, 4, 17, 16, 30, 25, 37
Type: Autonomous      
Reading texts, study, exercises 157 6.28 38, 7, 10, 11, 15, 3, 19, 21, 41, 29, 27, 26, 39, 32, 33, 34, 42, 37, 43, 45, 46, 31, 44

Assessment

The evaluation of learning is organized in the following way:

 

1) Written evaluation 1: (30%)

2) Written evaluation 2: (30%)

3) Comparative evaluation: (25%)

4) Reading seminars: (15%) 

 

Class attendance might condition the evaluation of some of the above-mentioned exercises. 

At the beginning of the academic year the main characteristics and the exact calendar of all the tests will be provided. If plagiarism is detected, the evaluation of the test will equal to 0.

 

Definition of Unsubmitted: A student will have the grade of "Unsubmitted", if he or she has delivered less than 30% of the necessary exercises to be eligible for grade. 

 

Remedial: In order to be eligible for the remedial exam, it will be necessary to have been previously evaluated of a minimum of two thirds of the total course. A student may  retake up to 30% of the evaluation examinations.

Regarding the evaluation of students who repeat the subject, in accordance with article 117.2 of the UAB academic regulations, the evaluation may consist of a single synthesis work. Repeat students who wish to take advantage of this possibility, should contact the teachers at the beginning of the course.

 

Assessment Activities

Title Weighting Hours ECTS Learning Outcomes
Reading seminars 15% 8 0.32 1, 2, 5, 4, 7, 8, 9, 10, 15, 14, 13, 12, 16, 20, 19, 18, 21, 27, 23, 26, 24, 28, 42, 43, 31, 44
Written evaluation 1, Written evaluation 2, Comparative evaluation 30%, 30%, 25% 6 0.24 40, 38, 4, 11, 17, 3, 30, 22, 35, 41, 29, 25, 24, 39, 32, 33, 34, 42, 36, 37, 45, 46, 6

Bibliography

Compulsory BIBLIOGRAPHY

At the beginning of the course, students will be informed of the list of  selected readings of the subject. Additionally, each professor might indicate some more specific readings.

  • Addams, Jane (1910). Veinte años de Hull House. Murcia: Universidad de Murcia, 2014.
  • Addams, Jane. (2002). Democracy and social ethics. University of Illinois Press.
  • Addams, Jane (2002). Peace and Bread in Time of War; Introduction by Katherine Joslin. Urbana: University of Illinois Press. Disponible online: https://ebookcentral-proquest-com.are.uab.cat/lib/uab/detail.action?pq-origsite=primo&docID=3226580
  • Addams, Jane (2017). El largo camino de la memoria de las mujeres. Zaragoza: Prensas Universitarias de Zaragoza. Disponible online: https://ebookcentral-proquest-com.are.uab.cat/lib/uab/detail.action?pq-origsite=primo&docID=3226580
  • Berger, Peter L. (1963). Invitació a la sociologia. Barcelona: Herder, 1986.
  • Cooper, Anna J. (2017). A Voice from the South: By a Black Woman of the South. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Library. Web. Disponible online: https://bibcercador.uab.cat/permalink/34CSUC_UAB/1c3utr0/cdi_askewsholts_vlebooks_9781469633336
  • Durkheim, Émile (1893). La división del trabajo social. Madrid, Akal, 1982.
  • Durkheim, Émile (1895). Las reglas del método sociológico. Madrid: Alianza, 1986.
  • Durkheim, Émile (1897). El suicidio. Madrid, Akal, 1976.
  • Durkheim, Émile (1912). Les formes elementals de la vida religiosa. Barcelona: Edicions 62/Diputació de Barcelona, 1986.
  • Freud, Sigmund (1901). “Psicopatologia de la vida cotidiana”, Tomo III Obras completas. Madrid: Ed. Biblioteca Nueva, 1987, pàg. 759-764.
  • Freud, Sigmund (1923). El ‘yo’ y el ‘ello’, Tomo VII Obras completas. Madrid: Ed. Biblioteca Nueva, 1987, pàg. 2701-2728.
  • Freud, Sigmund (1930). El malestar en la cultura  y otros ensayos. Madrid: Alianza, 1984, pag. 7-88.
  • Freud, Sigmund (1927). Psicología de las masas, Más allá del principio del placer, El porvenir de una ilusión. Alianza: Madrid 1993.
  • Gilman, Charlotte Perkins (2014). The Man-Made World or Our Androcentric-Culture / Charlotte Perkins Gilman. València: JPM Ediciones.
  • Gilman, Charlotte Perkins, Mary Jo Deegan, and Michael R. Hill. (2002) The Dress of Women a Critical Introduction to the Symbolism and Sociology of Clothing / Charlotte Perkins Gilman ; Edited, with an Introduction by Michael R. Hill and Mary Jo Deegan. Westport, Conn: Greenwood Press. Disponible online: https://bibcercador.uab.cat/permalink/34CSUC_UAB/1eqfv2p/alma991010482729206709
  • Marx, Karl (1844). Manuscritos: Economia y filosofia. Madrid: Alianza, 1970
  • Marx, Karl (1845). Once tesis sobre Feuerbach. Madrid: Alhambra, 1989.
  • Marx, Karl i Friederich Engels (1846). La ideologia alemanya. Barcelona: Edicions 62, 1969.
  • Marx, Karl (1848). Manifiesto comunista. Madrid: Fundación Friedrich Engels, 2005.
  • Marx, Karl (1865). Salario, precio ganancia. Barcelona: DeBarris, 1997.
  • Marx, Karl (1867) El capital. Madrid: Akal, 2000.
  • Simmel, Georg (1896). Cultura líquida y dinero. Fragmentos simmelianos de la modernidad. Barcelona: Cuajimalpa i Anthropos, 2010.
  • Simmel, Georg (1903). El individuo y la libertad. Barcelona: Península, 2001.
  • Simmel, Georg (1908). Sociologia. Investigacions sobre les formes de socialització, (2 Vols.). Barcelona: Edicions 62, 1988.
  • Weber, Marianne (2007). La mujer y la cultura moderna. Tres ensayos. Cali: Archivos del Índice.
  • Weber, Marianne (2011). Ensayos selectos. México: Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México/Centro de Investigaciones Interdisciplinarias en Ciencias y Humanidades.
  • Weber, Max (1904). La "objetividad" del conocimiento en la ciencia social y en la política. Madrid: Alianza, 2009.
  • Weber, Max (1904-1905). L'ètica protestant i l'esperit del capitalisme. Barcelona: Edicions 62, 1984.
  • Weber, Max (1919). El político y el científico. Madrid: Alianza. 1967.
  • Weber, Max (1921). La acción social ensayos metodológicos. Barcelona: Península, 1984.
  • Weber, Max (1922). “Clases, status, partido”. A: Gerth, H.H., Wright Milles, C.(Comp.) (1946). Ensayos de Sociología Contemporánea. Barcelona: Martínez Roca, 1972, pàg. 221-240.
  • Wells-Barnett, I. B. (2021). The Red Record: Tabulated Statistics & Alleged Causes of Lynching in the United States. Read Books Ltd.

Software

No software will be used.