Overview

Focus: Intellectuals, western modernity,  and the new global economy. 

This course provides an interdisciplinary introduction to key concepts, methodologies, and  theoretical trends in the social sciences and  humanities.  We will first study  the foremost classical texts in modern social theory and cultural analysis such as Karl Marx, Max Weber, Emile Durkheim, Antonio Gramsci, the Frankfurt School (Max Horkheimer, Theodor Adorno, Herbert Marcuse, Habermas), Simone de Beauvoir, Giddens, Touraine, and feminist standpoint theory (Patricia Collins). We will then examine the theoretical limits of western modernity by examining the work of  Frantz Fanon (colonial politics), Amartya Sen (postcolonial economics), Vandana Shiva (neo-colonial political economy), and Gustavo Gutierrez’s Latinamerican liberation theology. We will conclude the course by  exploring recent trends in social theory (Manuel Castells)  which reflect on fundamental paradigm shifts in global economies since 1989.  These shifts pertain to the transition of state socialism to market economies on the one hand (alternative modernities), and the nexus between finance capitalism, information technology revolution, and the network society on the other hand (the new economy).  The goal of the course is to provide the students with exciting interdisciplinary analytical tools and with a critical awareness of their applicability limits -- and hence the need for the production of new concepts -- in changing global economies,  societies, and cultures.

For more Information visit: http://learning.berkeley.edu/holub

Students will read the assigned weekly readings before coming to class. Lecture attendance is required and a sign-up sheet will be passed around. Since this class is required for ISF students, and since there are about 100 pages or more of reading per week, students are strongly encouraged to form study groups and meet regularly outside class.

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