Contemporary Social Theory

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Sandra Lima Coelho
Código:
16720
Ano:
1
Semestre:
S1
Créditos ECTS:
6
Carga Horária:
TP(45H)
Área Científica:
Sociologia
Objectivos de Aprendizagem:
By the end of this course, students will be able to:

- Demonstrate a critical understanding of major contemporary social theories and their key concepts.
- Analyze how leading theorists explain global transformations such as inequality, gender, risk, and digitalization.
- Apply theoretical frameworks (e.g., structure and agency, biopolitics, risk, coloniality, performativity) to the context of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
- Evaluate the possibilities and limitations of using the SDGs as an empirical lens to explore theoretical debates.
- Develop analytical, research, and communication skills through collaborative, problem-based learning and the production of a policy brief grounded in social theory.
Conteúdos programáticos:
-Introduction: Overview of the course and the SDGs as a global policy discourse; introduction to Problem-Based Learning (PBL).
- Structure and Agency: Giddens, Polanyi – social structures, markets, and moral economies.
- Power, Health, and Inequality: Foucault (biopolitics), Bourdieu (capital, field, habitus).
- Risk and Sustainability: Beck (risk society), Latouche & Kallis (degrowth) – modernity, reflexivity, and ecological limits.
- Work and Precarity: Bauman (liquid modernity), Castel (precarity) – transformations of labor in late capitalism.
- Gender and Intersectionality: Butler (performativity), Crenshaw (intersectionality) – identity, recognition, and social justice.
-Coloniality and Conflict: Fanon (decolonization), Mbembe (necropolitics) – postcolonial power and global inequality.
- Digital Networks: Castells (network society) – technology, connectivity, and surveillance capitalism.
- Crisis and Critique: Polanyi, Latour, Žižek – social theory in times of global disruption.
Metodologias de Ensino e Critérios de Avaliação:
Model: Continuous assessment based on individual and group performance. The course follows a Problem-Based Learning (PBL) methodology, combining theoretical exploration with applied, collaborative research. Students work in small groups to analyze real-world cases linked to specific SDGs, using contemporary social theory as their analytical framework.

Teaching and learning methods include:

- Interactive lectures introducing core theorists and debates.
- Group discussions and critical readings
- Thematic classes connecting theory to empirical cases.
- Supervised group work leading to a written analytical report.
- Peer feedback and collective reflection sessions.

This active-learning approach encourages autonomy, critical thinking, and the ability to connect abstract theory with global social challenges.
Bibliografia principal:
Bauman, Z. (2000). Liquid Modernity. Polity Press.
Bourdieu, P. (1986). The Forms of Capital. In J. Richardson (Ed.), Handbook of Theory and Research for the Sociology of Education. Greenwood.
Beck, U., Giddens, A., & Lash, S. (1994). Reflexive Modernization: Politics, Tradition and Aesthetics in the Modern Social Order. Stanford University Press.
Bhaskar, R. (2008). A Realist Theory of Science. Routledge.
Burawoy, M. (2005). For Public Sociology. American Sociological Review, 70(1), 4–28.
Castells, M. (2010). The Rise of the Network Society (2nd ed.). Wiley-Blackwell.
Fanon, F. (1963). The Wretched of the Earth. Grove Press.
Foucault M. (1994) The Order of Things: An archaeology of the human sciences.
Routledge Classics
Giddens, A. (1984). The Constitution of Society: Outline of the Theory of Structuration. Polity Press.
Latouche, S. (2009). Farewell to Growth. Polity Press.
Kallis, G. (2018). Degrowth. Agenda Publishing.
Mbembe, A. (2019). Necropolitics. Duke University Press.
Língua:
Português