Duration
30h Th
Number of credits
| Bachelor in human and social sciences (New programme) | 5 crédits | |||
| Extra courses intended for exchange students (Erasmus, ...) (Faculty of social sciences) | 5 crédits |
Lecturer
Language(s) of instruction
French language
Organisation and examination
Teaching in the second semester
Schedule
Units courses prerequisite and corequisite
Prerequisite or corequisite units are presented within each program
Learning unit contents
This course is designed for first-year students in the humanities and social sciences. The aim is threefold: 1) to introduce students to the issues, concepts and methods of political sociology; 2) to familiarize them with contemporary political life and institutions; 3) to develop their ability to read, understand and synthesize sociological and political texts.
Learning outcomes of the learning unit
The teaching aims to enable students to:
- familiarize themselves with the sociological mode of reasoning
- become familiar with the main themes of political sociology (power, state, representation, democracy, opinion, etc.)
- Read and understand sociological texts, relating them to course content
- Deliberate in small groups
Prerequisite knowledge and skills
Mastery of the French language.
Planned learning activities and teaching methods
The course is organized in 8 sessions of 3 hours each. Each session is devoted to a major theme in political sociology, and is organized into three parts: a lecture on the main issues in political sociology (2h); the reading of a sociological text (15 minutes); then, on the basis of the text, a discussion in small groups around questions proposed by the teacher (45 minutes).
Session 1: Science and Politics
Session 2: Power
Session 3: The State
Session 4: Representation
Session 5: Voters
Session 6: Political parties
Session 7: Totalitarianism
Session 8: Violence and politics
Mode of delivery (face to face, distance learning, hybrid learning)
Face-to-face course
Further information:
Face-to-face teaching only.
Course materials and recommended or required readings
Platform(s) used for course materials:
- eCampus
Further information:
Before each session, students must read the following text:
Séance 2 : Le pouvoir
HOLLOWAY, John, « Douze thèses sur l'anti-pouvoir », in Contretemps, 2003, n°6, pp. 38-44
Séance 3 : L'Etat
SCOTT, James C., Préface de Two Cheers for Anarchism, Princeton, Princeton University Press, 2012
Séance 4 : La représentation
BECKER, Howard, « De quel côté sommes-nous ? », in Le travail sociologique, Fribourg, Academic Press Fribourg, 2006, pp. 175-190
Séance 5 : L'électeurice
BOURDIEU, Pierre, « La délégation et le fétichisme politique », in Actes de la recherche en sciences sociales, 1984, vol. 52-53, pp. 49-55
Séance 6 : Les partis politiques
WEIL, Simone, « Note sur la suppression générale des partis politiques » [1957], in Ecrits de Londres, Les classiques des sciences sociales, pp. 126-150
Séance 7 : Le totalitarisme
ARENDT, Hannah, Les Origines du totalitarisme. Le système totalitaire, Paris, Seuil, 1972, pp. 27-50
Séance 8 : Violence et politique
ANDERS, Gunther, « La fin du pacifisme (interview imaginaire) », in Tumultes, 2007, n°28-29, pp. 199-216
Exam(s) in session
Any session
- Remote
written exam ( open-ended questions )
Written work / report
Further information:
Assessment is based on a written assignment, completed individually and at home. Each student chooses one of the 7 compulsory readings, and writes a text commentary of 15,000 characters (including spaces) on this text.
The text commentary must be sent to the teacher by e-mail (mcerveramarzal@uliege.be) no later than the day before the session in which the text is to be discussed.
A method sheet is provided to students at the first session. It contains instructions, expectations and evaluation criteria for the text commentary.
Work placement(s)
Organisational remarks and main changes to the course
Contacts
mcerveramarzal@uliege.be