1. Introduction: the field of study, the Project of Modernity – how to run a society, savoir pour prévoir and the limits of sociological knowledge; Founding Fathers and their theoretical heritage, basic approaches to the study of society.
2. Crisis of the Project of Modernity: The Short 20th Century and its challenges to sociology, sociological paradigms: reflexive modernity as striving after continuity vs. post-modern breakage and discontinuity; distinct phases of modernity.
3. Social Stratification - the spinal chord of social inequalities; different systems of stratification, power, money and prestiges – scarce commodities; the role of the middle class in modern societies, the new middle class.
4. World of Work: The coming of the postindustrial/postmodern/information society, globalization, outsourcing and social cleavages – their impact on employment.
5. Sociology of Family its history, transformation and changing nature in contemporary societies.
6. Sociological methods I. – the philosophy of social scientific research, research layout,basic sociologial techniques, qualitative research.
7. Sociological Methods II. – quantitative methods, operationalization, dimensional analysis, project outline, sampling, data collection, data analysis.
8. Sociology of Culture: culture as stratification factor, integration of different capitals – BOBOs, culture as a course of conflict – multiculturalism and modern Western societies – terms of acceptance of the Others.
9. Democratic Triangle: State &Market & Civil Society; Societies in Conflict, Conflict in Societies, : religion, ethnicity, race in contemporary societies;
10. Limits to Growth: environmental challenges, non-renewable resources, different international ecological regimes; dark sites of consumption societies; the new consumer – the collector.
11. Sociology of Organizations – institutions and the players – New Institutional Economics; history of organizational studies; different types of organizations; red-tape and bureaucratization of administration; organizational culture – the new driving force and key factor in organizational survival.
12. Sociology of Crime – different types of crime; putative crime, the growing phenomenon – white collar crime, the collapse major companies;, crisis of managerial capitalism, new legal protective measures.
13. Idea of Progress and the First-Third World relationship: the growing inequalities, North-South relations – new bi-polar division?; the role of information organizations in the current world architecture.
14. Media and Society: history of media research, the phases and patterns of communication, media and consumer seduction, public sphere and political propaganda.
2. Crisis of the Project of Modernity: The Short 20th Century and its challenges to sociology, sociological paradigms: reflexive modernity as striving after continuity vs. post-modern breakage and discontinuity; distinct phases of modernity.
3. Social Stratification - the spinal chord of social inequalities; different systems of stratification, power, money and prestiges – scarce commodities; the role of the middle class in modern societies, the new middle class.
4. World of Work: The coming of the postindustrial/postmodern/information society, globalization, outsourcing and social cleavages – their impact on employment.
5. Sociology of Family its history, transformation and changing nature in contemporary societies.
6. Sociological methods I. – the philosophy of social scientific research, research layout,basic sociologial techniques, qualitative research.
7. Sociological Methods II. – quantitative methods, operationalization, dimensional analysis, project outline, sampling, data collection, data analysis.
8. Sociology of Culture: culture as stratification factor, integration of different capitals – BOBOs, culture as a course of conflict – multiculturalism and modern Western societies – terms of acceptance of the Others.
9. Democratic Triangle: State &Market & Civil Society; Societies in Conflict, Conflict in Societies, : religion, ethnicity, race in contemporary societies;
10. Limits to Growth: environmental challenges, non-renewable resources, different international ecological regimes; dark sites of consumption societies; the new consumer – the collector.
11. Sociology of Organizations – institutions and the players – New Institutional Economics; history of organizational studies; different types of organizations; red-tape and bureaucratization of administration; organizational culture – the new driving force and key factor in organizational survival.
12. Sociology of Crime – different types of crime; putative crime, the growing phenomenon – white collar crime, the collapse major companies;, crisis of managerial capitalism, new legal protective measures.
13. Idea of Progress and the First-Third World relationship: the growing inequalities, North-South relations – new bi-polar division?; the role of information organizations in the current world architecture.
14. Media and Society: history of media research, the phases and patterns of communication, media and consumer seduction, public sphere and political propaganda.