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DEGREE REGULATIONS & PROGRAMMES OF STUDY 2017/2018

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DRPS : Course Catalogue : School of Social and Political Science : Sociology

Undergraduate Course: Researching Social Power (SCIL10084)

Course Outline
SchoolSchool of Social and Political Science CollegeCollege of Humanities and Social Science
Credit level (Normal year taken)SCQF Level 10 (Year 3 Undergraduate) AvailabilityAvailable to all students
SCQF Credits20 ECTS Credits10
SummaryThis course introduces students to key issues in the conceptualisation and theorisation of social power, and explores some of the major fields of power-related research in sociology and related disciplines. It aims to give the student a sense of some of the key issues involved in studying social power, with a strong focus on substantive research areas.
Course description 1. Power: conceptualisation, puzzles, debates (I)
- The challenge of conceptualisation
- Power - a 'dispositional concept'
- Power, will, intention
- The problematic interdependence of power over, to (with?)
2. Power: conceptualisation, puzzles, debates (II)
- Relationship between physical and social power
- Agency and structure
- Concentration and distribution
- Evidencing power (potential vs actual, 'indicators')
3. Closely related concepts: domination, authority, legitimacy
- Standard Anglophone distinctions between these concepts
- Weber's Herrschaft and its theoretical complications
4. The idea of the 'balance of power'
- Basis in International Relations
- Generalising it more widely to the sociological study of power
- Ambiguities: descriptive or normative theory?
5. Interpersonal power dynamics
- Derek Layder
- Erving Goffman
- Max Weber's charisma concept
6. Elites
- A controversial concept?
- Roots of elite theory - Mosca, Pareto, Michels
- Recent work - G William Domhoff, Pierre Bourdieu, etc.
7. Organisations
- Power in organisation studies
- J. K. Galbraith
- Stewart Clegg
8. Cities
- The tradition of 'community power studies'
- The idea of 'growth coalitions'
- Some classic cases: Atlanta, New Haven, Santa Cruz
9. Historical process.
- Power and the study of social change
- Michael Mann
- Charles Tilly
- Michel Foucault
10. The problem of liberal society
- The cultural and historical embedding of our social science concept of power
- The problem of freedom (liberty) as power
- The problem of authority in liberal society
- The social organisation and legitimation of power in liberal society
Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
Pre-requisites Co-requisites
Prohibited Combinations Other requirements None
Information for Visiting Students
Pre-requisitesVisiting students should have at least 3 Sociology or closely related courses at grade B or above (or be predicted to obtain this). We will only consider University/College level courses.
High Demand Course? Yes
Course Delivery Information
Not being delivered
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
  1. Engage critically with the work of scholars who research social power, and evaluate their arguments.
  2. Formulate and advance their own position on the relative value and importance of contending conceptions of power.
  3. Analyse the ways substantive fields of research inform conceptions of power, and how specific conceptions of power may shape empirical research.
  4. Develop their ability to present - in written and verbal form -- coherent, balanced arguments concerning the topic of social power.
  5. Improve their writing and argumentation skills through mutual critical feedback with classmates.
Reading List
Mark Haugaard, (ed.) (2002), Power: A Reader, Manchester UP.
Hearn, Jonathan (2012) Theorizing Power, Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.
Steven Lukes (ed.) (1986), Power, NYU Press.
Steven Lukes (2005), Power: a radical view, Palgrave.
Peter Morris (2002), Power: a philosophical analysis, Manchester U. P.
Gianfranco Poggi (2001), Forms of Power, Polity.
John Scott (2001), Power, Polity.
Dennis H. Wrong (2002), Power: Its Forms, Bases, and Uses, 3rd Edition, Transaction.
Additional Information
Graduate Attributes and Skills By the end of this course students should have strengthened their skills in:
- Analysing and assessing arguments and texts.
- Orally presenting their ideas to small groups and debating these.
- Working in small groups.
- Presenting ideas and arguments in written form.
KeywordsNot entered
Contacts
Course organiserProf Jonathan Hearn
Tel: (0131 6)50 4242
Email:
Course secretary
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