Sociology BSc (Hons)

In this module, you will be provided with major theoretical developments in twentieth and twenty-first century sociology. You will explore the key questions of social order, social change and the relationship between the individual and society. You will also be expected to make the theoretical link between classical theorists and the more contemporary social theorists who have been influenced by them.

This module engages students in a critical assessment of issues around identity in the field of politics and international relations. It develops concepts and methods related to identity politics, including gender and sexuality, race and racism, class and culture, nationalism, religion, ethnicity, LGBT, disability, equality, power, discrimination, domination and oppression. Students are introduced to political issues and movements surrounding identity politics, such as feminism and intersectionality, right-wing populism, postcolonialism, antisemitism, Islamophobia, political correctness, #MeToo movement, no-platforming and safe spaces.

The module explores the relationships between social and cultural ways of understanding identity formation through ideas of ‘high’, ‘low’ and ‘popular’ culture, which are arguably central to our understanding of ‘self’ and ‘other’ in our everyday lives. Consequently, we will interrogate how language and symbolism give meaning to everyday social arrangements, forcing us to challenge the traditional criteria for self-identity, belonging and group membership in a rapidly shrinking global world. This means that criteria such as class, gender, age, ethnicity, sexuality, occupation, political affiliation, which would be used to understand your structural placement in society in the past, are now unstable and always in flux. This has resulted in looser and more fluid social arrangements where particular, formerly discrete notions of race and ethnicity, as somewhat fixed and rooted in time and place, are no longer viable ways of ‘knowing’.  This is because our social, political and cultural identities transcend narrow local, national and international forms of identification as many locate themselves as global citizens.  

Moreover, with the radical shift in social stability in the UK as a consequence of BREXIT, the influx of Eastern Europeans and the issues surrounding refugees and economic migrants, we are faced with very public debates on Britishness and who does and does not belong. This contemporary climate and the increase in far-right extremism in many ways mirrors what happened with the influx of West Indians - The Windrush Generation - in Post War Britain. Therefore, the module will examine how our understanding of race and ethnicity are dependent upon a system of shared meanings and practices, that cannot be reduced to a simple dichotomy between a ‘white’ and ‘non-white’ presence, to determine who does and does not belong in contemporary Britain. Consequently, there will be discussions of the different theoretical and methodological approaches to the analysis of popular culture, and its association with cultural artefacts such as language, signs and symbols.  

This module introduces students to the terrain of political sociology. The parameters of this interdisciplinary subject area have been mapped out over the last twenty years or so. The content intersects both perennial political issues, such as that of power, with wider social institutions, such as the family, religion, or the media. Students on this module will study Luke’s classic text on power as a basis for discussing the intersection between politics and civil society. Indicative topics include Weber, bureaucracy & charismatic leadership, ideology, political violence, terrorism, the concept of revolution, totalitarianism and new social movements.