Contemporary Theory Syllabus 2018
Contemporary Theory Syllabus 2018
Contemporary Theory Syllabus 2018
Course Description:
This course takes a broad-but-deep look at current trends in sociological theory. Many scholars
trace contemporary theory back to Talcott Parsons attempt to offer programmatic statements about the
nature of social life. We begin by examining these attempts and their critiques, exploring how this
dialogue informs modern conceptions of a macro-micro separation – along with attempts to synthesize
or explain away this distinction. Rather than parade through some of what I call “classical contemporary
theory”, we will spend the bulk of the semester engaging current conceptualizations of human action
that focus more or less on individuals, structures, context, culture, biology, and conceptions of organized
social life.
This course is organized around a few principles: We will not spend a lot of time reading the
works of famous scholars whose ideas ultimately end up recapitulating classical theorists. Rather, we
will spend most of our time focused on usable, testable, influential theoretical traditions. The works
selected for this course ideally have some relevance to empirical research in mainstream sociology. The
ideas we discuss, ideally, are not domain-specific but are able to be applied to the study of a number of
substantive social domains and research areas. In a sense, we are exploring meta-understandings of the
nature of individuals and social organization that explicate the taken-for-granted assumptions
sociologists employ in their more focused research areas.
1 Course topics are highly influenced by Omar Lizardo’s Graduate Course. He never cites himself; I chose any of his papers on this syllabus.
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Contemporary Theory – Hitlin, Fall 2018
This course is reading intensive. Rather than ask students to write a seminar paper on a topic that may
or may not inform your research, we will approach this semester a little differently than the standard
seminar. You are expected to write the following assignments over the course of the semester:
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Contemporary Theory – Hitlin, Fall 2018
• (Optional) Swedberg, Richard. (2016). “Before theory comes theorizing or how to make social science more interesting.” The British Journal of
Sociology, 67:5-22.
• Rojas, Fabio. (2017). Theory for the Working Sociologist. Columbia University Press: New York.
• Abrutyn, Seth (Ed.). (2016). Handbook of Contemporary Sociological Theory. Springer: Switzerland.
2. Parsons, the ‘Invention’ of classical theory and the introduction of “structure” into social science
• Martin, John Levi. (2015). “On Theory in Sociology”, pp. 1-43 in Thinking Through Theory. W.W. Norton.
• Parsons, Talcott. (1938). “The role of ideas in social action.” American Sociological Review, 3(5):652-664
• Joas, Hans and Wolfgang Knobl. 2009. Chapter 2 (pp. 20-42) in Social Theory: Twenty Introductory Lectures.
Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
• Maryanski, Alexandra and Jonathan Turner. (1991). The offspring of functionalism: French and British structuralism.
Sociological Theory, 9(1):106-115.
• Porpora, Douglas V. (1989). “Four Concepts of Social Structure.” Journal for the Theory of Social Behaviour, 19(2):195-
221.
• Manza, Jeff and Michael A. McCarthy. (2011). “The Neo-Marxist Legacy in American Sociology.” Annual Review of
Sociology 37: 155-183.
• (Optional): Camic, C. (1989). Structure after fifty years: the anatomy of a charter. American Journal of Sociology, 95(1):38-107.
• DiTomaso, N. (1982). "Sociological Reductionism" From Parsons to Althusser: Linking Action and Structure in Social Theory. American
Sociological Review, 47(1):14-28.
• Blau, P. M. (1974). “Presidential address: Parameters of social structure.” American Sociological Review, 39(5):615-635.
• Parsons, Talcott. (1935). “The place of ultimate values in sociological theory.” International Journal of Ethics, 45(3):282-316.
• Radclife-Brown, A. (1940). “On social structure.” The Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland, 70: 1-12.
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Contemporary Theory – Hitlin, Fall 2018
5. Cultural Turn
• Swidler, Ann. (1986). “Culture in action: Symbols and strategies.” American Sociological Review, 51:273-286.
• Hays, Sharon. (1994). “Structure and agency and the sticky problem of culture.” Sociological Theory, 12(1):57-72.
• Swidler, Ann. (2001). Talk of love: How culture matters. University of Chicago Press, Chicago (Pp.160-213)
• Patterson, Orlando. (2014). “Making Sense of Culture.” Annual Review of Sociology 40:1-30.
• Lizardo, Omar. (2016). “Improving Cultural Analysis: Considering Personal Culture in its Declarative and
Nondeclarative Modes.” American Sociological Review 82(1):88-115.
• Miles, Andrew. (2014). “Addressing the Problem of Cultural Anchoring.” Social Psychology Quarterly 77(2):210-227.
• Onwuachi-Willig, Angela. (2016). “The Trauma of the Routine: Lessons on Cultural Trauma from the Emmett Till
Verdict.” Sociological Theory 34(4):335-357.
• (Optional) Emirbayer, Mustafa. (2004). The Alexander school of cultural sociology. Thesis Eleven, 79(1):5-15.
• Friedland, Robert. and Mohr, John. (2004). The cultural turn in American sociology. In Friedland, R. and Mohr, J. W., editors, Matters of culture:
Cultural sociology in practice, pages 1-69. Cambridge University Press., New York.
• Sewell, William. H. Jr. (1999). The concept(s) of culture. (pp. 35-61) in Bonnell, Victoria E. and Lynn Hunt (Eds.) Beyond the Cultural Turn.
Berkeley: University of California Press.
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Contemporary Theory – Hitlin, Fall 2018
• (Optional) Meyer, John W., John Boli, George M. Thomas, and Francisco O. Ramirez. (1997). “World society and the nation-state.” American
Journal of Sociology, 103:144-181.
• Zucker, L. G. (1977). “The role of institutionalization in cultural persistence.” American Sociological Review, 42:726-743.
• (Optional) Marsden, P. and Laumann, E. (1984). “Mathematical ideas in social structural analysis.” The Journal of Mathematical Sociology,
10(3):271-294.
• Fararo, T. J. and Butts, C. T. (1999). “Advances in generative structuralism: structured agency and multilevel dynamics.” The Journal of
mathematical sociology, 24:1-65.
• (Optional) Goldthorpe, John H. (1998). “Rational action theory for sociology.” British Journal of Sociology, 49(2):167-192.
• (Optional) Smith, Christian. 2009. “The Personal Sources of Social Structures.” Pp. 318-383 in What is a Person? Chicago Press: Chicago.
• (Optional) Fine, Gary Alan. and Kleinman, Sheryl. (1983). “Network and meaning: An interactionist approach to structure.” Symbolic Interaction,
6(1):97-110.
• Collins, Randall. 2000. “Situational Stratification: A Micro-Macro Theory of Inequality.” Sociological Theory. 18(1): 17-43.
• (Optional) Fligstein, N. (2001). “Social skill and the theory of fields.” Sociological theory, 19(2):105-12.
• Benson, R. (1999). “Field theory in comparative context: A new paradigm for media studies.” Theory and Society, 28:463-498.
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Contemporary Theory – Hitlin, Fall 2018
• (Optional) Dimaggio, Paul. (1997). “Culture and cognition.” Annual Review of Sociology, 23:263-287.
• Reed, Isaac Ariail. (2017). “On the Very Idea of Cultural Sociology.” Pp. 18-41 in Benezecry, Claudio E., Monika Krause and Isaac Ariail Reed
(Eds.) Social Theory Now. University of Chicago Press: Chicago.
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Contemporary Theory – Hitlin, Fall 2018
• (Optional) Robinson, Zandria Felice. (2016). “Intersectionality.” Pp. 477-499 in Abrutyn, Seth (Ed.). Handbook of Contemporary Sociological
Theory. Springer: Switzerland.
• Perrin, Andrew J. and Katherine McFarland. 2011. “Social Theory and Public Opinion.” Annual Review of Sociology 37: 87-107.
• Choo, Hae Yeon. and Myra Marx Ferree. (2010). “Practicing Intersectionality in Sociological Research: A Critical Analysis of Inclusions,
Interactions, and Institutions in the Study of Inequalities.” Sociological Theory, 28(2): 129-149.
• Jepperson, Ronald. and John.W. Meyer. (2011). “Multiple Levels of Analysis and the Limitations of Methodological Individualisms.” Sociological
Theory, 29(1): 54-73.
• Freese, Jeremy. (2008). “Genetics and the social science explanation of individual outcomes.” American Journal of Sociology, 114(1):1-35.
• Cerulo, Karen. A. (2010). “Mining the intersections of cognitive sociology and neuroscience.” Poetics, 38(2):115-132.
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Contemporary Theory – Hitlin, Fall 2018
Administrative Home
The College of Liberal Arts and Sciences is the administrative home of this course and governs its add/drop deadlines, the second-grade-
only option, and other policies. These policies vary by college http://clas.uiowa.edu/students/handbook.
Electronic Communication
Students are responsible for official correspondences sent to their UI email address (uiowa.edu) and must use this address for all
communication within UI (Operations Manual, III.15.2).
Academic Integrity
All undergraduates enrolled in courses offered by CLAS have, in essence, agreed to the College's Code of Academic Honesty.
Misconduct is reported to the College, resulting in suspension or other sanctions, with sanctions communicated with the student through
the UI email address.
Making a Complaint
Students with a complaint should first visit with the instructor or course supervisor and then with the departmental executive officer
(DEO), also known as the Chair. Students may then bring the concern to CLAS (https://clas.uiowa.edu/students/handbook/student-
rights-responsibilities).
Absence Policy
Please visit the Sociology Department webpage for the specific Absence Policy Addendum for our department.