Political Sociology (SOC 301)

2020 Spring
Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences
Sociology(SOC)
3
6
Ateş Ali Altınordu atesaltinordu@sabanciuniv.edu,
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English
Undergraduate
SPS101 SPS102
Formal lecture,Seminar
Communicative,Discussion based learning
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Programs\Type Required Core Elective Area Elective
Cultural Studies *
Cultural Studies *
Political Science *
Political Science and International Relations *
Political Science and International Relations *
Political Science (Previous Name: Social and Political Sciences) *

CONTENT

This course introduces students to the study of power, politics, and the state from a sociological point of view. Topics to be covered include sociological theories of domination and the modern state, the social origins of political regimes, collective action in revolutions and social movements, class coalitions and welfare states, social cleavages.

LEARNING OUTCOMES

  • Upon successful completion of the course, students should be able to : identify the major parties and stakes in political conflicts.
  • identify the social relations and dynamics that underlie political institutions and processes.
  • distinguish between different forms of political action.

PROGRAMME OUTCOMES

1. Understand the world, their country, their society, as well as themselves and have awareness of ethical problems, social rights, values and responsibility to the self and to others. 5

2. Understand different disciplines from natural and social sciences to mathematics and art, and develop interdisciplinary approaches in thinking and practice. 4

3. Think critically, follow innovations and developments in science and technology, demonstrate personal and organizational entrepreneurship and engage in life-long learning in various subjects; have the ability to continue to educate him/herself. 4

4. Communicate effectively in Turkish and English by oral, written, graphical and technological means. 4

5. Take individual and team responsibility, function effectively and respectively as an individual and a member or a leader of a team; and have the skills to work effectively in multi-disciplinary teams. 3

1. Develop knowledge of theories, concepts, and research methods in humanities and social sciences. 5

2. Assess how global, national and regional developments affect society. 5

3. Know how to access and evaluate data from various sources of information. 4

1. Demonstrate an understanding of the multiple methodologies and interpret different approaches, concepts, and theoretical legacies in the interdisciplinary field of Cultural Studies. 3

2. Identify interconnections of knowledge within and across the disciplines of sociology, anthropology, literature, visual studies, philosophy, and geography. 4

3. Cultivate a critical approach to the study of culture, articulating the relations between culture, power, and history; exploring cultural diversity and socio-cultural change at the local, national and global level; and exploring the corresponding demands for rights and social justice. 5

4. With the use of appropriate technologies, be able to present advanced oral and written evaluations of developments in the realm of cultural production, consumption, and representation. 3

1. To analyze national and global events from various social science perspectives.

2. To demonstrate theoretical and practical knowledge on political science and international relations and to state views and positions with advanced oral and written skills.

3. To compete for increasing career opportunities in national and global institutions.

4. To (be able to) understand and follow the changes in political behaviours, opinions and structures.

5. To gain the ability to make logical inferences on social and political issues based on comparative and historical knowledge.

1. Understand and follow changes in patterns of political behavior, ideas and structures. 5

2. Develop the ability to make logical inferences about social and political issues on the basis of comparative and historical knowledge. 5

ASSESSMENT METHODS and CRITERIA

  Percentage (%)
Final 40
Midterm 40
Participation 20

RECOMENDED or REQUIRED READINGS

Readings

Poggi, Gianfranco. 1990. ?Social Power and Its Political Form.? Pp. 3-18 in The State: Its Nature, Development, and Prospects. Cambridge: Polity Press.

Weber, Max. 1978. "Power and Domination", ?The Basis of Legitimacy.? Pp. 53-54, 212-216 in Economy and Society Vol.1. Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press.

Lukes, Steven. 2005. Power: A Radical View. 2nd edition. New York: Palgrave Macmillan. 14-59.

Mills, C. Wright. 1956. ?The Higher Circles.? Pp. 3-29 in The Power Elite. New York: Oxford University Press.

Parsons, Talcott. 1957. ?The Distribution of Power in American Society.? World Politics 10(1): 123-143.

Foucault, Michel. 1995. ?Panopticism.? Pp. 195-229 in Discipline and Punish: The Birth of the Prison. New York: Vintage Books.

Tüfekçi, Zeynep. 2014. ?Engineering the public: Big Data, Surveillance and Computational Politics.? First Monday 19(7).

Zuboff, Shoshana. 2016. ?Google as a Fortune Teller: The Secrets of Surveillance Capitalism.? FAZ.net. https://www.faz.net/-hzi-8eaf4.

Poggi, Gianfranco. 1990. ?The Nature of the Modern State.? Pp. 19-33 in The State: Its Nature, Development, and Prospects.

Weber, Max. 1978. ?Political and Hierocratic Organizations?, "Legal Authority with a Bureaucratic Administrative Staff." Pp. 54-56, 217-226 in Economy and Society Vol.1.

Scott, James C. 1998. ?Cities, People and Language.? Pp. 53-83 in Seeing Like a State: How Certain Schemes to Improve the Human Condition Have Failed. New Haven: Yale University Press.

Skocpol, Theda. 1976. ?France, Russia, China: A Structural Analysis of Social Revolutions.? Comparative Studies in Society and History 18(2): 175-210.

Goodwin, Jeff. 2011. ?Why We Were Surprised (Again) by the Arab Spring.? Swiss Political Science Review 17(4): 452-56.

McCarthy, John D. and Mayer N. Zald. 1977. "Resource Mobilization and Social Movements: A Partial Theory." American Journal of Sociology 82(6): 1212-1241.

Benford, Robert D. 2000. ?Framing Processes and Social Movements: An Overview and Assessment.? Annual Review of Sociology 26: 611-639.

Göle, Nilüfer. 2013. ?Gezi ? Anatomy of a Public Square Movement.? Insight Turkey 15(3): 7-14.

Schwartz, Mildred A. and Kay Lawson. 2005. ?Political Parties: Social Bases, Organization, and Environment.? Pp. 266-286 in The Handbook of Political Sociology: States, Civil Societies, and Globalization. Eds. Thomas Janoski et. al. New York: Cambridge University Press.

Kalaycıoğlu, Ersin. 2019. ?Elections, Parties and the Party System.? Pp. 83-102 in The Routledge Handbook of Turkish Politics. Eds. Alpaslan Özerdem and Matthew Whiting. Abingdon and New York: Routledge.

Stepan, Alfred. 2011. "The Multiple Secularisms of Modern Democratic and Non-Democratic Regimes." Pp. 114-144. in Rethinking Secularism. Eds. Craig Calhoun, Mark Juergensmeyer, and Jonathan van Antwerpen. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Altınordu, Ateş. 2021. ?Religion and Politics in Contemporary Turkey.? The Oxford Handbook of the Sociology of the Middle East. Eds. Armando Salvatore, Sari Hanafi, and Kieko Obuse. Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press.

Calhoun, Craig. 1998. Nationalism. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1-85.

Keyder, Caglar. ?A History and Geography of Turkish nationalism.? Pp. 3-17 in Citizenship and the Nation-State in Greece and Turkey. Eds. Faruk Birtek and Thalia Dragonas. Abingdon and New York: Routledge.

Brubaker, Rogers. 2017. ?Why Populism?? Theory and Society 46(5): 357-385.

Taşkın, Yüksel. 2020. ?Populism in Turkey: Historical and Contemporary Patterns.? The Oxford Handbook of Turkish Politics. Ed. Güneş Tezcür. Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press.

Rodrik, Dani. 2011. ?The Political Trilemma of the World Economy.? Pp. 184-206 in The Globalization Paradox: Democracy and the Future of the World Economy. New York: W.W. Norton & Company.