Classical sociologies and beyond (on origins, foundation myths and receptions). 3500-FAKANG-CSB

The course deals with the origins, formation and turning points in the development of sociology. The seminar touches upon the role of sociological classics as iconic figures personalizing various, contemporary theoretical currents. It discusses ideas (and reception) of seminal authors who defined sociology as a new social science. It touches upon ideas (and reception) of seminal authors who defined sociology as a new social science – from the forsaken giants, such as August Comte and Herbert Spencer, to Georg Simmel, Max Weber and his once more famous colleague Werner Sombart. It also deals with the turning points in the development of this social science branch, its post-war Americanization, the supposed crisis and intellectual shift of 1960s and 1970s. A few classes are going to focus on the special case of Karl Marx who was introduced to the pantheon of classics relatively late, including the ways in which Marxist ideas were apprehended and re-formulated. The development of idea of sociology in the Communist countries from the Stalinist concept of a “bourgeois pseudo-science” to the post-Stalinist vision of “Marxist” and “bourgeois” sociologies as distinctive sociological traditions. It discusses the classical sociology as social theory, a supposed conceptual foundation of sociology and a form of a professional memory. It puts them in the context of. It puts classics in the context of the transformations of sociological theory, with its continuities and discontinuities, and the change of the dominant vision of this social science. It started as a supposed only, truly scientific science of society only to end up as a mere form of a self-reflection of the modern society.
The course has classical form of a teacher-guided discussion on selected topics (and readings). Fifteen meetings, two hours each, are planned. Everyone is expected to read prescribed text before Additionally, every student should prepare a short oral presentation, as well as to prepare for an oral exam (which should refresh previously gathered knowledge only).
The origins; the idea of sociology as a science (as any other).
The social and the theoretical role of the sociological classics.
Georg Simmel and the American sociology.
Sociology in the Communist countries – the post-stalinist view: from the “bourgeois pseudo-science” to the “Marxist” and “bourgeois” sociologies as distinctive sociological traditions.
“The coming crisis of Western sociology” and after. 1960s as a turning point in the development of the social science branch.
How and why Karl Marx became the sociological classic?
Marxisms, apprehended, interpreted, used and re-formulated.
Werner Sombart and Max Weber: classical sociologists living and dead.
“Classical sociology” as a theory and social memory.