Prof. E.A. Tiryakian
339 Soc-Psych
durkhm@soc.duke.edu

Objectives: The seminar will have a primary focus on classical figures and theoretical paradigms from the onset of the modern social order 200 years ago until the late 1960s. Essentially, most of the ground to be covered lies between the break of the Enlightenment with the "traditional" and the crisis of "1968", which shatters a civilization of "progress". Individuals and "schools" will be discussed, as well as their institutional and national contexts. Due to time limitation, less concentrated attention will be given to theoretical orientations of the past quarter of a century, but the legacy and controversies generated by the classics will be noted at various points. Further, students will be encouraged to write term papers on topics interrelating the contemporary period with that of the classics and the modern.

Among issues to be discussed will be: what makes a sociological writing a "classic"? what accounts for the success or failure of a theory or a paradigm beyond scientific criteria? what are the contextual determinants or conditioners of sociological theory? what recent changes, if any, call for a reconceptualizing of sociological analysis and theory?

In providing students with an orientation regarding the development of sociological analysis, the seminar will seek (1) to train students in the bearing of sociological theory on research, i.e., on conducting "theory-driven" research and (2) to develop a critical awareness of the epistemological and ontological assumptions that inform contemporary research and theorizing.

Requirements:

1. A take-home exam will be distributed October 30th and due by 5:00PM November 1st
2. A book review essay, between 500-1000 words, will be due the term paper. The review should critically discuss one or more classics other than works assigned as required readings in the seminar, or it may be an intellectual biography of a sociological theorist (such as John R. Staude's Max Scheler, J.D.Y. Peel's Herbert Spencer, Marianne Weber's Max Weber, Piotr Sztompka's Robert K. Merton, or Barry Johnston's Pitirim Sorokin)
3. A term paper between 20-30 double-spaced pages, excluding bibliography, due not later than the last day of the seminar, December 4th. The paper should be in the form of a manuscript that might be submitted to a major sociological journal, such as Sociological Theory or the American Journal of Sociology. The topic should be discussed with the instructor at any time during the semester, with a brief one page abstract or prospectus submitted not later than November 13th.
4. Brief oral presentations on required or optional readings will be asked of everyone.

Recommended for Purchase:

1. Robert K. Merton, On Theoretical Sociology, pb.
2. Talcott Parsons, The Structure of Social Action, 2 vols. pb. [hereafter SSA]
3. George Ritzer, Sociological Theory, 4th ed. (1996)

Week of:

September 2:

1. Anthony Giddens, "Classical Theory and Modern Sociology," American Journal of Sociology, 81 (Jan. 1976): 703-29
2. Robert K. Merton, "On the History and Systematics of Sociological Theory,", in his On Theoretical Sociology, chap 1, pp. 1-37.
3. Joan Alway, "The Trouble with Gender: Tales of the Still-Missing Feminist Revolution in Sociological Theory," Sociological Theory, 13 (November 1995): 209-228. [handout]
4. Craig Calhoun, "Editor's Comment," Sociological Theory, 14 (March 1996): 1-2 [handout] [Note: how would you respond to Calhoun's "Comment"?]

September 9

1. Jeffrey Alexander, "The Centrality of the Classics," in A. Giddens and J.H. Turner, eds., Social Theory Today, pp. 11-57 [copies in Sociology Common Room, in Soc. 206 folders]
2. R.K. Merton, On Theoretical Sociology, chaps. 2, 4, 5

September 16

1. Ritzer, Sociological Theory, chaps. 1 and 2, pp. 3-74
2. Tom Bottomore, Sociology and Marxism, chaps 1-3, pp. 1-73 [in Sociology Common Rooom, in Soc 206 folders]

III. The "Classic" Age of (European) Sociology. The secular nation-state; its advocates, interpreters, and critics. A "classic" reading of the classics: Parsons.

September 23: students will read any one of the following

• Ferdinand Toennies, Gemeinschaft and Gesellschaft;
• Emile Durkheim, Rules of Sociological;
• Max Weber, The Methodology of the Social Sciences, parts I and II or Weber, Economy and Society, v. I, chap. 3
• Georg Simmel, The Sociology of Georg Simmel, part II, III, IV OR V

• Ritzer, chaps. 3-5 (Durkheim, Weber, Simmel)

October 7

• Talcott Parsons, SSA, chaps 1-4 ( The Positivist tradition; Alfred Marshall)

October 14

• Parsons, SSA, chaps. 5-12 (Pt. II: voluntarism: Pareto, Durkheim)

October 21

• Parsons, SSA, chaps. 13-19 (Weber; conclusion)

October 28

1. Parsons, "Some Problems of General Theory in Sociology," pp. 27-68 in John McKinney and E.A. Tiryakian, eds., Theoretical Sociology
2. Ritzer, Sociological Theory, chap. 7

IV. The Americanization of Theory. The Chicago school and its context. American democracy and varieties of individualism. New challenges, red, black and white.

November 4

• Ritzer, Sociological Theory, chaps. 6, 9, 10

1. Ritzer, Sociological Theory, chap. 12
2. Jennifer Lehmann, "Durkheim's Contradictory Theories of Race, Class, and Sex,", American Sociological Review, 60 (August 1995): 566-85
3. Judith Stacey and Barrie Thorne, "The Missing Feminist Revolution in Sociology," Social Problems, 32 (April 1985): 301-316
4. Miriam Johnson, "Functionalism and Feminism: Is Estrangement Necessary?" in Paula England, ed., Theory on Gender/Feminist Theory, pp. 115-130

• Ritzer, Sociological Theory, chaps. 11, 13, 14

November 25

• Ritzer, chap. 15

December 2 [individual reports]