Princeton University

Sociology 599: Agency and Structure in the Marxist, Durkheimian and Weberian Theoretical Traditions

Professor Nicos Mouzelis

In dealing with specific theorists, the objective is neither to give a fully comprehensive account of all their work, nor to examine in detail their precise methodological pronouncements on the issue under consideration. Rather, the emphasis will be on the type of agency-structure linkages that one can derive when an author's empirical exploration of the social world is viewed as a whole.

General References

• A. Giddens, Social Theory and Modern Sociology
• G. Ritzer, Frontiers of Social Theory
• I. Craib, Modern Social Theory
• J.H. Turner, The Structure of Sociological Theory
• R. Collins, Four Sociological Traditions
• R. Collins, Weberian Sociological Theory
• D. Lockwood, Solidarity and Schism: The Problem of 'Disorder' in Durkehimian and Marxist Sociology
• J. Habermas, The Theory of Communicative Action, Vol. II
• J.C. Alexander (ed.), Durkheimian Sociology: Cultural Studies
• J. Alexander & P. Colomy (eds.), Differentiation Theory and Social Change
• H.L. Dreyfus & P. Rabinow, Michel Foucault: Beyond Structuralism and Hermeneutics
• N. Mouzelis, Sociological Theory: What Went Wrong?

Section One: The Marxist Tradition

1. Marx

Systemic contradictions and class conflict: the achievement of a balance between system and social integration.

Question:

Basic Reading:

• D. Lockwood, "Social and System Integrations," in G.K. Zollschan and W. Hirsch (eds.), Explorations in Social Change
• D. Lockwood, Solidarity and Schism: The Problem of 'Disorder' in Durkheimian and Marxist Sociology
• G. Cohen, Karl Marx's Theory of History: A Defense
• A. Giddens, Central Problems in Social Theory, Chapter 4.
• A. Giddens, Capitalism and Modern Social Theory, Part I.
• P. Anderson, Arguments Within Marxism

Additional Reading:

• K. Popper, The Open Society and its Enemies
• Z.A. Jordan, The Evolution of Dialectical Materialism
• S. Avineri, The Social and Political Thoughts of K. Marx
• D. McLellan, The Thought of K. Marx
• D. McLellan, Readings from K. Marx
• L. Kolakowski, Main Currents of Marxism Vol. I.

2. Althusser

Breaking the balance: overemphasis of structural/systemic contradictions. From classes as agents of social transformation to classes as 'bearers of structures.'

Question:

"The elimination of the voluntaristic dimension of social life is a characteristic common to both Althusserian and parsonian functionalism." Do you agree?

Basic Reading:

• M. Glucksmann, Structuralist Analysis in Contemporary Thought,Chapter 4.
• L. Althusser, For Marx, Introduction, Chapter 1.
• N. Geras, "Althusser's Marxism: An Assessment," in Western Marxism: A Critical Reader, edited by New Left Books.
• Ted Benton, The Rise and Fall of Althusserian Marxism
• M. Glucksmann, "Levi-Strauss, Althusser and Structuralism," in J. Rex (ed.), Approaches to Sociology
• G. Elliott, Althusser: The Detour of Theory

Additional Reading:

• L. Althusser, Reading Capital
• E.P. Thompson, The Poverty of Theory
• P. Anderson, Arguments Within Marxism
• N. Poulantzas, "The Problem of the Capitalist State," New Left Review, No. 58, November-December 1969.
• E. Laclau, "The Specificity of the Political: Around the Poulantzas-Miliband Debate," Economy and Society, Vol. 5, No. 1, February 1975.
• N. Mouzelis, Post-Marxist Alternatives, Chapters 1 & 2.

3. Habermas

Redressing the balance: System and Life World

Question:

How successful is Habermas in resolving the social-system integration problem?

Basic Reading:

• J. Habermas, Communication and the Evolution of Society, pp. 1-68; 95-177.
• J. Habermas, Legitimation Crisis, pp. 1-25.
• J. Habermas, The Theory of Communicative Action, Two Volumes, Vol. I, pp. 273-338 and Chapter 4; Vol. 2, pp. 113-198 for the analysis of system and life world.
• N. Mouzelis, "Social and System Integration: Habermas' View," in N. Mouzelis, Back to Sociological Theory, pp. 172-193.
• Michael Pusey, Jurgen Habermas, key sociologists series.
• Stephen K. White, The Recent Work of Jurgen Habermas, Chapter 5.
• Richard Bernstein (ed.), Habermas and Modernity, Part I, Chapter 4; Part 2, Chapters 1, 3, 4, 5.

Additional Reading:

• T. Bottomore, The Frankfurt School, pp. 55-67.
• D. Held, Introduction to Critical Theory, Parts 2 and 3.
• T. McCarthy, The Critical Theory of Jurgen Habermas
• J.T. Thompson & D. Held, Habermas: Critical Debates (see the articles by Giddens, Held, Heller and Habermas' reply).
• D. Kellner, Critical Theory, Marxism and Modernity, pp. 146-196.
• R. Roderick, Habermas and the Foundations of Critical Theory, Chapters 3 and 4.

Section Two: The Durkheimian Tradition

4. Durkheim

The transition from mechanic to organic solidarity. Underemphasis of agency leading to teleological functional explanations of social differentiation. The late work of Durkheim: rituals, the sacred/profane dichotomy and the discrepancy between 'culture' and 'morphology.'

Question:

In what sense, if at all, is Durkheim's explanation of the transition from mechanic to organic solidarity functionalist?

Basic Reading:

• E. Durkheim, The Division of Labor, Chapters 1-3.
• S. Lukes, Emile Durkheim: His Life and Work (contains lucid and critical accounts of all the major works).
• T. Parsons, The Structure of Social Action, Chapters 8-11.
• R.K. Merton, "Durkheim's Division of Labor," in Nisbet (ed.), Emile Durkheim
• A. Giddens, Capitalism and Modern Social Theory, Part Two.

Additional Reading:

• A. Giddens, Durkheim
• S. Fenton, Durkheim and Modern Sociology
• D. Lockwood, Solidarity and Schism
• R. Nisbet, The Sociology of E. Durkheim
• R. Nisbet, E. Durkheim
• J.C. Alexander (ed.), Durkheimian Sociology: Cultural Studies

5. Parsons

Functionalism and the AGIL scheme. The five pattern variables. The cultural, social and personality systems.

Question:

In what respect has Parsonian structural-functionalism underestimated agency?

Basic Reading:

• D. Lockwood, "Social and System Integration," in Zollschan & Hirsch (eds.), Explorations in Social Change
• D. Lockwood, Solidarity and Schism
• A. Dawe, "The Two Socologies," British Journal of Sociology, 1970, pp. 207-228.
• A. Giddens, Studies in Social and Political Theory, Chapter 2.
• E. Devereux, "Parsons' Sociological Theory," in M. Black, The Social Theories of T. Parsons
• P. Hamilton, T. Parsons
• M. Abrahamson, Functionalism
• J. Alexander, (ed.), Key Issues in Sociological Theory: Neo-Functionalism

Additional Reading:

• J. Alexander, "The French Connection: Revisionism and Followership in the Interpretation of Parsons," in American Sociological Review, 1981.
• F. Bourricaud, The Sociology of T. Parsons
• C.H. Morse, "The Functional Imperatives," in M. Black, (ed.), The Social Theories of T. Parsons
• T. Parsons, The Social System(select relevant parts).
• G. Rocher, T. Parsons and American Sociology
• St. Savage, The Theories of T. Parsons
• D. Wrong, "The Oversocialized Conception of Man," American Sociological Review, Vol. 26.
• N. Mouzelis, Sociological Theory: What Went Wrong, Introduction, Chapter 5.

6. Levi-Strauss

Language and Speech. Paradigmatic and Syntagmatic rules. The "hidden" grammar of institutional orders.

Questions:

In what sense, if at all, are Levi-Strauss' explanations of social life reductionist?

Compare the notion of structure in the work of Parsons and Levi-Strauss.

Basic Reading

• M. Glucksmann, Structuralist Analysis in Contemporary Social Thought, Chapters 1, 2, and 3.
• D. Robey (ed.), Structuralism: An Introduction
• M. Glucksmann, "Levi-Strauss, Althusser and Structuralism," in J. Rex (ed.), Approaches to Sociology
• T. Hawkes, Structuralism and Semiotics
• E. Leach, Levi-Strauss
• C. Levi-Strauss, Myth and Meaning
• D. Sperber, "Claude Levi-Strauss," in J. Sturrock, Structuralism and Since

Additional Reading:

• C.R. Badcock, Levi-Strauss
• J.A. Boon, From Symblism to Structuralism
• G. Charbonnier, Conversations with Claude Levi-Strauss
• C. Levi-Strauss, The Savage Mind, (read relevant parts).

7. Foucault

From structuralism to post-structuralism. Decentering the subject and the transcendence of the subject/structure distinction. Discursive and non-discursive practices. Power, knowledge and technologies of subjugation.

Questions:

Discuss Foucault's notion of power/knowledge.

"The social scientist is not only the investigator but also the partial constructor of "social reality." Discuss.

"Foucault's decentering of the subject leads him to teleological forms of explanation." Discuss.

Basic Reading:

• H.L. Dreyfus & P. Rabinow, Michel Foucault: Beyond Structuralism and Hermeneutics
• M. Foucault, Power/Knowledge: Selected Interviews and other Writings (See particularly "afterword" byh C. Gordon).
• A. Giddens, "Structuralism, Post-Structuralism and the Production of Culture," in A. Giddens and T. Turner (eds.), Social Theory Today
• B. Smart, Michel Foucault
• N. Mouzelis, "The Poverty of Sociological Theory," Sociology, November 1993.

Additional Reading:

• H. White, "Michel Foucault," in T. Sturrock (ed.), Structuralism and Since
• M. Foucault, Madness and Civilization: A History of Insanity in the Age of Reason, Introduction, Chapters 1 and 2.
• P. Hirst & P. Wooley, Social Relations and Human Attributes, Chapter 9.
• J. Bernauer & D. Rasmussen (eds.), , Introduction, Chapter 1.
• M. Foucault, Discipline and Punish (read relevant parts).
• G. Gutting, Michel Foucault's Archeology of Scientific Reason
• K.M. Baker, Inventing the French Revolution
• S.T. Ball, Foucault and Education
• R. Boyne, Foucault and Derrida
• J. Habermas, The Philosophical Discourse on Modernity (see chapters on Foucault).

Section Three: The Weberian Tradition

8. Weber

The critque of Marx's economism and the shift from relational to stratificational views of class.

Question:

Contrast Weber and Marx on the development of capitalism.

Basic Reading:

• M. Weber, The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism, Chapters 2-4.
• A. Giddens, Capitalism and Modern Social Theory, Chapters 9, 12.
• A. Giddens, "Marx, Weber and the Development of Capitalism," in his Studies in Social and Political Theory
• G. Marshall, In Search of the Spirit of Capitalism: An Essay on Max Weber's Protestant Ethic Thesis, Chapters 3, 4, and 5.
• K. Lowith, Max Weber and Karl Marx
• D. Sayer, Capitalism and Modernity: An Excursion on Marx and Weber
• W. Schluchter, The Rise of Western Rationalism: Weber's Developmental History
• R.W. Green (ed.), Protestantism and Capitalism: The Weber Thesis and its Critics
• R. Collins, Weberian Sociological Theory

Additional Reading:

• K. Samuelsson, Religion and Economic Action
• R. Brubaker, The Limits of Rationality: An Essay on the Social and Moral Thought of Max Weber (deals with rationality, rationalism and Weber's notions on modernity) pp. 49-90.
• M. Albrow, Max Weber's Construction of Social Theory, Chapter 7.
• B.S. Turner, Max Weber, From History to Modernity, Chapter 3.
• F. Parkin, Max Weber, pp. 40-70.

9. Mead

The subject as the center of social analysis. Hostility to all systemic concepts, micro and macro.

Question:

"Symbolic interactionism, unlike Pasonian functionalism, portrays human beings as producers rather than products of their social world." Discuss.

Basic Reading:

• J.H. Turner, The Structure of Sociological Theory (read relevant chapters).
• G.H. Mead, Mind, Self and Society, Chapters 6, 7, 8.
• J. Douglas (ed.), Understanding Everyday Life, Chapters 11, 12).
• N. Mouzelis, Back to Sociological Theory, Chapter 4.

Additional Reading:

• P. Filmer, et. al., New Directions in Sociological Theory, Chapter 1, 2, 3, 4.
• D. Denzin (ed.), Studies in Symbolic Interactionism
• P. Rock, The Making of Symbolic Interactionism (select relevant parts).
• P. Rock, "Phenomenalism and essentialism in the Sociology of Deviance," Sociology, January 1973.
• I. Goffman, The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life
• Z. Bauman, Hermeneutics and Social Science
• J. Manis and B. Meltzer (eds.), Symbolic Interaction: A Reader in Social Psychology
• D. Matza, Becoming Deviant

10. Garfinkel

Ethnomethods: from intersubjective understandings to "deep," taken-for-granted cognitive rules.

Questions:

In what ways does ethnomethodology challenge conventional sociology?

"Concerning the problem of order, Garfinkel has shifted the focus of analysis from the normative to the cognitive level." Discuss.

Basic Reading:

• J.H. Turner, The Structure of Sociological Theory, (read relevant chapters).
• G. Ritzer, Sociological Theory (read relevant chapters).
• H. Garfinkel, Studies in Ethnomethodology, Introduction, Chapters 1 and 2.
• G. Psathas, "Ethnomethodology and Phenomenology," Social Research, September 1968.
• John Heritage, Garfinkel and Ethnomethodology
• J. Goldthorpe, "A revolution in Sociology?" Sociology, September 1973.
• A.V. Cicourel, "The Ethnomethodological Paradigm," in G. Dreitzel (ed.), Recent Sociology, No. 2.
• A. Giddens, Studies in Social and Political Theory, Chapter 4.

Additional Reading:

• W. Sharrock & B. Anderson, The Ethnomethodologists, Preface, Chapters 2, 3, 7.
• P. McHugh, "A Common Sense Perception of Deviance," in Dreitzel (ed.), op.cit.
• E. Livingstone, Making Sense of Ethnomethodology
• A. Schutz, The Phenomenology of the Social World
• A. Schutz, Collected Papers, I, II, III.
• A.V. Cicourel, Cognitive Sociology
• R. Turner (ed.), Ethnomethodology
• N. Denzin, "Symbolic Interactionism and Ethnomethodology," American Sociological Review, December 1969.
• S. Bruce, "Ethnomethodology and Motives," British Journal of Sociology, September 1985.

Section Four: Attempts at Synthesis

11. Bourdieu

Habitus: Bridging "objectivist" and "subjectivist" sociologies.

Questions:

"Bourdieu rejects functionalist terminology but is unable to transcend functionalist logic." Discuss.

Basic Reading:

• P. Bourdieu & J. Passerson, Reproduction in Education, Society and Culture, pp. 1-68.
• P. Bourdieu, Outline of a Theory of Practice
• P. Bourdieu, The Logic of Practice, Chapters 3-8; pp. 52-142.
• P. Bourdieu & L.J.D. Wacquant, An Invitation to Reflexive Sociology
• R. Jenkins, Pierre Bourdieu
• N. Mouzelis, Sociological Theory: What Went Wrong?, Chapter 6.

Additional Reading:

• S. Lash, Sociology of Postmodernism, Chapter 9.
• S. Calhoun, Bourdieu: Critical Perspectives, pp. 1-13; 61-88; 178-211.
• R. Brubaker, "Rethinking Classical Theory: The Sociological Vision of Pierre Bourdieu," in Theory and Society, 14, (1985).
• A. Honneth, "The Fragmented World of Symbolic Forms: Reflections on Bourdieu's Sociology of Culture," in Theory and Society, 3 (1986).
• D. Layder, Understanding Social Theory, pp. 133-157.

12. Giddens

Structuration theory: bringing functionalis, interpretive and structuralism sociologies closer together.

Questions:

What does Giddens mean by "duality of structure?"

How successful is Giddens' ambitious synthesis?

Basic Reading:

• C.G.A. Bryant & D. Jary (eds.), Giddens' Theory of Structuration
• M. Archer, "Morphogenesis versus Structuration: On Combining structure and Action," British Journal of Sociology, December 1982.
• I. Craib, Anthony Giddens
• N. Mouzelis, "Restructuring Structuration Theory," Sociological Review, November 1989.
• A. Giddens, The Constitution of Society (read relevant parts).

Additional Reading:

• I.J. Cohen, Structuration Theory
• D. Held & J.B. Thompson, Social Theory of Modern Societies: A. Giddens and His Critics
• N. Thrift, "Bear and Mouse or Bear and Tree? Anthony Giddens' Reconstitution of Social Theory," Sociology, Vol. 19, No. 4.
• John Urry, "Duality of Structure: Some Critical Issues," Theory, Culture and Society, Vol. 1, No. 2.