Capitalism or modernity? The historical sociology perspective 1600-SZD-SPEC-KN-SOC
1. The anthropological perspective. The industrial revolution and modernization process; industrial society as modernity. 2. The category of modernity in sociology I: From modernization theory to multilinear perspectives. Modernity or modernities? 3. The category of modernity in sociology II: various stages of modernization. Modernity as a specific phenomenon (or complex of phenomena) and as an ideal. 4-5. The perspective of historical sociology: Modernity and political development. Modernity – a blurred, indeterminate, or perhaps even a referent-less category? 5. Capitalism as the main organizer of modernity, which has led to global interconnections and inequalities rather than a single model of modernity: Sven Beckert. 7. The concepts of economy-world, structures of everyday life, free market and capitalism: Fernand Braudel. 8. World-systems analysis: core, semi-peripheries and peripheries: Immanuel Wallerstein. 9. Does a concept of unpaid domestic and bodily women’s labor as ‘primitive accumulation’ supplement or distract the world-systems approach: Silvia Federici. 10. Poland: A case of historical-sociological approach (Jacek Kochanowicz).
Course coordinators
Learning outcomes
Knowledge | The graduate knows and understands:
WG_01 - to the extent necessary for existing paradigms to be revised - a worldwide body of work, covering theoretical foundations as well as general and selected specific issues - relevant to a particular discipline
within the social sciences
WG_02 - the main development trends in the disciplines of the social sciences in which the education is provided
WG_03 - scientific research methodology in the field of the social sciences
WK_01 - fundamental dilemmas of modern civilisation from the perspective of the social sciences
Skills | The graduate is able to:
UK_05 - speaking a foreign language at B2 level of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages using the professional terminology specific to the discipline within the social sciences, to the extent enabling participation in an international scientific and professional environment
Social competences | The graduate is ready to
KO_01 - fulfilling the social obligations of researchers and creators
KO_02 - fulfilling social obligations and taking actions in the public interest, in particular in initiating actions in the public interest
KO_03 - think and acting in an entrepreneurial manner
Assessment criteria
Description of requirements related to participation in classes, including the permitted number of explained absences: Two absences is permitted without any consequences. Any additional absences must be made up. The absolute limit of absences is 5 classes.
Principles for passing the classes and the subject (including resit session): Course assessment will be based on class participation and the preparation and presentation of a class paper/presentation. If a student is unable to give a presentation, the basis for assessment will instead be a written assignment on a topic agreed upon with the instructor, followed by a discussion.
Methods for the verification of learning outcomes: Learning outcomes will be assessed on an ongoing basis through evaluation of participation in class discussions, as well as evaluation of the presentation delivered or, alternatively, the written assignment (and the discussion thereof).
Evaluation criteria: The final grade will consist of two components. The first component will be an assessment of the intensity and quality of class participation (55% of the final grade), conducted jointly by the instructors and course participants. The second component will be an assessment of the quality of, and amount of work invested in, the preparation of the presentation or, alternatively, the final written assignment (45% of the final grade). It will be discussed with the instructor in order to evaluate the scope and independent character of the work completed.
Bibliography
Sven Beckert. Capitalism. A Global History, Penguin Press, New York 2025; Fernand Braudel, Civilization and Capitalism, 15th-18th Century, vol. 1-3, University of California Press, Berkley 1992; Gerard Delanty, Engin F. Isin, Handbook of Historical Sociology, Sage, London - Thousand Oaks – New Delhi 2003; Shmuel Eisenstadt (ed.), Multiple Modernities, Milton Park – New York, Routledge 2017; Silvia Federici. Caliban and the Witch. Women, the Body and Primitive Accumulation, Autonomedia, New York 2004; Ernest Gellner, Plough, Sword and Book. The Structure of Human History, University of Chicago Press, Chicago – London 1989; Jacek Kochanowicz, Duch kapitalizmu na polskiej peryferii: perspektywa historyczna w: Jacek Kochanowicz, Mirosława Marody (red.) Kultura i gospodarka, Warszawa 2010; Bruno Latour, We Have Never Been Modern, Harvard University Press, Cambridge, Mass. 1993; Mikołaj Lewicki, Przyszłość nie może się zacząć, Scholar, Warszawa 2018; Bo Stråth, Peter Wagner, European Modernity. A Global Approach, Bloomsbury Academic, London – New York 2017; Peter Wagner, Modernity. Understanding the Present, Polity, Cambridge – Malden 2012; Immanuel Wallerstein. World-Systems Analysis: An Introduction, Duke University Press, Durham NC 2005.