Theory of Economic Sociology I: Classical Contributions

Online Course

On 25.10.2021: Short video introduction (available on OLAT)

Online-Meetings via Zoom on 15.11.2021, 06.12.2021, 10.01.2022, 31.01.2022, 07.02.2022, 08:30 - 10:00.

Further information on the online format is made available via the OLAT-website of the seminar.

Economic sociology has evolved as a most dynamic area of international sociological research with its distinct sociological view of economic life. The focus here is on aspects such as the social embedding of economic action, the social structuring of markets and firms, as well as the relationship between markets and other social subsystems. All of these topics underline most fundamentally the social conditionality of economic facts. The spectrum of the subject areas examined ranges from topics such as the organization of the firm and the social determinants of entrepreneurship via the social conditions of labour and work and the social character of money and finance all the way to the social mechanisms of market competition and the social shaping of consumer behaviour to the state as a key factor in regulating economic life.

Against this background, the seminar provides a well-founded overview of the classical basics of economic sociology. In fact, it can be said that the key questions of classical sociology, which ask for the social integration of societies confronted by individualization, commodification and alienation in an extended division of labour, all speak to concerns that have become – and remained – defining concerns of economic sociology ever since. Marx's critique of political economy, which can be understood as a critique of Adam Smith's preceding liberal image of economy and society, sets lasting accents in the sociological discussion of social structural change under the historical conditions of marketization and early industrial transformation. The explicit founding phase of sociology, however, can be traced back to authors such as Emile Durkheim since the end of the 19th century, whose works are shaped by concerns with the socially problematic impact of industrial modernity. Similar concerns also stimulate subsequent considerations on the genesis and persistence of modern capitalism in Max Weber, Werner Sombart and Georg Simmel. These fundamental reflections on the social constitution of the market society as a breeding ground for uncertainty, instability and insecurity form a leitmotif in the paradigmatic works of Joseph Schumpeter and Karl Polanyi as well as Friedrich Hayek. Talcott Parsons’s systems-theoretical approach to the subject is the result of further differentiated developments in classical economic sociology. With Mark Granovetter and the intellectual project of a New Economic Sociology, the network paradigm for the social embedding of economic action moves to the centre of debate. Pierre Bourdieu, finally, provides theorizing on economic sociology with culturally framed action-oriented impulses that account for inequality and power.

Die Teilnahme an sämtlichen Lehrveranstaltung ist nur nach vorheriger Anmeldung über QIS-LSF möglich. Informationen zum Belegungsverfahren finden Sie auf den Seiten der Fachbereichs im Bereich Studium Anmeldeverfahren.

Participation in all courses requires previous registration through QIS/LSF. Information on the registration procedure can be found on the faculty webpage via Studium - Anmeldeverfahren (Studies - Registration).

Hausarbeit / course paper

Conditions of Participation: Active participation in the course proceedings is the basic condition for gaining a certificates of participation (Teilnahmenachweis) or certificate of achievement (Leistungsnachweis). As mentioned above, to document active participation, all students are required to prepare literature reports that need to be uploaded to the OLAT-website for the corresponding sessions. All in all, 12 reports need to be prepared, one for each of the 12 thematic sessions. Each report should be about two pages in DIN A4 format containing about 400 words. The reports are not graded, yet they need to fulfil certain minimum standards regarding volume, style and content. Should reports fulfil these standards only insufficiently, specified improvements will be demanded, which need to be carried out before certificates of participation or achievement can be distributed.

Gaining a certificate of achievement additionally requires the preparation of a course paper, based on the material of the submitted literature reports. The course papers are meant to compare distinct theoretical positions that have been presented in the course literature. At least three different theoretical perspectives – meaning the literature of three sessions – need to be compared, augmented by further secondary literature on the chosen topics. Participants are free to design their course papers in line with their individual thematic and issue-specific preferences. However, it is recommended to design the course papers in line with the concerns of the thematic online-meetings. The volume of the course papers should be about 6000 words. The grade of the course paper constitutes the grade of the certificate of achievement (Leistungsnachweis).