Social Movements
Full course description
This upper-level course is rooted in the sociological study of social movements. In the first two weeks, an overview of the field will be provided by identifying key concepts, theories and methods through examination of a variety of case studies. Subsequently, students will go more in-depth to undertake research projects that explore social movement dynamics. Salient themes addressed will include: democratization, protest, communication technologies, emotion, collective identity, governance, and globalization. Different kinds of social movements will be explored, including civil rights, environmentalism, feminism and indigenous rights. While much attention will be placed on social movements within Europe and North America, a global-comparative perspective will be periodically emphasized. The over-arching goal of the course will be to reveal the ways in which social movements work to both produce and resist social change. Some of the main questions addressed in the course will be: What is a social movement? Why do people join social movements? How do movements gain/lose momentum? What is the relationship between social movements and democracy? And, under what conditions do social movements 'succeed'? Students should realize that this is a work intensive course with a very strong emphasis placed on in-class participation and engagement.
Course objectives
- To become conversant in the major questions driving social movement research.
- To become conversant in the key theories and concepts driving social movement research.
- To become conversant in the primary methods driving social movement research.
- To evaluate and assess social movement research in a critical and constructive manner.
- To design a case study and initiate an original empirical study of social movements.
- To reflect on the relevance and utility of studying social movements
Prerequisites
Students must have completed the full cycle of Introduction to Research Methods I and II (SKI1004 + SKI1005) as this course requires working knowledge of social scientific methodology. In addition, students must have taken TWO or more of the following courses: SSC1029 Sociological Perspectives, SSC1003/SSC2065 Theories of Social Order, SSC1025 Introduction to Political Science, SSC2028 Classical Social Theory, SSC2029 Political Sociology.