| CODE | SOC2000 | ||||||||||||
| TITLE | Economic Sociology | ||||||||||||
| UM LEVEL | 02 - Years 2, 3 in Modular Undergraduate Course | ||||||||||||
| MQF LEVEL | 5 | ||||||||||||
| ECTS CREDITS | 4 | ||||||||||||
| DEPARTMENT | Sociology | ||||||||||||
| DESCRIPTION | This study-unit will explore some of the main sociologically informed approaches in the study of economic life with particular attention to key ideas and concepts in contemporary economic sociology. The unit firstly situates contemporary sociological approaches within the intellectual history of economic thought, starting from the utilitarian tradition and the early Classical Political Economy, with an appreciation of the sociological dimension of these works and the wider influence they have had on neo-classical economics. Close attention is dedicated to classical scholarship which is more explicitly rooted in sociological or anthropological foundations. The unit provides an overview of the ways in which 'Parsons' Pact' carved out the territorial boundaries between sociology and economics, serving as background for the introduction of key ideas and empirical work in contemporary economic sociology. Thematic focus is put on the concept of embeddedness and field theory in the 'New Economic Sociology', and on the performativity of economics and the social role of science and technology in financial markets. Study-Unit Aims: - to explore the social constitution of economic life and markets; - to appraise the various, and sometimes contrasting, theoretical and methodological approaches within economic sociology; - to introduce alternative modes of thinking on the economy, markets and economic policy, and relate them to current dominant approaches in economics; - to critically examine the ways in which economics itself shapes markets and the governance of the economy. Learning Outcomes: 1. Knowledge & Understanding By the end of the study-unit the student will be able to: - identify the key differences between a sociological take on the economy against the dominant approaches in economics; - appreciate the historical lineage of current thought on the economy and trace it back to classical political economy and classical sociology; - understand how the institutional and methodological divide between economics and sociology shaped scholarship in economic sociology; - assess the various approaches within economic sociology and how they interact and intersect. 2. Skills By the end of the study-unit the student will be able to: - apply a variety of theories and concepts to markets and behaviour in the economy; - interpret current economic issues, developments and policy from a sociological standpoint; - situate contemporary scholarship around the economy within the intellectual and institutional historical developments; - employ close reading of academic texts and appraise the literature. Main Text/s and any supplementary readings: Main Texts: - Smelser, N, & Swedberg, R. (eds.). (2005). The Handbook of Economic Sociology (2nd edition). New York and Princeton: Russell Sage Foundation and Princeton University Press. Supplementary Readings: - Callon, M. (2007). 'What does it mean to say that economics is performative?' In MacKenzie, D. Muniesa, F., & Siu, L. (eds.), Do economists make markets? On the performativity of economics. Oxford and Princeton: Princeton University Press, pp. 311-357. - Fligstein, N. (1996) 'Markets as politics: A political-cultural approach to market institutions', American Sociological Review, 61(4), pp. 656-673. - Granovetter, M. (1985). 'Economic action and social structure: The problem of embeddedness'. American Journal of Sociology, 91(3), 481-510. - MacKenzie, D. (2009) Material markets: How economic agents are constructed., Oxford: Oxford University Press. - Polanyi, K. (1944/2001). The Great Transformation: The political and economic origins of our time. Boston, MA: Beacon Press. - Stark, D. (2000). For a Sociology of Worth. Keynote Address for the Meetings of the European Association of Evolutionary Political Economy, Berlin, November 2-4. - Swedberg, R. (2003). Principles of Economic Sociology. Princeton and Oxford: Princeton University Press, pp. 1-31. - Weber, M. (1922/1978). Economy and Society. An Outline of Interpretive Sociology (Edited by G. Roth & C. Wittich). Berkeley, Los Angeles & London: University of California Press. |
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| STUDY-UNIT TYPE | Lecture and Independent Study | ||||||||||||
| METHOD OF ASSESSMENT |
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| LECTURER/S | Dylan Cassar |
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The University makes every effort to ensure that the published Courses Plans, Programmes of Study and Study-Unit information are complete and up-to-date at the time of publication. The University reserves the right to make changes in case errors are detected after publication.
The availability of optional units may be subject to timetabling constraints. Units not attracting a sufficient number of registrations may be withdrawn without notice. It should be noted that all the information in the description above applies to study-units available during the academic year 2025/6. It may be subject to change in subsequent years. |
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