230122 SE Selected Paradigms: Talcott Parsons (2018S)

Alhtough labeled as old fashioned structure-functionalism, Parsons’ work is among the most important sociologies of the 20th century. Following Max Weber and framing a voluntaristic theory of action, he theorised the rise of anti-modernity and the modernisation of modern societies in the 1960s. The seminar will address the theoretical and historical relevance of Parsons’s social thought along the major phases of its development. The methodological foundations of modern sociology are put center stage which claims that propositions about social reality are based in heuristic concepts and frames of reference. The background for this discussion is the process of modernisation and its three components of differentiation, pluralisation and normative upgrading. Modernisation is not a progressive evolutionary process as it can break down and regress. The conditions for modern society and for its breakdown shall be discussed.