Classical Social Theory

unt of its ambivalent role in the development
of psychology and of cognitive sciences from James’s introspectionism, through
behaviorism and computationalism, up to 4E cognition and its rediscovery of
a pragmatist action-oriented stance to cognition. We then investigate in the
second section how the abandonment of the notion of habit in cognitive sciences
in the second half of the twentieth century was paralleled by the adoption of a
dualism between automatic routine and intelligent action and by an approach
to cognition based on the notion of mental representation. This notion was
subsequently put under pressure by the emerging paradigm of 4E cognition,
whose push toward an antirepresentationalist turn is leading to a reassessment of
the notion of habit. In the third section we explore how habit formation has been
investigated within contemporary neuroscience in a dynamic perspective based
on the interplay between automatism and goal-oriented behavior. This section
highlights the role that the pragmatist ideomotor principle plays in autoptic
and pragmatic coding approaches to cortical motor systems, and how recent
research on mirror neurons pragmatically links action with social cognition
and cultural practices. In the fourth section we see how the adoption of the
dualism between rational action and mechanical routines also influenced the
development of twentieth-century sociological thought, and is nowadays being
reconsidered by social theory

[Από το εξώφυλλο] Το εγχειρίδιο Κλασική κοινωνιολογική θεωρία παρέχει εποπτεία του έργου των κλασικών θεωρητικών της κοινωνιολογίας καθιστώντας το πιο σύγχρονο, ενώ μας φέρνει και σε επαφή με τη σύγχρονη εργογραφία, τη συνέχεια της σκέψης των κλασικών κοινωνιολόγων καθώς και του αντικειμένου της κοινωνιολογίας, που έχει εμπλουτιστεί ως προς τις θεματικές και την ιδιαίτερη οπτική γωνία που χαρακτηρίζει αυτή την επιστήμη. Ο τόμος αυτός είναι ένα πολύτιμο βοήθημα για τη φοιτητιώσα νεολαία, τους ερευνητές και τις ερευνήτριες, τους καθηγητές και τις καθηγήτριες, όπως και για κάθε σκεπτόμενο πολίτη που ενδια-φέρεται για θέματα κοινωνικής-κοινωνιολογικής θεωρίας.
Ο George Ritzer είναι Διακεκριμένος Καθηγητής στο Πανεπιστήμιο του Μέρι-λαντ στις ΗΠΑ. Είναι διεθνώς γνωστός ως συγγραφέας βιβλίων στην κοινωνι-κή και κοινωνιολογική θεωρία, κλασική και σύγχρονη. Τα έργα του έχουν με-ταφραστεί σε πολλές γλώσσες ανά τον κόσμο και ο ίδιος έχει διακριθεί με πολλά βραβεία.
Ο Jeff Stepnisky είναι Αναπληρωτής Καθηγητής και Πρόεδρος του Τμήματος Κοινωνιολογίας στο Πανεπιστήμιο MacEwan στον Καναδά. Διδάσκει σύγχρονη και κλασική κοινωνιολογική θεωρία και έχει συγγράψει σχετικά κείμενα. Έχει συνεργαστεί με τον Ritzer στο παρελθόν στη συγγραφή εγχειριδίων στην κοινωνιολογική θεωρία.

| El objetivo de estas páginas es explorar la psicosociología radical de lo moderno de Simmel. Para ello, abordamos la constitución intersubjetiva de los individuos en Simmel y nos ocupamos del concepto de la expansión psicológica de los roles, de las cualidades y de la individualidad. Posteriormente abordamos la tensión entre lo social moderno y lo individual moderno, la máscara y la vergüenza, y la cuestión de la sociabilidad y de la "sociabilidad alienada". El análisis y la interpretación integral de los fundamentos psicosociológicos de la obra de Simmel nos permitirán concluir el artículo reivindicando las potencialidades de este enfoque para analizar las relaciones entre intersubjetividad y emancipación. PA L A B R A S C L AV E | Alienación; emancipación; intersubjetividad; modernidad; Simmel; Teoría Sociológica Simmel's Radical Psychosociology of the Modern: Intersubjectivity and Emancipation A B S T R AC T | The purpose of this article is to explore Simmel's radical psychosociology of modernity. To this end, we address the intersubjective constitution of individuals in Simmel and deal with the concept of the psychological expansion of roles, qualities and individuality. We then address the tension between the modern social and the modern individual, mask and shame, and the question of sociability and "alienated sociability." The analysis and the integral interpretation of the psycho-sociological foundations of Simmel's work allow us to conclude the article by stressing the potentialities of this approach to analyze the relationships between intersubjectivity and emancipation. A psicossociologia radical do moderno de Simmel: intersubjetividade e emancipação RESUMO | O objetivo desse artigo é explorar a psicossociologia radical do moderno de Simmel. Para isso, abordamos a constituição intersubjetiva dos indivíduos em Simmel e exploramos o conceito de expansão psicológica de papéis, qualidades e individualidade. Posteriormente, abordamos a tensão entre o social moderno e o individual moderno, a máscara e a vergonha, e a questão da sociabilidade e da "sociabilidade alienada". A análise e interpretação integral dos fundamentos psicossociológicos do trabalho de Simmel permitirão concluir o artigo reivindicando as potencialidades desse enfoque para analisar as relações entre intersubjetividade e emancipação.

This article interrogates the near complete absence of China as a source of materials and inspiration for constructing theoretical concepts and models in mainstream sociology and anthropology. I outline the story of the largely forgotten mutual engagements, influences and missed connections between the work of the French Sociologist and Sinologist Marcel Granet (1884-1940), whose work revolved around Chinese religion, and key figures in the history of sociological and anthropological theory, exemplified by Durkheim, Mauss, and Levi-Strauss. My purpose is to restore Granet-and, through Granet, China-into the genealogy of classical anthropological and social theory. This involves showing how Granet's work was informed by the theoretical debates that animated his mentors and colleagues in the French sociological school, and how he, in turn, directly or indirectly influenced subsequent theoretical developments. It also involves raising questions about the implications of connections that were missed, or only briefly evoked, by theoreticians in subsequent generations. These questions open bridges for advancing a mutually productive dialogue between the study of Chinese cosmology, religion and society, and theoretical construction in sociology and anthropology.

This article highlights the origins and constitution of the black power elites who would come to serve as the bearers of ideological and linguistic domination for black people the world-over in the age of neoliberal globalization. The work puts forth the argument that people of African descent in the age of neoliberal globalization are under the ideological and linguistic domination of two identities, the negro, i.e., black bourgeoisie, or African Americans, on the one hand, under the leadership of educated professionals and preachers; and the “my nigga,” i.e., the black underclass, on the
other hand, under the leadership of street and prison personalities, athletes, and entertainers vying for ideological and linguistic domination of black America. These two social class language games were historically constituted by different ideological apparatuses, the church and education on the one hand and the streets, prisons, and the athletic and entertainment industries on the other, of the global capitalist racial-class structure of inequality under American hegemony, which replaced the African ideological apparatuses of Vodou, peristyles, lakous, and agricultural production as found in Haiti. Contemporarily, given both groups’ overrepresentation in the ideological superstructures of the American empire, they, antagonistically, have
become the bearers of ideological and linguistic domination for all black youth the world-over.

It is believed that Max Weber's social theory provided contemporary sociology with a systematic approach to the construction of social theory.
A. Do you agree with the statement, and why?
B. What is that systematic approach referring to?
C. How does the above compare to the social theories as professed by Karl Marx and Emile Durkheim?
D. Analyze all three theorists named above and discuss any one criterion that they all focused on and one which is required to maintain a significant social theory.

F*ck May 68, Fight Now: Exploring the Uses of the Radical Past from 1968 to Today

Session 1: History is a Weapon

June 8, 2018

Department of History, University of Liverpool

https://discoversociety.org/2018/09/04/circumnavigating-the-past-foreclosing-the-future-commemoration-of-the-radical-past-in-the-amnesiac-present/

https://www.academia.edu/35399662/CFP_F_CK_May_68_Fight_Now_Exploring_the_Uses_of_the_Radical_Past_from_1968_to_Today?email_work_card=title

Why organize an international network dedicated to Max Weber today? Why focus it on early-career scholars? The following piece attempts to address these questions and, hopefully, convince you to join - either as member or senior supporter - and help build this initiative.

‘What’ and ‘How’ of Critique: Styles, Issues and Confrontations in Critical Social Theory and Research, Panel 1 - Critique of history and history of critique with Christian Garland, Harry Cross & Matt Bolton

20th September 2017, Durham University

Panel 30: Great Refusals: Refusing One Dimensionality Today

The Dialectics of Liberation in an Age of Neoliberal Capitalism

International Herbert Marcuse Society

Seventh Biennial Conference

26-28 October 2017

York University

https://marcuseconference.wordpress.com/

Classical theories by the traditional " holy trinity " of sociology—Emile Durkheim, Karl Marx, and Max Weber—have long been considered part of the disciplinary canon. Yet in recent decades, that canon has been called into question and the consensus regarding what even constitutes " classical " theory has dissolved. What does it mean, then, to study classical sociological theory today? Should old texts make way for new, or is there room in the canon for a more diverse set of perspectives? Rather than simply presenting the sociological canon as given, this class explores these questions and invites students to consider which thinkers and theorists and theories are essential to the discipline. A class on theory is important for (at least) two reasons. First, you cannot be a sociologist without understanding sociological theory. Sociologists are not merely data collectors or, to put it another way, collecting and analyzing data always involves theory—whether explicitly or implicitly. A solid basis in sociological theory will help you to be both aware of, and informed about, the kind of theorizing that influences your work. Second, engaging with debates about what makes a theory " sociological " and which theories should be considered canonical is an important way not only to learn about the history of discipline, but also to think about its future. Course Objectives The course has three objectives: 1) To introduce students to some of the key texts and theorists considered cornerstones in the making of sociology as a discipline. We will examine how some of the so-called founders conceived of society and " the social " as objects of analysis, and what methods they proposed for its study. 2) To encourage students to think critically about the notion of classical theory and canon formation by situating texts in their appropriate historical context and comparing this with more contemporary applications. 3) To review some of the key theoretical issues and debates in the discipline, such as social structure vs. agency, explanation vs. interpretation, and the relation between different levels of theorizing.