7331017 Sociology

Numbering Code U-LET30 17331 LJ45 Year/Term 2022 ・ Second semester
Number of Credits 2 Course Type special lecture
Target Year Target Student
Language English Day/Period Wed.2
Instructor name RAJKAI Zsombor Tibor (Part-time Lecturer)
Outline and Purpose of the Course This course introduces students to the study of multiple modernities, with a special attention to socialist modernisation as a remarkable state-led experimental modernisation in human history. Though socialist modernisation tends to be underscored (and even neglected) in the mainstream academic discourse in the Post-Cold War era, it (has) affected the lives of people in the entire Eastern European and Central Asian regions, as well as those of (more than 80% of) people living in the East Asian region. Given its wide impact on the Eurasian continent, this course aims to provide a detailed insight into the socioeconomic and sociocultural characteristics and implications of socialist modernisation. The course is divided into three main parts: introductory part (historical review and analytical framework), central part (discussions of topics related to the political and economic spheres, civil society and the private sphere), and the final part (discussions on the current conditions and contested futures).
Course Goals 1. The students will acquire a broad-based understanding about the various paths of social change from traditional to modern, with a special attention to the socialist path of modernisation.
2. The students will learn a set of related concepts and theories that will help them to deepen their knowledge on the path of modernisation in general. In doing so, they will also obtain a basic insight into fundamental academic dilemmas regarding modernisation.
Schedule and Contents Week 1 Orientation (Course Briefing)
Week 2 Multiple Modernities
Week 3 Historical Review
Week 4 Analytical Framework
Week 5 The Socialist Man
Week 6 State Control and Responsibility
Week 7 Planned Economy
Week 8 Socialist Industrial Towns
Week 9 Cultural Life
Week 10 Civil Society
Week 11 Family and Socialism
Week 12 Gender Relations
Week 13 Socialism in the Post-Cold War Era
Week 14 Socialist Ideas and Globalisation
Week 15 Summary (Course Review); Submission of the Term Report
Evaluation Methods and Policy ・40%: Class performance
・60%: Term report

Note: students can submit the term report either in English or Japanese.
Course Requirements None
Study outside of Class (preparation and review) It is strongly recommended that - besides carefully reading the distributed class materials - students should also make efforts in taking notes of the provided class materials. Taking notes is an active learning tool that is complementary to passive learning tools such as 'listening' or 'reading'.
References, etc. Multiple Modernities, Shmuel N. Eisenstadt, (Routledge), ISBN:978-0765809261
Family and Social Change in Socialist and Post-Socialist Societies Change and Continuity in Eastern Europe and East Asia, Zsombor Rajkai, (Brill Academic Publishers), ISBN:978-90-04-27683-3
PAGE TOP