Universität Wien

240531 SE Theory, Structure, Critique: and the Search for happy Futures (P2) (2019S)

5.00 ECTS (2.00 SWS), SPL 24 - Kultur- und Sozialanthropologie
Continuous assessment of course work

Participation at first session is obligatory!
Moodle

Registration/Deregistration

Note: The time of your registration within the registration period has no effect on the allocation of places (no first come, first served).

Details

max. 25 participants
Language: English

Lecturers

Classes (iCal) - next class is marked with N

  • Monday 20.05. 15:00 - 16:30 Seminarraum A, NIG 4. Stock
  • Tuesday 21.05. 15:00 - 16:30 Seminarraum A, NIG 4. Stock
  • Wednesday 22.05. 15:00 - 16:30 Hörsaal C, NIG 4. Stock
  • Thursday 23.05. 13:15 - 14:45 Hörsaal C, NIG 4. Stock
  • Monday 27.05. 15:00 - 16:30 Seminarraum A, NIG 4. Stock
  • Tuesday 28.05. 15:00 - 16:30 Seminarraum A, NIG 4. Stock
  • Wednesday 29.05. 15:00 - 16:30 Hörsaal C, NIG 4. Stock
  • Friday 31.05. 15:00 - 16:30 Seminarraum A, NIG 4. Stock

Information

Aims, contents and method of the course

The aim of this course is to introduce a particular standpoint vis-a-vis social and cultural theory. The approach something of a ‘paradigm’ in Kuhn’s terms- is that of critical structural realism: a way of formulating empirically rigorous theory, able to analyze and critique the forces and powers roiling the current conjuncture, so as to contribute to strategies and practices contributing to happy futures for all. Comprehension of critical structural realism requires understandings of the nature of theory, the social, and critique. Consequently, a post-positivist approach to theory is offered, one that seeks approximate truths. The social is conceptualized as structures of forces and powers operating through spaces and times. Critique is presented as discovery of individual or social actualities and of formulation of how to intervene in those actualities to design happy futures.
What might you acquire in this course? A way of theorizing helpful for producing approximate truths as opposed to convenient opinions. A way of analyzing the social in terms of the forces and powers controlling its dynamics. A way of being critical without being critical.
The course is largely a series of lectures. I will work hard to make it lively and compelling. You will laugh, you will cry, you better ask lots and lots of questions and, in the end, you will have learned something of value (if not, I failed).

Assessment and permitted materials

Survival in academic life turns on the ability to publish papers in important refereed journals. You will be assessed on an article written as if it were for publication. It should be on a topic relevant to your intellectual interests, but dealing with issues addressed in the course. It should follow the stylistic format of Anthropological Theory. Length is at your discretion.

Minimum requirements and assessment criteria

Minimum Requirements: Come to the course, do the readings, write the paper.
Assessment Criteria: Articles for scholarly publication are arguments. As such they have a point being made, and rationale for accepting the validity of the point. No point, no rationale, no good. A good paper makes a significant point. A good paper’s argument exhibits clarity. A good paper’s rationale presents compelling evidence. No significance, no clarity, no compelling evidence, no good.

Examination topics

Presence, written papers, readings

Reading list

Reading List (Selection):
Antonio Gramsci, ‘The Intellectuals’ In Roger Gottlieb (ed.) An Anthology of Western Marxism. http://www.csun.edu/~snk1966/Gramsci%20-%20Prison%20Notebooks%20-%20Intellectuals.pdf
Max Horkheimer. 1939. The Social Functions of Philosophy. https://www.radicalphilosophyarchive.com/article/the-social-function-of-philosophy
Gilles Deleuze and Félix Guattari. 1996. What is Philosophy?
Auguste Comte. 1896. The Positive Philosophy of Auguste Comte. Vol. 1. https://socialsciences.mcmaster.ca/econ/ugcm/3ll3/comte/Philosophy1.pdf
Walter Wallace. 1973. The Logic of Science in Sociology. https://otismyers-6687a.firebaseapp.com/cc646/the-logic-of-science-in-sociology-by-walter-l-wallace-020230194x.pdf
S. Reyna. 2017. What is Theory? Something, Time-Being, Art. In S. Reyna. Starry Nights.
----. 2016. The Jeweler’s Loupe: Validation. Anthropological Theory. 16 (2-3): 295-319.
Saint-Simon. 1964. Social Organization, The Science of Man and Other Writings. NY: Harper.
Comte. 1975. Social Physics. Book VI. In G. Lenzer (ed.) Auguste Comte and Positivism. NY: Harper.
Marx and Engels. 1983. In H. Selsam et. al (eds).Dynamics of Social Change: A Reader in Marxist Social Science. NY: International Publishers. Especially pages 3557,63-69, 76-79.
Durkheim. 1895. The Rules of the Sociological Method. Especially Chapters 1-4. https://monoskop.org/images/1/1e/Durkheim_Emile_The_Rules_of_Sociological_Method_1982.pdf.
Lévi-Strauss. 1949, The Elementary Structures of Kinship. Especially Chapters 5 & 6.
https://archive.org/stream/TheElementaryStructuresOfKinshipLeviStrauss/The+Elementary+Structures+Of+Kinship+-+Levi+Strauss_djvu.txt.
Gramsci. 1988. Hegemony, Relations of Force, Historical Bloc. In D. Forgacs (ed.) An Antonio Gramsci Reader. NY: Schocken Books.
Althusser. 1977. For Marx. Especially Chapter 3. London: Verso
S. Reyna. 2016. Deadly Contradictions. Chapter 1. NY: Berghahn.
----. Social Reism. In S. Reyna. The Thing of It Is.
Max Horkheimer. 1937. Traditional and Critical Theory. https://monoskop.org/images/7/74/Horkheimer_Max_Critical_Theory_Selected_Essays_2002.pdf.
Didier Fassin. 2017. The Endurance of Critique. Anthropological Theory. 17(1) 4-29.
S. Reyna. 2017. Right and Might. In Starry Nights.
Streetcars Named Frohe Zukunft . In S. Reyna. The Thing of It Is.

Association in the course directory

Last modified: Mo 07.09.2020 15:40