Theories of Society and Development.
MW. 8:40-9:55
F. Makki. Spring.

This course explores the development of social theory from the Enlightenment in the eighteenth century to contemporary debates about the status and limits of sociological knowledge. It is organized in two parts. The first part explores the contrasting accounts of modernity developed by Marx, Weber, Durkheim and Simmel, placing emphasis on those aspects of their thought concerned with the nature and direction of society as a whole. The second part surveys critical engagements with the classical heritage from various vantage points: feminism, postmodernism, postcolonialism, alternative modernities, and globalization.