{"ModuleCode":"SC3227","ModuleTitle":"Modernity and Social Change","Department":"Sociology","ModuleDescription":"This module introduces students to the theoretical and methodological approaches through which sociologists analyze major historical changes that have deeply shaped the modern world, ranging from the emergence of capitalism and nation-state, revolutions and democracy, empires and colonization, to the formation of modern subjectivity and citizenship. The course will examine various challenges, strategies and reflections on making generalizable arguments based on historical cases and events. Central issues in comparative thinking, understanding of historical specificity and analysis of temporality will be explored.","ModuleCredit":"4","Workload":"2-1-0-3-4","ExamDate":"2015-05-02T09:00+0800","ExamDuration":"P2H","ExamVenue":"MPSH2-A","Types":["Module","UEM"],"Lecturers":["Xu Xiaohong"],"IVLE":[{"Announcements":null,"Forums":[],"Workbins":[],"Webcasts":[],"Gradebooks":[],"Polls":[],"Multimedia":[],"LessonPlan":[],"ID":"3ebcb6d0-2347-4b66-9753-584bbf41f2ca","CourseLevel":"1","CourseCode":"SC3227","CourseName":"MODERNITY AND SOCIAL CHANGE","CourseDepartment":"","CourseSemester":"Semester 2","CourseAcadYear":"2014/2015","CourseOpenDate":"/Date(1409760000000+0800)/","CourseOpenDate_js":"2014-09-04T00:00:00","CourseCloseDate":"/Date(1431187140000+0800)/","CourseCloseDate_js":"2015-05-09T23:59:00","CourseMC":"0","isActive":"N","Permission":"S","Creator":{"UserID":null,"Name":"Xu Xiaohong","Email":null,"Title":null,"UserGuid":"979f48cf-6c67-4412-9912-bbdee4977749","AccountType":null},"hasGradebookItems":false,"hasTimetableItems":true,"hasGroupsItems":false,"hasClassGroupsForSignUp":false,"hasGuestRosterItems":false,"hasClassRosterItems":true,"hasWeblinkItems":false,"hasLecturerItems":true,"hasDescriptionItems":true,"hasReadingItems":false,"hasAnnouncementItems":false,"hasProjectGroupItems":false,"hasProjectGroupsForSignUp":false,"hasConsultationItems":false,"hasConsultationSlotsForSignUp":false,"hasLessonPlanItems":false,"Badge":0,"BadgeAnnouncement":0,"WebLinks":[],"Lecturers":[{"ID":"19fb335c-9d68-47b2-b051-9444bbe56c94","User":{"UserID":null,"Name":"Xu Xiaohong","Email":null,"Title":null,"UserGuid":"979f48cf-6c67-4412-9912-bbdee4977749","AccountType":null},"Role":"Lecturer ","Order":1,"ConsultHrs":null}],"Descriptions":[{"ID":"1e5f053b-8835-4692-be49-41f07234cfff","Title":"Learning Outcomes","Description":"This module introduces students to the theoretical and methodological approaches through which sociologists analyze major historical changes that have deeply shaped the modern world, ranging from the emergence of capitalism and nation-state, revolutions and democracy, empires and colonization, to the formation of modern subjectivity and citizenship. The course will examine various challenges, strategies and reflections on making generalizable arguments based on historical cases and events. Central issues in comparative thinking, understanding of historical specificity and analysis of temporality will be explored. ","Order":1},{"ID":"6e5f053b-8835-4692-be49-41f07234cfff","Title":"Syllabus","Description":"SC3227 (Spring 2015) MODERNITY AND SOCIAL CHANGE
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\r\nInstructor: Dr. Xiaohong Xu
\r\nLecture Time: Tuesdays 10:00-12:00
\r\nOffice Hours: By appointment
\r\nEmail: socxuxh@nus.edu.sg
\r\nOffice: AS1, #04-25
\r\nPhone: 6516-3995
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\r\nAims and Objectives
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\r\nThis module introduces students to the theoretical and methodological approaches through which sociologists analyze major historical changes that have deeply shaped the modern world. From its beginning, sociology has engaged in comparative and historical analysis, innovatively using historical sources to address big questions like the origins of capitalism and revolutions. In recent decades, comparative historical sociology has emerged as an influential field in the social sciences. In this module, we will search for the roots of comparative historical sociology in the classical traditions and examine the contemporary sociological reflection and debates on the various challenges and analytical strategies in making generalizable arguments based on historical cases and events. Central issues include the logic of comparative thinking, understanding of historical specificity and contingency, analysis of temporality, role of culture and agency in structural transformation.
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\r\nThe readings are dense and intensive and require efforts of critical engagement from the students. The goal is not for students to merely memorize facts and references, but also to cultivate your intellectual creativity and to think critically about the subject matters and to think beyond them. You are expected to do the readings before the lecture, in order for you to enhance your understanding of the lectures and readings. Do NOT postpone your reading assignments until before the final exam—you would find yourself in a difficult situation if you did so.
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\r\nAttendance and Tutorials
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\r\nStudents are expected to attend all lectures and tutorials. Attendance will be taken in tutorials and occasionally in lectures as well. There will be five tutorial sessions, starting in Week 3 and meeting biweekly. Active participation in the tutorial discussion is important for your final grade. Bear in mind that you should participate actively in the tutorials, not only because you want a good grade, but also because your ideas matter. The biggest impediment to creativity is lack of faith in the power of your own ideas or questions. There are also students who have great ideas and questions but are too shy or unwilling to share them. If you are like them, remember that, by articulating your ideas and questions in public, you give yourself and others a chance to improve them, while also building up your leadership skills.
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\r\nThree Short Essays
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\r\nYou are expected to write three short essays of 3 pages double-spaced. Specific questions will be announced in class.
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\r\nGrading Components
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\r\nAttendance 10%
\r\nDiscussion participation 10%
\r\nThree Short Essays 30%
\r\nFinal Exam 50%
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\r\nReadings
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\r\nAll required readings will be available for download from IVLE. And there will be no textbooks. I have previously assigned two textbooks for this module. They, however, proved difficult to most students. So I list them here only for students who would like to further explore topics of their interests:
\r\nLachmann, Richard. 2013. What is Historical Sociology? Cambridge, UK: Polity.
\r\nDelanty, Gerard, and Engin E. Isin. 2003. Handbook of Historical Sociology. London, UK: Sage Publications.
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\r\nCommunication
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\r\nThere are no regular office hours. Please contact me for an appointment if you need consultation. You are welcome, and are encouraged to talk with me about essays, lectures, or any questions of your interest. I enjoy talking with my students.
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\r\nWhile I am generally responsive with emails, do not expect me to reply right away. Depending on the time you send your email, it may sometimes take 12 hours or longer before I see your email and reply.
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\r\nIntellectual Integrity
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\r\nAs NUS students, you are obliged by the University’s code of student conduct (see: http://www.nus.edu.sg/osa/images/osa/downloads/code_of_student_conduct.pdf). Any violation of intellectual integrity and honesty will incur a failed grade and disciplinary action.
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\r\nCourse Schedule
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13 Jan | \r\n\t\t\tIntroduction, Overview, and Logistics | \r\n\t\t
\r\n\t\t\t | \r\n\t\t\tReadings: \r\n\t\t\t \r\n\t\t\tSkopcol, Theda. 1984. “Sociology’s Historical Imagination,” in Skocpol, ed., Vision and Method in Historical Sociology (New York: Cambridge University Press), pp.1-6. \r\n\t\t\t \r\n\t\t\tCalhoun, Craig. 1996. “The Rise and Domestication of Historical Sociology.” The Historic Turn in the Human Sciences, 305–38. \r\n\t\t\t | \r\n\t\t
20 Jan | \r\n\t\t\tClassical Roots: Marx on Class, Capitalism, and Revolution | \r\n\t\t
\r\n\t\t\t | \r\n\t\t\tReadings: \r\n\t\t\t \r\n\t\t\tMarx, Karl (and Frederick Engels). 1978. Pp.143-45 of “Theses on Feuerbach” [1845], pp.469-500 of “The Manifesto of the Communist Party” [1848]; pp.594-617, “The Eighteenth Brumaire of Louise Bonarparte” [1852], in The Marx-Engels Reader (New York: W. W. Norton & Company). \r\n\t\t\t | \r\n\t\t
27 Jan | \r\n\t\t\tClassical Roots: Tocqueville on State and Revolution | \r\n\t\t
\r\n\t\t\t | \r\n\t\t\tReadings: \r\n\t\t\t \r\n\t\t\tTocqueville, Alexis de. 1955 [1856]. The Old Regime and the French Revolution (New York: Anchor Books), pp.vii-xv, 1-19, 32-41, 72-96, 120-148, 169-187. \r\n\t\t\t | \r\n\t\t
3 Feb | \r\n\t\t\tClassical Roots: Weber on Culture and Capitalism | \r\n\t\t
\r\n\t\t\t | \r\n\t\t\tReadings: \r\n\t\t\t \r\n\t\t\tWeber, Max. 1958 [1904]. The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism (London: George Allen & Unwin), pp.35-46,61-71, 114-121, 155-183. \r\n\t\t\t | \r\n\t\t
10 Feb | \r\n\t\t\tState Formation: The Structuralist Approach | \r\n\t\t
\r\n\t\t\t | \r\n\t\t\tReadings: \r\n\t\t\t \r\n\t\t\tTilly, Charles. 1985. Charles Tilly, “War Making and State Making as Organized Crime,” in Peter Evans, Dietrich Rueschemeyer, and Theda Skocpol, eds., Bringing the State Back In (Cambridge University Press), pp.165-91. \r\n\t\t\t \r\n\t\t\tErtman, Thomas. 1997. Birth of the Leviathan: Building States and Regimes in Medieval and Early Modern Europe. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. Chapter. 1. \r\n\t\t\t \r\n\t\t\tEssay 1 due on Friday noon, February 13. \r\n\t\t\t | \r\n\t\t
17 Feb | \r\n\t\t\tRevolution: The Structuralist Approach | \r\n\t\t
\r\n\t\t\t | \r\n\t\t\tReadings: \r\n\t\t\t \r\n\t\t\tSkocpol, Theda. 1976. “France, Russia, China: A Structural Analysis of Social Revolutions.” Comparative Studies in Society and History 18 (02): 175–210. \r\n\t\t\t \r\n\t\t\tSkocpol, Theda, and Margaret Somers. 1980. “The Uses of Comparative History in Macrosocial Inquiry.” Comparative Studies in Society and History 22 (02): 174–97. \r\n\t\t\t | \r\n\t\t
3 Mar | \r\n\t\t\tRevolution: Methodological Debates | \r\n\t\t
\r\n\t\t\t | \r\n\t\t\tReadings: \r\n\t\t\t \r\n\t\t\tLieberson, Stanley. 1991. “Small N’s and Big Conclusions: An Examination of the Reasoning in Comparative Studies Based on a Small Number of Cases.” Social Forces 70 (2) (December 1): 307–320. \r\n\t\t\t \r\n\t\t\tSewell, William H, Jr. 1985. “Ideologies and Social Revolutions: Reflections on the French Case,” The Journal of Modern History 57 (1):57-85. \r\n\t\t\t | \r\n\t\t
10 Mar | \r\n\t\t\tState Formation: The Culturalist Approach | \r\n\t\t
\r\n\t\t\t | \r\n\t\t\tReadings: \r\n\t\t\t \r\n\t\t\tGorski, Philip. 2003. The Disciplinary Revolution: Calvinism and the Rise of the State in Early Modern Europe. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. Chapter 1. \r\n\t\t\t \r\n\t\t\tWilson, Nicholas. 2011. “From Reflection to Refraction: State Administration in British India, circa 1770–1855,” American Journal of Sociology 116 (5): 1437-1477. \r\n\t\t\t \r\n\t\t\tEssay 2 due on Friday noon. \r\n\t\t\t | \r\n\t\t
17 Mar | \r\n\t\t\tEmpires and Colonization | \r\n\t\t
\r\n\t\t\t | \r\n\t\t\tReadings: \r\n\t\t\t \r\n\t\t\tSteinmetz, George. 2003. “‘The Devil’s Handwriting’: Precolonial Discourse, Ethnographic Acuity, and Cross-Identification in German Colonialism.” Comparative Studies in Society and History 45 (01): 41–95. \r\n\t\t\t \r\n\t\t\tGoh, Daniel. 2008. “From Colonial Pluralism to Postcolonial Multiculturalism: Race, State Formation and the Question of Cultural Diversity in Malaysia and Singapore,” Sociology Compass, 2(1):232-52. \r\n\t\t\t | \r\n\t\t
24 Mar | \r\n\t\t\tRethinking the Rise of the “West” | \r\n\t\t
\r\n\t\t\t | \r\n\t\t\tReadings: \r\n\t\t\t \r\n\t\t\tGoldstone, Jack A. 2002. “Efflorescences and Economic Growth in World History: Rethinking the‘ Rise of the West’ and the Industrial Revolution.” Journal of World History 13 (2): 323–89. \r\n\t\t\t | \r\n\t\t
31 Mar | \r\n\t\t\tTime and Event | \r\n\t\t
\r\n\t\t\t | \r\n\t\t\tReadings: \r\n\t\t\t \r\n\t\t\tMahoney, James. 2000. “Path Dependence in Historical Sociology,” Theory and Society 29 (4): 507-48. \r\n\t\t\t \r\n\t\t\tSewell, Williams, Jr. 1996. “Historical Events as Transformations of Structures: Inventing Revolution at the Bastille,” Theory and Society 25: 841-881. \r\n\t\t\t | \r\n\t\t
7 Apr | \r\n\t\t\tCulture in Time | \r\n\t\t
\r\n\t\t\t | \r\n\t\t\tReadings: \r\n\t\t\t \r\n\t\t\tDarnton, Robert. 1984. “Workers Revolt: The Great Cat Massacre of the Rue Saint-Séverin,” in The Great Cat Massacre and Other Stories in French Cultural History (New York: Vintage), 75-104. \r\n\t\t\t \r\n\t\t\tXiaohong Xu. 2013. “Belonging Before Believing: Group Ethos and Bloc Recruitment in the Making of Chinese Communism,” American Sociological Review, 78 (5): 773-796. \r\n\t\t\t | \r\n\t\t
14 Apr | \r\n\t\t\tSo, What is Historical and What Do We Compare?; Review | \r\n\t\t
\r\n\t\t\t | \r\n\t\t\tReadings: \r\n\t\t\tSteinmetz, George. 2004. “Odious Comparisons: Incommensurability, the Case Study, and ‘small N’s’ in Sociology.” Sociological Theory 22 (3): 371–400. \r\n\t\t\t \r\n\t\t\tEssay 3 due on Friday noon. \r\n\t\t\t | \r\n\t\t