In this course, we will closely examine both the work of sociology’s canonical thinkers and other early sociological thinkers whom the canon marginalized. Although the sociological canon has changed over time, today most sociologists would agree that the works of Karl Marx, Max Weber, and Emile Durkheim are central to the discipline, its history, and contemporary sociological thought. We will begin the course with an examination of the historical context that led to the discipline of sociology, paying particular attention to how power operates in the creation of the canon. Next, we will review C. W. Mill’s work on the sociological imagination, and, using this text as a guide, we will address the works of the aforementioned classical thinkers and many of their marginalized contemporaries, including W. E. B. DuBois, Harriet Martineau, and Marianne Weber. Throughout this course, we will ask, “How do the sociological imaginations of these thinkers inform the ways they understand society, the individual, social action, and social change? Who is advantaged by this view? Who is marginalized or silenced?”
- Teacher: Kristi Allain