F*ck the system: Anti-government, anti-systemic narrations, and counter culture in America. 4219-SH0054
This course examines the evolution of anti-systemic narratives and the history of rebellion in the United States. Through historical and sociological lenses, participants will analyze the movements, social groups, and individuals who have challenged established power structures. The course focuses on the motivations, rhetoric, and justifications used by those who stand against the "System." The course is highly interactive, engaging students in structured debates and encouraging them to switch perspectives to develop an understanding of domestic resistance. Merton’s Typology of Individual Adaptation will be used to classify different modes of rebellion and social deviance, for example:
• Innovation (Accepting goals, rejecting means): Groups that utilize the system’s infrastructure (railways, waste, or commercial surplus) to survive or create art while bypassing traditional labor and legal structures;
• Retreatism (Rejecting both goals and means): groups who seek total separation from the American state;
• Rebellion (Replacing goals and means): those who seek to fundamentally restructure or overthrow the existing social contract.
In this course we will study examples such as: the Beat Generation, trainhoppers, punks practicing freeganism, the Amish, the Branch Davidians, communal hippies, the Black Panther Party, the American Indian Movement (AIM), and the radical anti-technology philosophy of the Unabomber.
We will also examine our own individual modes of adaptation looking at society from a different perspective.
Course coordinators
Type of course
Mode
Learning outcomes
Knowledge
• The student possesses comprehensive knowledge of Robert K. Merton’s Typology of Individual Adaptation and its application within sociological strain theory.
• The student demonstrates a detailed understanding of various American subcultures, counter-cultures, and rebellious social movements throughout modern U.S. history.
• The student recognizes the motivations, rhetoric, and ideological justifications used by domestic anti-systemic groups and individuals.
Skills
• The student is able to critically interpret sources and synthesize academic arguments regarding domestic resistance.
• The student can practically apply Merton’s sociological typology to classify and analyze real-world examples of social deviance and rebellion.
• The student demonstrates independent sociological thinking, is able to analyze societal structures from multiple perspectives.
Competences
• The student refines their academic writing skills by producing structured essays and papers.
• The student develops digital research literacy, searching the internet to find relevant real-life examples of sociological concepts.
• The student builds confidence in public speaking, practicing the articulation of arguments during various tasks, such as short presentations or structured in-class debates.
Assessment criteria
Quizzes / Entry tests – 30%
Participation in class activities – 30%
Written assignment – 40%
Bibliography
Merton, R.K., 1938. Social structure and anomie. American Sociological Review, 3(5), pp. 672–682.
Merton, R.K., 1968. Social theory and social structure. Enlarged ed. New York: Free Press.
Agnew, R., 1992. Foundation for a general strain theory of crime and delinquency. Criminology, 30(1), pp. 47–88
A detailed bibliography will be published on the Kampus platform.