50142 Social Theory

This subject tackles the work of some key classical and contemporary social theorists by focusing on a range of key theoretical concepts and their potential use in helping to open the structure and experience of social life to further questioning. Throughout the subject, a conceptual toolkit is developed to help in thinking through two broadly applicable questions about the nature of social life:

• How are social selves structured, enacted, and reproduced?
• Where does the body fit into the reproduction of social life?

Though this subject focuses on the work of theorists appearing throughout the last century, it is not a 'survey' of the recent history of social theory. Students engage with a series of central theoretical concepts which offer a starting point for critically interrogating the subject's theoretical concerns from differing historical and philosophical standpoints. The juxtaposition of theorists deliberately encourages debate about resonances between different approaches and underlines the need to read widely, and to not be afraid to draw on theoretical work of all kinds in engaging with social issues. Centrally, the subject involves collective and individual engagement with the process of reading, understanding, debating, evaluating, and using theory.

Typical availability

Autumn semester, City campus