Sociological Theory
- University Name: York University
York University
Department of Sociology
Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies
AP/SOCI 2040 6.0 A (Y) - Section B
Sociological Theory
Fall 2019 - Winter 2020
Course Director: Marcello Musto
Class Time: Thursday 16:30 - 18:30
Class Location: DB 0001
Office Location: Ross Building N833A
Office Hours: Monday 16:30 - 18:30 (and by appointment)
Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Teaching Assistants: Sadia Khan - Michael Smith
Course Syllabus
This course deals with the development of sociological theory from the major foundational thinkers of the 19th and early 20th century, through recent approaches informed by a variety of critical perspectives. Much of classical sociological theory was focussed upon growing awareness of society, as such, being the subject of profound change. Central questions addressed by its main authors were: “What is the nature of the society emerging in (and from) 19th century Europe?” and “What is its significance with respect to the development of humanity?” Difference of opinion and profound debate have been characteristic of sociological theory and have widely been recognized as contributing to its development. Since the last decades of the 20th century, the enduring debates have been compounded, without being entirely superseded, by new critical approaches that have sought new insights not only into the nature of society and social change, but of the ways in which knowledge in, and of, society are constructed.
The first part of the course will focus on the principal authors, texts and debates of the classical era of sociology. A wide range of thinkers helped establish the context for, built upon the insights of, filled the gaps between, and discerned alternatives to, the often conflicting ideas of the recognized giants of classical social theory (among others Karl Marx, Émile Durkheim and Max Weber).
The second part of the course will focus on the contributions and controversies that have followed from broad recognition of sociology as a distinct intellectual discipline, coupled with recurrent efforts to shed light on its most basic theoretical underpinnings. These additions to the corpus of classical sociological theory have extended its critical range and multiplied its analytical power and complexity.
A primary goal of this course is to illuminate the role of critical analysis in the expansion and deepening of social knowledge, insisting upon the need for every individual to become informed by confronting ideas in debate and then to arrive at a personal position through a critical evaluation of alternatives.
Course Requirements
Class and Tutorial Participation:
This course is taught in 24 weekly lectures - lasting 1 hour and 50 minutes - and tutorials lasting 50 minutes. Participation will be marked on the basis of a combination of attendance to lectures and tutorials.
Class participation: attendance and informed participation at all class meetings is not only strongly recommended, but required. Students are expected to attend class regularly, complete the assigned readings on time, and participate actively.
Please note that food and the use of cell phone in classroom will not be allowed.
Tutorial participation: The Teaching Assistant will lead the discussion among the students and will also respond to their questions.
Students are required to come prepared to tutorials, with a one page abstract (around 500 words) about the readings, which may include reflections on the main concepts included in the texts, questions about them, problems encountered with the readings (terminology, historical context, etc.), critical comparison with contemporary issues, etc.
Midterm Exams:
Two midterm exams will be held on October 24, 2019 and on February 27, 2020, at the regular class time and place. The exam will last 90 minutes and it will consist of answering to 3 questions drawn from the readings assigned until that date. At the fall mid-term exam students will be required to respond to questions concerning the readings from week 1 to week 6, while at the winter mid-term exam students will have to respond to questions related to the readings of the period lasting weeks 8 to week 18.
Medical or family emergencies are the only reasons for legitimate absences from tests. Students are required to submit documentation indicating the reason for their absence. Students who miss a test will be offered the opportunity to write an additional assignment worth the same amount as the test that was missed only one time.
All students who require extra accommodation for either tests or assignments are responsible for consulting with the York University office in charge of alternate exam/test.
Midterm marks will be available by email (please contact your Teaching Assistant) before November 10, 2019, for the Fall term, and March 9, 2020, for the Winter term.
Final Paper:
The final paper will be divided in two parts: 1) Abstract of the Readings; and 2) Final Essay.
Abstract of the Readings: students should deliver 3 abstracts (of about 500 words each - total of 1.500 words) of the readings from week 20 to week 24.
Final Essay: approximately 3.000 - 3.500 words, including footnotes and a final bibliography (roughly 10 pages double-spaced in 12 pt. 'Times New Roman' font). This essay has to be clearly structured (divided into at least 3 sections), and written with rigorous reference to supporting evidence; generally, 1-2 references to books or articles per page is a good rule of thumb. These sources may include assigned readings, but there must also be evidence of further research.
Students are free to propose their own final paper topic, but it has to be related to the authors and/or the writings read during the course (papers on the sociological theory as a whole of one or more authors, or offering comparison among different sociological conceptions, are the most welcome). Students are encouraged to discuss the topic of the final essay with the Teaching Assistants.
Due date of the abstract of the readings and of the final essay is April 23. Assignments not received after this point will be considered late. The penalty for the first 48 hours late is 5% and 2% will be subtracted for every subsequent day up until a week after the initial due date, totalling a maximum deduction of 15%. After the seventh day, no assignments will be accepted unless the student can provide documentation.
Access to Course Readings:
Many of the required readings are classical of sociological thought and are, therefore, available on-line (more information will be given in class).
All required and additional readings indicated in the syllabus are available at Scott library. The following textbooks, which you may find useful to consult during the year, have been placed on two hours reserve at Scott library:
Applerouth, Scott A., and Laura Desfor Edles, Classical and Contemporary Sociological Theory: Text and Readings, Thousand Oaks: Pine Forge Press, 2012.
Dillon, Michelle, Introduction to Sociological Theory: Theorists, Concepts, and their Applicability to the Twenty-First Century, Malden: Wiley-Blackwell, 2009.
Farganis, James, Readings in Social Theory: The Classical Tradition to Post-Modernism, Boston: McGraw-Hill, 2004.
Kivisto, Peter, Social Theory: Roots and Branches. 5th ed. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2013.
Zeitlin, Irving M., Ideology and the Development of Sociological Theory. 7th ed. Upper Saddle River: Prentice-Hall, 2001.
Course Evaluation
| Class Participation | 15% |
| Tutorial Participation | 15% |
| First Midterm Exam (Fall) | 20% |
| Second Midterm Exam (Winter) | 20% |
| Final Paper | 30% |
Graded feedback worth 35%, based on class and tutorial participation in the Fall semester (15%) and on the first midterm exam (20%), will be transmitted to students who will request it prior to the last day to drop a course without receiving a grade (February 3, 2020).
Schedule of Classes and Readings
Part I: Classics
Week 1 – 5 Sept: Introduction and Overview
Recommended Readings:
Applerouth, Scott A., and Laura Desfor Edles, Classical and Contemporary Sociological Theory: Text and Readings, Thousand Oaks: Pine Forge Press, 2012, “Introduction”.
Eric Hobsbawm, The Age of Revolution 1789-1848, Chap. 1, 2 and maps, pp. 7-52 and 363-374.
Week 2 – 12 Sept: Saint-Simon and the Sociology of Industrialism
Required Readings [I: 1-20]:
Claude de Saint-Simon, Selection of The Organizer [1819], Industrial System [1821] and On Social Organization [1825].
Excerpts taken from the following volumes:
Saint-Simon, Henri. Henri Saint-Simon (1760-1825): Selected writings on science, industry, and social organization. Croom Helm. 1975.
Comte de saint-Simon (ed. Markham), Henri Comte de Saint-Simon 1760-1825 Selected Writings. Blackwell Oxford, 1952.
Additional Readings:
Ghita Ionescu, Introduction, in Id. (ed.), The Political Thought of Saint-Simon, Cambridge University Press 1976.
Week 3 – 19 Sept: Positivism and the Birth of Sociology
Required Readings [I: 21-61]:
Auguste Comte, A General View of Positivism [1848] (excertps).
Additional Readings:
Mary Pickering, Auguste Comte: An Intellectual Biography (Vol. 1), Cambridge University Press, 1993.
Week 4 – 26 Sept: Liberalism
Required Readings [I: 63-80]:
Jeremy Bentham, Introduction to the Principles of Morals and Legislation, Chapter I: “Of the Principle of Utility” and Chapter III: “Of the Four Sanctions or Sources of Pain and Pleasure”.
John Stuart Mill, Principles of Political Economy, Book II, chapter I: "On Property".
Additional Readings:
Stefan Collini, Liberalism and Sociology, Cambridge University Press, 1979.
Week 5 – 3 Oct: Tocqueville and The Sociological Analysis of Political Institutions
Required Readings [I: 82-116]:
Alexis de Tocqueville, Democracy in America [1835 - 1840] (excerpts).
Additional Readings:
Cheryl Welch, De Tocqueville, Oxford University Press, 2001.
Week 6 – 10 Oct: Marx’s Anti-capitalism
Required Readings [118-163]:
Karl Marx, excerpts from the Manifesto of the Communist Party [1848], the Grundrisse [1857-58] and Capital, vol. I [1867].
Additional Readings:
Maximilien Rubel – Margaret Manale, Marx Without Myth: A Chronological Study of his Life and Work, Harper & Row, 1975.
Week 7 – 24 Oct: First Midterm Exam
Week 8 – 31 Oct: Social Darwinism
Required Readings [I: 165-182]:
Herbert Spencer, The Man versus the State [1884] (excerpts).
Additional Readings:
John Offer, Herbert Spencer and Social Theory, Palgrave, 2010.
Week 9 – 7 Nov: Durkheim
Required Readings [I: 226-251]:
Emile Durkheim, excerpts from The Division of Labour in Society [1893] and other minor writings.
Excerpts taken from the following edition:
Emile Durkheim, Selected Writings, (ed. by Giddens), Cambridge University Press, 1972.
Additional Readings:
Anthony Giddens, Durkheim,
Week 10 – 14 Nov: Veblen’s Institutionalism
Required Readings [I: 252-296]:
Thorstein Veblen, Theory of the Leisure Class [1899] (excerpts).
Additional Readings:
Stephen Edgell, Veblen in Perspective: His Life and Thought, M.E. Sharpe, 2001.
Week 11 – 21 Nov: Weber
Required Readings [I: 297-325]:
Max Weber, The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism [1904-05] (excerpts).
Additional Readings:
Joachim Radkau, Max Weber: A Biography, Polity, 2009.
Week 12 – 28 Nov: Social Interactionism
Required Readings [I: 326-365]:
Georg Simmel, The Philosophy of Money [1907] (excerpts); Sociology [1908] (excerpts).
Excerpts taken from the following volume:
Georg Simmel, On Individuality and Social Forms, (ed. by Levine), University of Chicago Press, 1971.
Additional Readings:
Norman Levine, Introduction, in Id. (ed.), Georg Simmel, On Individuality and Social Forms, University of Chicago Press, 1971.
Part II: Contemporary Developments
Week 13 – 9 Jan: Elite Theory
Required Readings [II: 1-15]:
Vilfredo Pareto, The Mind and Society [1916] (excerpts from volume IV: ‘The General Form of Society’).
Additional Readings:
Raymond Aron, Main Currents in Sociological Thought: Durkheim, Pareto, Weber, Vol. 2, Basic Books 1967.
Week 14 – 16 Jan: Cultural Hegemony
Required Readings [II: 16-73]:
Antonio Gramsci, Prison Notebooks [1929-35] (excerpts).
Additional Readings:
Joseph Buttigieg, Introduction, in Id. (ed.), Antonio Gramsci, Prison Notebooks, Columbia University Press, 1992.
Week 15 – 23 Jan: Symbolic Interactionism
Required Readings [II: 74-95]:
George Herbert Mead, Mind, Self and Society [1934] (excerpts from chapter IV ‘Society’).
Additional Readings:
Mitchell Aboulafia (ed.), Philosophy, Social Theory, and the Thought of George Herbert Mead, SUNY, 1991.
Week 16 – 30 Jan: Action Theory
Required Readings [II: 96-127]:
Talcott Parsons, The Structure of Social Action [1937] (Excerpts from Part I ‘The Positivistic Theory of Action’ and Part IV ‘Conclusion’).
Additional Readings:
Week 17 – 6 Feb: The Sociological Imagination
Required Readings [II: 141-176]:
Charles Wright Mills, White Collar [1951] (excerpts).
Additional Readings:
John Eldridge, C. Wright Mills, Horwood, 1983.
Week 18 – 13 Feb: The Frankfurt School
Required Readings [II: 177-193]:
Douglas Kellner, “The Frankfurt School” (selections of writings).
Additional Readings
Andrew Arato, and Eike Gebhardt (Eds.), The Essential Frankfurt School Reader, Continuum, 1982.
Jay Bernstein (Ed.), The Frankfurt School: Critical Assessments (6 voll.), Routledge, 1994.
Week 19 – 27 Feb: Second Midterm Exam
Week 20 – 5 Mar: Black Reconstruction
Required Readings [II: 194-222]:
William Edward Burghardt Du Bois, excerpts (TBA) from various writings [1935 and others].
Malcolm X, excerpts from The Last Speeches and other writings.
Additional Readings:
David Levering Lewis, W. E. B. Du Bois: The Fight for Equality and the American Century 1919–1963, Owl Books 2001
Manning Marable, Malcolm X: A Life of Reinvention, Penguin 2011.
Week 21 – 12 Mar: Feminist Critique
Required Readings [II: 223-306]:
Simone de Beauvoir, The Second Sex [1949] (excerpts).
Additional Readings:
D. Bair, Introduction to Simone de Beauvoir, The Second Sex, Vintage, 1989.
Week 22 – 19 Mar: Biopolitics
Required Readings [II: 307-329]:
Michel Foucault, The Birth of Biopolitics [1978–1979] (excerpts)
Additional Readings:
Gary Gutting, Foucault: A Very Short Introduction, Oxford 2005.
Week 23 – 26 Mar: Subalternity and Post-Colonialism
Required Readings [II: 330-445]:
Franz Fanon, excerpts from The Wretched of the Earth [1961].
Edward W. Said, Orientalism [1978] (“Introduction”).
Additional Readings:
Reiland Rabaka, Forms of Fanonism: Frantz Fanon’s Critical Theory and the Dialectics of Decolonization, Lexington Books, 2011.
Conor McCarthy, The Cambridge Introduction to Edward Said, Cambridge University Press, 2010.
Week 24 – 2 Apr: The Critique of the Spectacle and Consumer Society
Required Readings [II: 446-499]:
Guy Debord, The Society of the Spectacle [1967] (chapters 1-53).
Jean Baudrillard, The Consumer Society [1974] (Part I: chapters I-III; Part II: chapter I; Part III: Conclusion) and other writings (TBA).
Additional Readings:
Anselm Jappe, Guy Debord, University of California Press, 1999.
Douglas Kellner, Jean Baudrillard: From Marxism to Postmodernism and Beyond, Stanford University Press, 1989.
Political Sociology
- University Name: York University
York University
Department of Sociology
Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies
AP/SOCI 3640 6.0 A (Y) - Section B
Political Sociology
Fall 2019 - Winter 2020
Course Director: Marcello Musto
Class Time: Wednesday 19:00 - 22:00
Class Location: DB 1016
Office Location: Ross Building N833A
Office Hours: Monday 16:30 - 18:30 (and by appointment)
Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Course Syllabus
Although discussions on the negative effects and consequences of capitalism have recently spread, ideas about how to concretely promote a more just and democratic socio-economic system have remained deficient or lack public support. Today it seems that there is no alternative political-economic model that represents an effective challenge to capitalism.
The aim of this course is to critically survey the progressive theories and emancipatory experiments proposed in the time period between the French Revolution (1789) and Russian Revolution (1917), in order to understand how they sought to construct social, economic and political alternatives to the capitalist system. Using the lens of political sociology, we will examine some of the most relevant political changes of the “long 19th Century” in their social and historical contexts. The Industrial Revolution, the birth of labour movement, the rise of class politics and the spread of democracy will be among the main themes addressed by this course.
The readings for this course were selected in order to enhance students’ understanding of concepts central to political sociology such as the nature of political power and theories of social change. The main analytical focus of the course will concentrate on evaluating the adequacy of capitalism to address the challenges and opportunities of European societies in the 19th Century and identifying the main characteristics of the alternatives to capitalism proposed within the Socialist tradition. Finally, we will also assess the relevance of the alternatives proposed in the past for the fundamental and enduring social problems of our society today.
Course Requirements
Class Participation (20%):
This course is taught in weekly lectures lasting 2 hours and 50 minutes. Attendance and informed participation at all class meetings is always required. Students are expected to attend class regularly, complete the assigned readings on time (always the required readings and, when possible, the additional readings) and participate actively in class discussion. Participation will be marked for attendance and quality of contribution in class.
In the lectures the course director will:
- give all the pertinent biographical information about the author and the historical context in which the assigned texts were written;
- reconstruct the argument of the author and provide an overview of the assigned readings;
- identify the key questions for discussion, and the controversies implied by the material;
- critically analyze the texts (for example: what are the limitations of the position expressed in the readings?);
- identify anything you found unclear or hard to understand;
- conclude with discussion questions for the group to consider.
Please note that consumption of food and the use of cell phones in classroom will not be allowed.
Midterm Exams (2 exams each worth 20%= 40%):
Two midterm exams will be held on November 13, 2019 and on February 26, 2020, at the regular class time and place. The exam will last 90 minutes and will consist of answering 3 questions drawn from the assigned readings until that date. At the fall midterm exam, students will be required to respond to questions concerning the readings from week 1 to week 9, while at the winter midterm exam students will have to respond to questions related to the readings of the period lasting weeks 11 to week 18. Midterm marks will be available within two weeks after the exam.
Medical or family emergencies are the only reasons for legitimate absences from tests. Students are required to submit documentation indicating the reason for their absence. Students who miss a test will be offered the opportunity to write an additional assignment worth the same amount as the test that was missed only one time.
All students who require extra accommodation for either tests or assignments are responsible for consulting with the York University office in charge of alternate exam/test.
Presentation and Discussant (20%):
Presentation
During the course, each student will be required to give a 15 minutes presentation in each semester, one in the Fall and another in the Winter, for a cumulative total of two presentations. Each presentation is worth 10% of your final grade, totalling 20% in total. Presentations will focus on the assigned readings of the week. Presenters should provide a 1-page or about 500-word summary (single spaced, 12-point font, Times New Roman), in hard copy, to the course director. A good presentation is very important to stimulate critical thinking. Therefore, please avoid just reading from a paper, and try to present ideas and raise questions in order to engage other members of the class. Presentations should:
- reconstruct all the main ideas of the author of the week and provide an overview of their theories;
- critically discuss the main problems and controversies of the readings;
- connect the ideas presented in the readings with contemporary issues and debates;
- conclude with three discussion questions for the group to consider. They can also address whether or not the theories presented in the readings are applicable to our contemporary society.
Examples of possible presentations will be provided during the semester by the course director.
Please note that the presenters are responsible for coordinating their discussions with the course director before class, in order to ensure that their respective presentations and questions are adequately different.
Final Exam (20%):
The Final exam will be held on April 1 at the regular class time and place. It will have the same format of the midterm exams, but it will be bigger. Students will be required to respond to 3 questions in a maximum of 2 hours. The first question will be related to the whole course and to the topic “Alternative to Capitalism” in general (main concepts and comparison among his most important thinkers), while the last 2 questions to which students will have to respond will be focused on the readings from week 20 to week 23.
Students who miss a test will be not offered the opportunity to write an additional assignment
Access to Course Readings:
Many of the required readings are classics of sociological thought and are, therefore, available on-line. More information will be given in class and on the course director website: https://marcellomusto.org/teaching/undergraduate-courses.
All required and additional readings indicated in the syllabus are available at Scott library. The volumes listed below have been placed on two hours reserve at Scott library.
Thomas Janoski - Robert Alford - Alexander Hicks and Mildred Schwartz (Eds.), The Handbook of Political Sociology: States, Civil Societies, and Globalization, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2005.
George D.H. Cole, Socialist Thought, Volume I: The Forerunners 1789-1850, London: MacMillan 1962
George D.H. Cole, Socialist Thought, Volume II: Marxism and Anarchism 1850-1890, London: MacMillan 1961
Harry W. Laidler, History of Socialism, New York: Thomas Y. Crowell 1968
Carl Landauer, European Socialism, Berkeley/Los Angeles: University of California Press 1959
Course Evaluation
| Class Participation | 20% |
| First Midterm Exam (Fall) | 20% |
| First Presentation | 10% |
| Second Midterm Exam (Winter) | 20% |
| Second Presentation | 10% |
| Final Exam | 20% |
Thirty-five (35%) of each student’s mark will be completed by February 3, 2020, the last day to drop a course without receiving a grade. This graded feedback will be made up of class participation for the Fall semester worth 10%, plus the first midterm exam worth 20%, and the first presentation/discussion worth 10%, totalling 40%. This information will be communicated to students who request it.
Schedule of Classes and Readings
Fall
Week 1 – 4 Sept: What is Political Sociology? Introduction and Overview
Recommended Readings:
Reinhard Bendix and Seymour Lipset, “Political Sociology: An essay with special reference to the development of research in the United States of America and Western Europe”, Current Sociology, vol. VI (1957), no. 2, 79-99.
Eric Hobsbawm, The Age of Revolution 1789-1848, Chap. 1, 2 and maps, pp. 7-52 and 363-374.
Week 2 – 11 Sept: Saint-Simon and the Sociology of Industrialism
Required Readings:
Carl Landauer, European Socialism, University of California, pp. 21-35 (Chap. I: “The Three Anticapitalistic Movement”, sections 1, 2 and 3).
Claude de Saint-Simon, Selection of The Organizer [1819], Industrial System [1821] and On Social Organization [1825].
Additional Readings:
Ghita Ionescu, Introduction, in Id. (ed.), The Political Thought of Saint-Simon, Cambridge University Press 1976.
Week 3 – 18 Sept: Saint-Simonism: Tecnocraticism, Planning and the Role of Science
Required Readings:
George D.H. Cole, Socialist Thought, Volume I: The Forerunners 1789-1850, pp. 37-61 (Chap. IV: “Saint-Simon” and Chap. V “The Saint-Simonians”).
Henri de Saint-Simon (ed. Markham), Henri Comte de Saint-Simon, 1760-1825: Selected Writings. Blackwell Oxford, 1952.
Additional Readings:
Henri de Saint-Simon, Henri Saint-Simon (1760-1825): Selected Writings on Science, Industry, and Social Organization. Croom Helm. 1975.
Week 4 – 25 Sept: Fourier and the New Associative Order
Required Readings:
George D. H. Cole, Socialist Thought, Volume I: The Forerunners 1789-1850, pp. 62-74 (Chap. VI: 'Fourier and Fourierism').
Charles Fourier, Design for Utopia, pp. 76-81, 120-30, 163-70, 203-4.
Jonathan Beecher, Charles Fourier: The Visionary and His World, pp. 454-71.
Additional Readings:
Charles Fourier, 'Attractive Labour'
http://marxists.org/reference/archive/fourier/works/ch26.htm
Week 5 – 2 Oct: Fourierism: Phalanstery, Gradualism and Gender Equality
Required Readings:
Carl Landauer, European Socialism, pp. 35-40 (Subsection: “Fourier”).
Pamela Pilbeam, French Socialists Before Marx: Workers, Women and the Social Question in France, pp. 107-34 (Chap. 7: “Association: Dream Worlds”).
Jonathan Beecher, Victor Considerant and the Rise and Fall of French Romantic Socialism, pp. 58-78 and 446-52.
Additional Readings:
Charles Fourier, 'The Phalanstery' (Fragment I) http://marxists.org/reference/archive/fourier/works/ch20.htm
Charles Fourier, 'The Phalanstery' (Fragment II) http://marxists.org/reference/archive/fourier/works/ch27.htm
Week 6 – 9 Oct: Cabet and the Icarians
Required Readings:
Carl Landauer, European Socialism, pp. 41-46 (Subsection: “Cabet”).
Etienne Cabet, Voyage to Icaria, in Frank Manuel – Fritzie Manuel (Eds.), French Utopias: An Anthology of Ideal Societies, pp. 329-44.
Christopher Johnson, Utopian Communism in France: Cabet and the Icarians, 1839-1851, Ithaca: Cornell University Press, pp. 288-300.
Additional Readings:
George D. H. Cole, Socialist Thought, Volume I: The Forerunners 1789-1850, pp. 75-79 (Chap. IV: ‘Cabet and the Icarian Communists’).
Week 7 – 23 Oct: Owen and the Cooperative Movement
Required Readings:
George D.H. Cole, Socialist Thought, Volume I: The Forerunners 1789-1850, pp. 86-101 (Chap. IX: 'Owen and Owenism - Earlier Phases')
Carl Landauer, European Socialism, pp. 46-59 (Chap. I: 'The Three Anticapitalistic Movement', subsection dedicated to “Robert Owen”)
Robert Owen, A New View of Society (Essay Four: 'The end of government is to make the governed and the governors happy') http://marxists.org/reference/subject/economics/owen/index.htm#new-view
Additional Readings:
Gregory Claeys, Searching for Utopia: The History of an Idea, New York: Thames & Hudson, 2011, pp. 113-140 (Chap. 8: “Ideal Cities” and Chap. 9: “Utopia as Community”).
Robert Owen, A New View of Society (Essay Two: 'The Principles of the Former Essay Continued, and Applied in Part to Practice').
Week 8 – 30 Oct: The Owenites, Chartism and British Working Class
Required Readings:
Ralph Miliband, “The Politics of Robert Owen”, Journal of the History of Ideas, vol. 15 (1954), n. 2, pp. 233-245.
John Harrison, Quest for the New Moral World, New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, pp. 45-87.
A. L. Morton, The Life and Ideas of Robert Owen, London: Lawrence and Wishart, pp. 170-178.
George D.H. Cole, Socialist Thought, Volume I: The Forerunners 1789-1850, pp. 120-131 (Chap. XI: 'Owen and the Trade Unions - The end of Owenism')
Additional Readings:
Chushichi Tsuzuki, “Robert Owen and Revolutionary Politics”, in Sidney Pollard – John Salt, Robert Owen: Prophet of the Poor, London: Macmillan, pp. 13-38.
Gregory Claeys, “Early Socialism as Intellectual History”, History of European Ideas, vol. 40 (2014), no. 7, pp. 893-904.
Week 9 – 6 Nov: Proudhon’s Mutualism
Required Readings:
Carl Landauer, European Socialism, pp. 59-68 (Chap. I: 'The Three Anticapitalistic Movement', section 6)
George D.H. Cole, Socialist Thought, Volume I: The Forerunners 1789-1850, pp. 201-218 (Chap. XIX: 'Proudhon').
Pierre-Joseph Proudhon, “Bank of the People”, in Iain McKay (Ed.), Property is Theft!, Oakland, CA: AK Press, pp. 383-393.
Pierre-Joseph Proudhon, The Political Capacity of the Working Class (Chap. XIII: “On Association, Within Mutuality”), in Iain McKay (Ed.), Property is Theft!, Oakland, CA: AK Press, pp. 744-753.
Additional Readings:
Margaret Hall, The Sociology of Pierre Joseph Proudhon, 1809-1865, Philosophical Library, 1971.
Pierre-Joseph Proudhon, General Idea of the Revolution in the Nineteenth Century (Chap. III: 'The Principle of Association', and Chap. VI: section 3: 'Division of Labour, Collective Forces, Machines, Workingmen’s Associations')
Week 10 – 13 Nov: First Midterm Exam
Week 11 – 20 Nov: Socialism and Woman’s Emancipation
Required Readings:
Pamela Pilbeam, French Socialists Before Marx: Workers, Women and the Social Question in France, pp. 75-106 (Chap. 6: “The New Woman”).
George D.H. Cole, Socialist Thought, Volume I: The Forerunners 1789-1850, pp. 183-188 (Chap. XVII: “Flora Tristan”).
Flora Tristan, The Workers’ Union, Chicago: University of Illinois Press, 2007, pp. 75-89 (Chap. III “Why I Mention Women”).
Additional Readings:
George D.H. Cole, Socialist Thought, Volume I: The Forerunners 1789-1850, pp. 168-176 (Chap. XV: “Louis Blanc and the Organisation of Labour”).
Ian Birchall, The Spectre of Babeuf, Chicago: Haymarket, 2016 (Second Edition).
Week 12 – 27 Nov: Blanqui, the Revolution and the Power of Insurrection
Required Readings:
George D.H. Cole, Socialist Thought, Volume I: The Forerunners 1789-1850, pp. 158-167 (Chap. XIV: “Blanqui and Blanquism”).
Louis Auguste Blanqui, The Blanqui Reader: Political Writings, 1830–1880, London: Verso, 2018.
Doug Enaa Greene, Communist Insurgent: Blanqui’s Politics of Revolution, Chicago: Haymarket, 2017, pp. 95-113 and 135-144 (Chap. VIII “The Duty of a Revolutionary”; Chap. X “Eternity by the Stars”; Chap. XI “Ni Dieu ni Maitre” “Conclusion”; “Epilogue”).
Additional Readings:
Louis Blanqui, Selected Works, Lexington, 2015 (extract).
Winter
Week 13 – 8 Jan: Marx (Part 1): Bourgeoisie, Proletariat and Class Struggle
Required Readings:
Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, Manifesto of the Communist Party. (No need to read the prefaces – pp. 1-13.)
https://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/download/pdf/Manifesto.pdf
Marcello Musto, “Revisiting Marx’s Concept of Alienation”, Socialism and Democracy, vol. 24 (2010), no. 3: 79-101.
(Available through Scott Library)
Additional Readings:
Eric Hobsbawm, How to Change the World: Tales of Marx and Marxism (Chap. 2: “Marx, Engels and Pre-Marxian Socialism”).
Friedrich Engels, Socialism: Utopian and Scientific (Chap. I: “The Development of Utopian Socialism”).
Week 14 – 15 Jan: The International Working Men’s Association and Global Solidarity
Required Readings:
Marcello Musto, “Introduction”, in Marcello Musto (ed.), Workers Unite! The International 150 Years Later (Editor), London–New York: Bloomsbury, 2014, pp. 1-30.
Marcello Musto (ed.), Workers Unite! The International 150 Years Later (Editor), London–New York: Bloomsbury, 2014, documents 1-4, 7, 11-3, 29, 34, 44, 53, 58-63, 65-80.
The book is available here:
https://marcellomusto.org/images/Workers-Unite-The-International-150-Years-Later-New-York--Bloomsbury-2014-336-pages.pdf
Additional Readings:
Milorad M. Drachkovitch (Ed.), The Revolutionary Internationals, 1864-1943. Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1966.
Week 15 – 22 Jan: The Paris Commune and Workers’ Self-Emancipation
Required Readings:
Marcello Musto, “Introduction”, in Marcello Musto (ed.), Workers Unite! The International 150 Years Later (Editor), London–New York: Bloomsbury, 2014, pp. 30-57.
Marcello Musto (ed.), Workers Unite! The International 150 Years Later (Editor), New York: Bloomsbury, 2014, documents 46, 32-42, 54-7.
(Same book used for January 15)
Louise Michel, (read the links below: biography and documents).
http://www.iisg.nl/collections/louisemichel/index.php
Additional Readings:
Kristin Ross, Communal Luxury: The Political Imaginary of the Paris Commune, Verso.
Peter Watkins, La commune (Paris, 1871), France, 345 min.
Part 1: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3KIvQ1nUdIs&ab_channel=Chve
Part 2: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5rI-UFKiOvg&ab_channel=Chve
Prosper Olivier Lissagaray, History of the Paris Commune of 1871 [1876], London: Verso.
https://www.marxists.org/history/france/archive/lissagaray/
Week 16 – 29 Jan: Marx (Part 2): Communism
Required Readings:
Marcello Musto, “Communism”, in Marcello Musto (Ed.), The Marx Revival: Key Concepts and New Critical Interpretations, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2020, pp. 24-50.
(This chapter is attached)
Karl Marx, Capital (extracts).
Karl Marx, Critique of the Gotha Programme.
https://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1875/gotha/
Additional Readings:
Paresh Chattopadhyay, 'The Failure of Twentieth-Century Socialism and Marx’s Continuing Relevance', Socialism and Democracy, Vol. 24 (2010), no. 3, pp. 23-45.
Week 17 – 5 Feb: Bakunin, Anarchism and the Struggle Against the State
Required Readings:
Mikhail Bakunin, (a selection of Writings and Speeches).
(This is attached – See Bakunin No Gods)
Karl Marx, “On Bakunin’s Statism and Anarchy”.
https://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1874/04/bakunin-notes.htm
Additional Readings:
Daniel Guerin, No Gods, No Masters, AK Press, 2005.
Week 18 – 12 Feb: The Narodniks and Populism in Russia
Required Readings:
Vera Zasulich - Karl Marx, "Letters on Social Relations in Russia"
https://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1881/zasulich/
Franco Venturi, Roots Of Revolution: A History of the Populist and Socialist Movements in Nineteenth Century Russia, New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1960, in particular chapters 7: "The Peasant Movement", 8: "The Student Movement", 9: "The First Groups", pp. 204-252, Chapter 18: "The Movement 'Go to the People'", pp. 469-506, Chapter 19: "The Working Class Movement", pp. 507-558.
https://ia800304.us.archive.org/33/items/rootsofrevolutio008262mbp/rootsofrevolutio008262mbp.pdf
Andrzey Walichi, The Controversy over Capitalism, Oxford: OUP, 1969 (excerpt).
Additional Readings:
James H. Billington, Mikhailovsky and Russian populism, Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1958.
Richard Wortman, The Crisis of Russian populism, London: CUP, 1967.
Arthur P. Mendel, Dilemmas of Progress in Tsarist Russia: Legal Marxism and Legal Populism, Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1961.
Week 19 – 26 Feb: Second Midterm Exam
Week 20 – 4 Mar: Kropotkin: Expropriation and Decentralization
Required Readings:
Martin Buber, Pfade in Utopia, 1950 (Chap. 5).
Peter Kropotkin, “Anarchism: Its Philosophy and Ideal”
https://www.marxists.org/reference/archive/kropotkin-peter/1890s/x01.htm
Peter Kropotkin, excerpts on Anarchist theory of the state.
(This is attached – See Kropotkin 1)
Peter Kropotkin, The Conquest of the Bread, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1995, pp. 31-40.
(This is attached – See Kropotkin 2)
Additional Readings:
Paresh Chattopadhyay, The Associate Mode of Production, Brill, 2017.
Week 21 – 11 Mar: Social Democracy and Welfare State
Required Readings:
Karl Kautsky, The Road to Power, (Chap. I, III and IV).
https://www.marxists.org/archive/kautsky/1909/power/index.htm
Additional Readings:
Documents of the Second International (a selection).
Week 22 – 18 Mar: Luxemburg and the General Strike
Required Readings:
Gabriel Kuhn (Ed.), All the Power to the Councils: A Documentary History of the German Revolution of 1918-1919, Oakland: PM Press, 2012, in particular: Ernst Daeumig, "The Council Idea and Its Realization", pp. 51-58.
https://libcom.org/files/Allpower%20to%20the%20councils.pdf
Rosa Luxemburg, The Mass Strike, the Political Party and the Trade Unions (1906) (sections 4 and 6-8).
https://www.marxists.org/archive/luxemburg/1906/mass-strike/
Rosa Luxemburg, "The Socialisation of Society" (1918).
https://www.marxists.org/archive/luxemburg/1918/12/20.htm
Additional Readings:
Pierre Broué, The German Revolution, 1917-1923, London: Merlin Press, 2006, Chapter 1: 1-10, Chapter 7: pp. 89-110, Chapter 8: 129-155.
Lelio Basso, Rosa Luxemburg: A Reappraisal, London: Deutsch 1975.
Week 23 – 25 Mar: Gramsci and the Question of Cultural Hegemony
Required Readings:
Antonio Gramsci, Prison Notebooks (extracts).
Additional Readings:
Joseph Buttigieg, Introduction, in Id. (ed.), Antonio Gramsci, Prison Notebooks, Columbia University Press, 1992.
Gwyn A. Williams, Proletarian Order: Antonio Gramsci, Factory Councils and the Origins of Communism in Italy, 1911-1921, London: Pluto Press, 1975.
Week 24 – 1 Apr: Final Exam
Juan Dal Maso, review of Karl Marx, 1881-1883. El último viaje del Moro, La Izquierda Diario, 28 June 2020.
Juan Dal Maso, review of Karl Marx, 1881-1883. El último viaje del Moro, La Izquierda Diario, 28 June 2020.
Hay libros cortos que son grandes libros. Tal es el caso de Karl Marx 1881-1883. El último viaje del Moro, de Marcello Musto.
El original en italiano fue publicado en 2016 por Donzelli Editore y la versión en castellano salió por Siglo XXI México este año, con traducción de Agustín Santella.
Valdemar Cruz, review of Os último anos de Marx. Uma biografia intelectual, Expresso, 27 June, 2020.
Valdemar Cruz, review of Os último anos de Marx. Uma biografia intelectual, Expresso, 27 June, 2020.
No dia 5 de janeiro de 1879, o jornal "The Chicago Tribune" publicava uma entrevista com o filósofo alemão Karl Marx (1818-1883).
Review of Os último anos de Marx. Uma biografia intelectual, Sapo Mag, 20 June, 2020.
Review of Os último anos de Marx. Uma biografia intelectual, Sapo Mag, 20 June, 2020.
"Os Últimos Anos de Marx": livro de Marcello Musto editado em Portugal
A publicação em Portugal da obra "Os Últimos Anos de Marx", de Marcello Musto, com tradução de Rubens Enderie, foi anunciada na sexta-feira pela editora Parsifal.
Wajah Baru Marx Setelah Marx-Engels Gesamtausgabe (MEGA) (Bagian I)
Wajah Baru Marx Setelah Marx-Engels Gesamtausgabe (MEGA) (Bagian I)
I. Kebangkitan Marx
SELAMA lebih dari satu dekade terakhir, jurnal-jurnal dan surat kabar bergengsi dengan pembaca luas telah mendeskripsikan Karl Marx sebagai teoretikus dengan pandangan jauh ke depan yang relevansinya terus memperoleh konfirmasi.
Lorenzo Mari, review of Marx revival. Concetti essenziali e nuove letture, Fata Morgana, 25 May 2020.
Lorenzo Mari, review of Marx revival. Concetti essenziali e nuove letture, Fata Morgana, 25 May 2020.
Prima che l’attuale situazione di pandemia prendesse il sopravvento tanto nell’attenzione mediatica quanto nel dibattito culturale, ad agitare la speculazione teorico-filosofica era, innanzitutto, la riflessione sulla crisi economico-finanziaria iniziata nel 2007, che ad oggi è ancora in corso, risultando ulteriormente aggravata dalle circostanze attuali.
Review of Karl Marx, 1881-1883. El último viaje del Moro, El Universal, 10 May 2020.
Review of Karl Marx, 1881-1883. El último viaje del Moro, El Universal, 10 May 2020.
