SOC 222A. SEMINAR ON COMPARATIVE AND HISTORICAL SOCIOLOGY

Course Description

Format: The seminar will take the form of class discussion around the weekly "primary reading" list. Starting in the third week (Sept. 18), each student will select a section of his/her choice and serve as the organizer and leading discussant for that section. In addition to the "primary reading" list, the organizer of the section should read selected items on the "further reading" list. For each weekly section, the leading discussant will provide a brief summary of the reading and propose a set of issues for discussion (20 minutes). The primary responsibility of the instructor is to assist students to organize each section by identifying research issues and discussion topics and, if necessary, providing an overview of the theoretical/methodological issues in the literature. He will lead discussions in selected weeks.

Readings:

Readings on the "primary reading" list will be on reserve in Perkins Library.

Requirement:

1. Class participation and presentation: 40%. Students are expected to read the items on the "primary reading" list prior to class, prepare for the designated leading discussion and presentation of a special topic, and actively participate in class discussion.
2. Two book/article reviews: 20%. Students may choose two books/articles in the "further reading" list and write review essays. Max. 3 pages each.
3. A research paper: 40%. Students may choose one of the two options: (1) Choose an area in comparative & historical sociology, provide a systematic literature review, trace the main lines of research and theoretical/empirical extensions, and identify frontier research issues; or (2) choose a field of interest, identify one or two research issues under debate in the literature, propose a research design to address the unsolved problems. Due: December 16, 1996.

Sept. 4 Overview

Sept. 11 Styles and Substance in Comparative & Historical Sociology

• Primary reading:
  • B. Moore Jr. 1966. Social Origins of Dictatorship and Democracy . Pp.413-483. III. Beacon Press.
  • C.Geertz. 1973. "Deep Play: Notes on the Balinese Cockflight." Pp.412-453 in The Interpretation of Cultures, by C. Geertz. NY: Basic Books.
  • J. Scott. 1976. The Moral Economy of the Peasant. Ch. 1, 6. Yale U. Press.
  • S. Popkin. 1979. The Rational Peasant. Ch. 1, 2. U. of California Press.

• Primary reading:
  • M. Weber.1946. From Max Weber, edited by H. H. Gerth and C. W. Millls. Pp.294-301. Oxford U. Press.
  • R. Bendix. 1964. Nation-Building and Citizenship. Esp. Ch. 1, 2, 3. Doubleday & Co.
  • T. Skocpol. 1985. "Bringing the State Back in: Strategies of Analysis in Current Research." Pp.3-37 in Bringing the State Back In, edited by P. Evans, et al. Cambridge University Press.

• Further reading:
  • T. Skocpol. 1979. States and Social Revolutions. Cambridge U. Press.
  • G. Poggi. 1978. The Development of the Modern State. Stanford University Press.
  • P. Evans, et al. 1985. Bringing the State Back In. Cambridge University Press.
  • P. Anderson. 1974. Lineages of the Absolutist State. Verso.
  • M. Mann. 1986. The Sources of Social Power. Cambrige U. Press.
  • C. Tilly (ed.). 1974. The Formation of National States in Western Europe. Princeton U. Press.

• Primary reading:
  • G. Simmel. 1955. Conflict and the Web of Group-Affiliations. Pp.13-55, 87-123. NY: Free Press.
  • P. Bourdieu. 1991. "Social Space and the Genesis of 'Classes'." Pp. 229-251 in Language & Symbolic Power, by P. Bourdieu. Harvard University Press.
  • E. O. Wright. 1989. "A General Framework for the Analysis of Class Structure." Pp.3-43 in The Debate on Classes, edited by E. O. Wright. Verso.
  • M. Hechter. 1987. Principles of Group Solidarity. Esp. Ch. 2, 3, 9. U. of California Press.

• Further Reading:
  • E. P. Thompson. 1963. The Making of the English Working Class . NY: Vintage Books.
  • M. Lamont and M. Fournier (eds). 1992. Cultivating Differences . U. of Chicago Press.
  • M. Archer and J. Blau. 1993. "Class Formation in Nineteenth-Century America: The Case of the Middle Class." Annual Review of Sociology 19: 17-41.
  • L. Wacquant. 1991. "Making Class: The Middle Class(es) in Social Theory and Social Structure." Pp. 39-64 in Bringing Class Back In, edited by S. McNall (et al.). Westview Press.
  • I. Katznelson and A. Zolberg (eds). 1986. Working-Class Formation . Princeton U. Press.

• Primary reading:
  • M. Olson. 1965. The Logic of Collective Action. Pp. 5-52. Harvard University Press.
  • C. Tilly. 1978. From Mobilization to Revolution. Esp. Ch. 2, 3, 4, 5
  • J. McCarthy and M. Zald. 1977. Resource Mobilization and Social Movements: A Partial Theory. AJS 82: 1212-1241.
  • D. McAdam, J. McCarthy, and M. Zald. 1988. "Social Movements." Pp.695-737 in Handbook of Sociology, edited by N. Smelser.

• Further Reading:
  • P. Oliver and G. Marwell. 1985. A Theory of the Critical Mass. I." AJS 91: 522-556.
  • A. Hirschman. 1982. Shifting Involvement. Princeton U. Press.
  • A. Morris and C. Mueller. 1992. Frontiers in Social Movement Theory. Yale U. Press.
  • D. Chong. 1991. Collective Action and the Civil Rights Movement . U. of Chicago Press.
  • J. C. Jenkins. 1983. "Resource Mobilization Theory and the Study of Social Movements." Annual Review of Sociology 9: 527-53.

• Primary reading:
  • F. F. Piven & R. Cloward. 1977. Poor People's Movements. Pp. 1-40. NY: Vintage.
  • C. Tilly. 1986. The Contentious French. Esp. Ch. 1, 7, 12.
  • J. Scott. 1985. Weapons of the Weak. Esp. Ch. 5, 6, 7, 8. Yale U. Press.
  • X. Zhou. 1993. "Unorganized Interests and Collective Action in Communist China. ASR 58: 54-73.

• Further reading:
  • P. BirnBaum. 1988. States and Collective Action. Cambridge U. Press.
  • P. Oliver. 1989. "Bringing the Crowd Back in." Research in Social Movements, Conflict and Change 11: 1-30.
  • J. Scott. 1990. Domination and the Arts of Resistance. Yale U. Press

• Primary reading:
  • B. Anderson. 1983. Imagined Communities. Verso.
  • W. Petersen. 1987. "Politics and the Measurement of Ethnicity." Pp.187-233 in The Politics of Numbers, edited by W. Aloso and P. Starr. Russel Sage.
  • A. Pizzorno. 1987. "Politics Unbound." Pp. 27-62 in Changing Boundaries of the Political, edited by C. S. Maire. Cambridge University Press.

• Further reading:
  • J. Breuilly. 1982. Nationalism and State. U. of Chicago Press.
  • E. J. Hobsbawm. 1990. Nations and Nationalism Since 1780. U. of Cambridge Press.
  • T. H. Marshall. 1964. Class, Citizenship and Social Development. NY: Doubleday.

Oct. 30 Reflection I: State-Society Relationship in Comparative Perspective

• Primary reading:
  • J. S. Migdal. 1994."The State in Society: An Approach to Stuggles for Domination." Pp.7-34 in State Power and Social Forces, edited by J. Migdal, A. Kohli, V. Shue. Cambrige University Press.
  • W. Streeck and P. Schmitter. "Community, Market, State, --- and Associations?" Pp.1-29 in Private Interest Government, edited by W. Streeck and P. Schmitter. CA: Sage.
  • B. Badie and P. Birnbaum. 1983. The Sociology of the State . Part 3. U. of Chicago Press.
  • R. Bates. 1981. Markets and States in Tropical Africa. Esp. pp.81-132. U. of California Press.

• Further reading:
  • C. Tilly. 1990. Coercion, Capital, and European States, AD 990-1990. Blackwell.
  • G. Kasza. 1995. The Conscription Society. Yale U. Press.

• Primary Reading
  • T. Skocpol. 1984. "Emerging Agendas and Recurrent Strategies in Historical Sociology." Pp.356-391 in Vision and Method in Historical Sociology, edited by T. Skocpol. Cambridge U. Press.
  • C. Geertz. 1973. "Thick Description: Towards an Interpretive Theory of Culture" in The Interpretation of Cultures, by C. Geertz. 1973. NY: Basic Books.
  • C. Ragin. 1987. The Comparative Methods. Ch. 1-4. U. of California Press.
  • L. Isaac and L. Griffin. 1989. "Ahistoricism in Time-series Analysis of Historical Process." ASR 54: 873-890.

Nov. 20 Student Presentation

Nov. 27 No class. Happy Thanksgiving!

Dec. 4 Conclusion and Party