Foundations of Modern Social Theory
Published: Jul 2, 2014
Description
This course provides an overview of major works of social thought from the beginning of the modern era through the 1920s. Attention is paid to social and intellectual contexts, conceptual frameworks and methods, and contributions to contemporary social analysis. Writers include Hobbes, Locke, Rousseau, Montesquieu, Adam Smith, Marx, Weber, and Durkheim.
Course Takeaways
- This course provides an overview of major works of social thought from the beginning of the modern era through the 1920s
Meet the Instructors
Ivan Szelenyi, M.A., University of Economics-Budapest, Ph.D., Hungarian Academy of Sciences 1973, Yale Faculty member since 1999, you are one o the world’s eminent sociologists, specializing in the comparative study of social stratification across cultures over time. You began as a keen critic of Communism, but after its denouement became as well known for your ironic theorizing about capitalism, especially of the post-socialist kind. Your courageous and brilliant book with George Konrad, Intellectuals on the Road to Class Power, exposed the pretentious claims to equality of even the most earnest state socialism. Taking note of Marx’s question, “Who educates the educators?” you showed that the intellectuals running post-revolutionary societies will make sure that socialism makes sure, first and foremost, to not only educate but to enrich and empower themselves. Jailed for your effort, you devoted the rest of your career to explaining exclusion and inequality wherever and however it occurs.
