RC Social
Science 302 -- Winter 2008
Social
Science Theory II:
Contemporary
Social and Cultural Theory
Professor
Tom Weisskopf
This course will provide
students with the opportunity to familiarize themselves with the work of
prominent interdisciplinary social scientists who have tackled important issues
facing the contemporary world. These
scholars, most of whose work has been published over the past half century, are
all highly original thinkers who have contributed greatly to the advancement of
social and cultural theory as well as to the understanding of the world we live
in. Each of them, in varying ways, draws
on and builds on several different social science disciplines to develop their
own distinctive and influential approach to such issues as the nature and
desirability of capitalism and “the market;” the social goals of equality,
justice, freedom, democracy and community; the rise and decline of nations and
societies; and the sources of social change.
CAPITALISM,
THE MARKET, AND THE GOALS OF A GOOD SOCIETY
Rebecca Blank
& William McGurn, Is the Market Moral?
Karl Polanyi, The
Great Transformation: The Political and Economic
Origins of Our Time
Milton Friedman, Capitalism
and Freedom
Amartya Sen, Development
as Freedom
Robert A. Dahl, On Political
Equality
Joseph Stiglitz, Making
Globalization Work
Herman Daly and John Cobb, For the
Common Good
INDIVIDUALS, GROUPS & SOCIETY:
SELF-INTEREST & SOCIAL COMMITMENT
Mancur Olson, The
Rise and Decline of Nations
Albert Hirschman, Exit, Voice and Loyalty
Nancy Folbre, The
Invisible Heart: Economics and Family Values
Glenn Loury, The
Anatomy of Racial Inequality
Robert Frank, Passions Within Reason; The Strategic Role of the Emotions
Robert Putnam, Bowling Alone: The Collapse and Revival of
American Community
READING LIST
Course
readings are listed by general topic area, and by week, on the two pages
following this one. All readings are required except for those
marked by an asterisk, which are recommended.
The required readings are contained in two course-packs (one for each of
the two topic areas), which you can obtain at Excel, 1117 South University, and
in the following paperback books, which are available for purchase at the
Shaman Drum Bookstore, 313 South State.
The recommended readings (including some not listed below) will be
posted as resources at the CTools course website.
Amartya Sen, Development
as Freedom (New York: Knopf, 1989).
Robert Dahl, On Political Equality (
Nancy Folbre, The
Invisible Heart: Economics and Family Values (
Glenn Loury, The
Anatomy of Racial Inequality (
Robert
Putnam, Bowling Alone: The Collapse and Revival of American Community (
At least one
copy of each of all thirteen of the books on the course reading list, as well
as one copy of each course-pack, will also be on reserve at the Shapiro
Undergraduate Library. I strongly
CAPITALISM,
THE MARKET, AND THE GOALS OF A GOOD SOCIETY
Jan. 8-10 Rebecca Blank and William McGurn, Is
the Market Moral?
Blank: pp. 11-56, 91-101,111-128 (75 pages)
McGurn: pp.
57-90, 102-110, 129-144 (59 pages)
Jan. 15-17 Karl Polanyi, The
Great Transformation: The Political and Economic
Origins of Our Time
Foreword by Joseph Stiglitz: pp. vii-xvii (11 pages)
Introduction by Fred Block; pp. xviii-xxxviii (21 pages)
Chs. 6-7, 11-12, 14-17, 21; pp.
71-89,136-57,171-217,257-268 (95 pages)
Jan. 22-24 Milton
Friedman,
Capitalism and Freedom
Introduction and chs. 1-2, 6-7, 10-12: pp. 1-36, 85-118,
161-195 (105 pages)
*Samuel Bowles, “What Do Markets Do?,” Challenge (July-Aug. 1991),
pp. 11-16 (6 pages)
Jan. 29-31 Amartya Sen, Development as Freedom
Introduction, chs. 1-2, 4-6, 8; pp. 3-53, 87-159,189-203
(139 pages)
Feb. 5-7 Robert Dahl, On Political Equality
Chs. 1-7; pp. 1-120 (120 pages)
Feb. 12-14 Joseph Stiglitz, Making Globalization Work
Chs. 1-2,
3, 6-7, 10: pp. 3-59, 61-74, 81-90, 97-101, 161-210, 269-292 (158 pages)
Feb. 19-21 Herman
Daly and John Cobb, For the
Common Good Drop next time!
Intro.,
chs. 1, 8-10, 11-13, 16; pp. 1-21, 159-206, 209-267, 298-314 (145 pages)
*John
Attarian, “Herman Daly’s Ecological Economics” & Herman
Daly, "Globalization
and Its Inconsistencies – Does Free Trade Mean Free Migration?" in The Social
Contract (Spring 2003) (5 pages)
INDIVIDUALS, GROUPS & SOCIETY:
SELF-INTEREST & SOCIAL COMMITMENT
March 4-6 Mancur Olson, The
Rise and Decline of Nations
Chs. 2-3, 4, 6, pp. 17-74, 75-117, 146-180 (136 pages)
March 11-13 Albert Hirschman, Exit, Voice and Loyalty
Chs. 1(part),
2-9; pp. 1-5, 21-129 (114 pages)
*Albert
Hirschman, “Exit and Voice: An Expanding Sphere of Influence,”
ch. 4 in Rival Views of Market Society and Other Recent Essays (Viking
1986), pp. 77-101 (25 pages)
March 18-20 Nancy Folbre, The
Invisible Heart: Economics and Family Values
Introduction, chs. 1-5, 8; pp. xi-xx,
1-135, 185-208 (169 pages)
March 25-27 Glenn Loury, The Anatomy of Racial Inequality
Chs. 1, 3-5;
pp. 1-13, 55-169 (129 pages)
April
1-3 Robert
Frank,
Passions
Within Reason; The Strategic Role of the Emotions
Chs. 1-3, 9-12;
pp. 1-70, 163-236, 253-259 (151 pages)
April 8-10 Robert
Putnam,
Bowling Alone: The Collapse &
Revival of American Community
Chs.
1, 2-3, 8, 9(part), 10, 15, 16-17, 21-22, 24: pp. 15-28, 31-64, 134-147,
169-180,
183-88, 277-84, 287-306, 336-363, 402-14 (151 pages)