This course is organized as an invitation to the study of the social condition. We will first work to answer the most basic questions. What is meant by the term the social condition? (for summary statement, see here) How does the recognition of the social condition inform a distinctive approach for sociological inquiry? (for an outline, see here) How does this present itself as a matter of individual and political concern? How is the social condition embedded in social forms and social interactions?
After addressing these questions, we will turn to classic responses to the social condition: cynicism, tragedy and humor, and then examine a series of pressing issues informed by an appreciation of the social condition as a matter of both academic and public concern: democracy, capitalism, socialism, gender and racial justice, “the left,” religion and politics are planned, other topics coming out of the seminar deliberations will also be examined.
Class Schedule and Readings
Approaching the Problem:
1. The Problem: https://publicseminar.org/2013/11/the-social-condition/#.VKAzv0AFnA
2. The Intellectual Project: https://publicseminar.org/2013/11/the-social-condition-the-third-intellectual-project/#.VKA0eEAFnA
- Durkheim, Division of Labor
- Weber, Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism
- Berger and Luckmann, The Social Construction of Reality
- Garfinkel, “EthnomethodologyProgram”
- Skocpol, States and Social Revolution
- Wilson, “Declining Significance of Race: Reconsidered and Revised”
- Robert Merton, Sociological Ambivalence and Other Essays
- Donald Levine, The Flight from Ambiguity
3. The Individual Problematic: https://publicseminar.org/2013/12/from-sartre-to-the-social-condition/#.VKA00EAFnA
- Tavory, “The Question of Moral Action”
- Tavory and Eliasoph, “Coordinating Futures”
- Sartre, “Existentialism is a Humanism”
4. The Political Problematic:
- Arendt, The Human Condition
5. Social Forms and the Social Condition: https://publicseminar.org/2014/01/simmel-and-the-social-condition/#.VKA1ckAFnA
- Levine ed. Georg Simmel on Individuality and Social Forms
6. Social Interaction and the Social Condition:
- Goffman, The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life
Responding to the Problem:
7. Cynicism:
- Goldfarb, The Cynical Society,
- Goffman, Interaction Rituals
8. Humor:
- Tavory, “Humor and the Social Condition” https://publicseminar.org/2014/01/humor-and-the-social-condition/#.VKA5nEAFnA
- Nikulin, “Why Comedy Matters” https://publicseminar.org/2014/10/why-comedy-matters/#.VKGFd0AFnA
- Crtichley, On Humor
9. Tragedy:
- Goldfarb, “Gray is Beautiful: An Introduction” https://publicseminar.org/2014/09/gray-is-beautiful-an-introduction-to-a-series-of-reflections-on-democracy-dilemmas/#.VKb2SCeNWu4 and “Gray is Beautiful Israel/Palestine, Turkey/Kurdistan” https://publicseminar.org/2014/10/gray-is-beautiful-israelpalestine-turkeykurdistan/#.VKBAbUAFnA
- Michnik, “Gray is Beautiful”
- Simmel, “The Concept and Tragedy of Culture,” and “The Conflict of Modern Culture”
- Williams, Modern Tragedy
The Social Condition and Action:
10. Democracy:
- Fraser, “Democracy’s Crisis,” https://publicseminar.org/2014/11/democracys-crisis/#.VKbi5ieNWu4
- Zaretsky, “The Future of Democracy,” https://publicseminar.org/2014/10/the-future-of-democracy/#.VKbkMieNWu4
- Weber, “Politics as a Vocation”
- Goldfarb, Civility and Subversion and Reinventing Political Culture
11. Capitalism/Socialism and Their Alternatives:
- Rosenkrantz, “Consumption and the Social Condition” https://publicseminar.org/2014/06/consumption-and-the-social-condition/#.VKA5zEAFnA
- Streeck, “Has Capitalism Seen its Day?” https://publicseminar.org/2014/05/has-capitalism-seen-its-day/#.VKbkaSeNWu4
- Ott and Milberg, “Capitalism Studies Manifesto” https://publicseminar.org/2014/04/capitalism-studies-a-manifesto/#.VKXLPyeNX-Y
- Goldfarb, “Capitalism Never Ends?” https://publicseminar.org/2014/04/capitalism-never-ends-2/#.VNFVRC5AmxN
- Zaretsky, “How Capitalism Will End” https://publicseminar.org/2014/04/how-capitalism-will-end/#.VKXK4CeNX-Y, “Rethinking the Split between Feminists and the Left https://publicseminar.org/2013/10/rethinking-the-split-between-feminists-and-the-left/#.VNFXuy5AmxN, and “Further Reflections on Feminism and the Left” https://publicseminar.org/2014/02/further-reflections-on-feminism-and-the-left/#.VNFYCS5AmxN
- Fraser, “Against Anarchism” https://publicseminar.org/2013/10/against-anarchism/#.VKbiuCeNWu4 and “How Feminism Became Capitalism’s Handmaiden and How to Reclaim It” http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/oct/14/feminism-capitalist-handmaiden-neoliberal?CMP=twt_gu
- Haekkerup, “The American Dream Comes to Denmark” https://publicseminar.org/2013/10/the-american-dream-comes-to-life-in-denmark/#.VKbkwCeNWu4
- Arruzza, “The Capitalism of Affects” https://publicseminar.org/2014/08/the-capitalism-of-affects/#.VKbm8ieNV-U
- Snitow and Hattam, “The Women Did It” https://publicseminar.org/2014/02/the-women-did-it/#.VKbuLyeNWu4 and “Shifting Geographies Rather Than Defections” https://publicseminar.org/2014/04/shifting-geographies-rather-than-defections/#.VKbvrSeNWu4
- Varon “Look Out Kids: On the New and the Next Left” https://publicseminar.org/2014/02/look-out-kids-on-the-new-and-next-left/#.VNFWbC5AmxN
- Michnik, “The New Evolutionism”
- Havel, “The Power of the Powerless”
- Matynia, An Uncanny Era
- Goldfarb, Beyond Glasnost
- Michnik, The Trouble with History
- Eli Zaretsky, Why America Needs a Left
12. Feminism/Race and Racism:
- Bottici, “Anarchism and Feminism” https://publicseminar.org/2014/07/anarchism-and-feminism-toward-a-happy-marriage/#.VKbxVieNWu4
- Baptist, “Ferguson and Fatherhood” https://publicseminar.org/2014/08/ferguson-and-fatherhood-my-turn-to-give-the-talk/#.VKbycyeNWu4
- Jones, “Reflections on Ferguson” https://publicseminar.org/2014/11/reflections-on-ferguson/#.VKbyxyeNWu4
- Assis, “Rolezinho Politics in Brazil’s Shopping Malls” https://publicseminar.org/2014/01/rolezinho-politics-in-brazils-shopping-malls/#.VNFali5AmxN
- Fraser, Fortunes of Feminism
- Goldfarb, “Why is there no Feminism after Communism?”
- Wilson, “The Declining Significance of Race: Revisited and Revised”
13. Religion and Politics:
- Goldfarb, “The Social Condition, “Religion and Politics in Israel” https://publicseminar.org/2014/02/the-social-condition-religion-and-politics-in-israel/#.VKA6AUAFnA
- Gonzalez, “Banning the Minarets in Switzerland” https://publicseminar.org/2014/05/banning-the-minarets-in-switzerland/#.VNFbXS5AmxN
- Asad, Brown, Butler and Mahmood, Is Critique Secular?
- Arendt, “Truth and Politics”
14. Media and the Social Condition:
- Goldfarb, The Politics of Small Things
- Dayan, selected essays
Course Requirements
Active participation in the seminar, including a reflective short essay responding to a class assignment and seminar session, prepared for possible publication on www.publicseminar.org
Final paper: This can take one of three forms:
1. A critical response to the assigned and related readings.
2. A research paper on a topic informed by the readings and discussions in the seminar.
3. A critical review of sociological research and theory that illuminates the study of the social condition or that is wanting because the social condition is not sufficiently recognized.
The papers should be between 10 and 35 pages.
