SYLLABUS

Course title: THEORY OF SOCIETY

Course Code: YDEA005

Course guarantor: Doc. PhDr. Pavol Frič, Ph.D.

Teacher: Doc. PhDr. Pavol Frič, Ph.D.

Course Status: Compulsory Elective

Language: English

Semester: WS/SS

Scope: 0/8

Method of termination: Examination

Number of Credits: 0 CTS credits

Conditions for enrolling in the course: The course is open for post-gradual students

Anotation

The course content focuses on the plurality of theoretical conceptions of contemporary society that social scientists have developed to capture its ontological essence. However, the multifaceted, ambiguous, contradictory and fluid nature of contemporary societies means that any theoretical concept that attempts to capture their essence soon gets stuck on the sands of simplification and particularism. In order to understand the complexity and dynamics of the society we currently live in, it is therefore important to gain the necessary insight into the plurality of its faces and their interconnections, or structural links and historical roots.

Therefore, the aim of the course is to promote students' analytical skills and critical thinking in relation to the plurality of theoretical concepts explaining the nature of current events in the multifaceted whole of modern society. Upon successful completion of the course, the student should be able to, based on careful reading of the course texts:

- demonstrate an understanding of selected sociological concepts of contemporary society;

- assess their explanatory power in terms of the complexity and contradictions of contemporary societies;

- explain the interdependence of these theoretical concepts.

Teaching Method

The course is divided into the following six thematic blocks representing selected theoretical concepts of society:

1. Theory of Consumer Society

2. Theory of Risk Society

3. Theory of Digital Society

4. Theory of Civil Society

5. Theory of Ageing Society

6. Theory of Polarized Society

Students, in consultation with the course gurantor, will choose one of them and become familiar with them by reading the relevant literature. They will then independently prepare an argumentation on the ability of a given theoretical concept to speak about the character, complexity and internal contradictions of contemporary society. They will also use comparisons with at least one other theoretical concept of society on the above list to support their argument. In this way, they will prepare for the final exam, which will take the form of a colloquium.

Evaluation

- knowledge of selected theoretical concepts max. 40 points

- quality of argumentation max. 60 points

To pass the course, the student must achieve at least 51 points!

Grading Scale:

- 86 points or more => 1

- 64-85 points => 2

- 51-63 points => 3

- 0-50 points => 4

Reading List

It contains only an indicative list of relevant texts for each theoretical concept of contemporary society. Students are required to find and read other relevant texts on their own.

1. Consumer Society

Goodwin, N. R., Ackerman. F. and Kiron, D. (eds) 1997. The Consumer Society Washington: Island Press.

2. Risk Society

Beck, U. (1992). Risk society: Towards a new modernity. Sage Publications.

3. Digital Society

P. K. Paul1 , P. S. Aithal. 2018. Digital Society: It’s Foundation and Towards an Interdisciplinary Field. Advances in Information Technology, Management, Social Sciences and Education. Digital Society: Its Foundation and Towards an Interdisciplinary Field by Prantosh Paul, P. S. Aithal :: SSRN

4. Civil Society

Diamond, Lary J. 1994. Toward Democratic Consolidation. Journal of Democracy, 5 (3): 4-17.

Pérez-Díaz, V. 2014. Civil society: A multi-layered concept. Current Sociology, 62 (6): 812-830.

5. Ageing Society

Harry R. Moody. 1988. Abundance of Life: Human Development Policies for an Aging Society. New York: Columbia University Press

6. Polarized Society

Mccoy, J. and Somer, M. 2019. Toward a Theory of Pernicious Polarization and How It Harms Democracies: Comparative Evidence and Possible Remedies