Sociological Perspectives On Modernity

The objective of the course is to enable students to understand modernity as a socio-cultural product in specific socio-historical contexts. The course exposes students to theoretical perspectives to look at modernity and its constituents as a practice deeply embedded in culture and society. It familiarises students with encountering problems in their everyday life from more rationalist perspectives. It attempts to critically engage with and interrogate the multiple views on modernity.INTENDED AUDIENCE : BE/ME/MA/MS/BSc/MSc/PhDPREREQUISITES : NILINDUSTRY SUPPORT : NIL

Week - 1: Introduction: Modernity as a project of EnlightenmentWeek - 2: Modernist paradigm in sociology: modern science, industrialisation and developmentWeek - 3-5: Sociological modernism: Marx, Weber and SimmelWeek - 6-7: Structuralist interpretation: Levi-Strauss and AlthusserWeek - 8-9: Western Marxism: Lukacs, Gramsci and TouraineWeek - 10: Synthesising modernity: Wallerstein, Giddens and HabermasWeek - 11: Deconstructing modernity, modernity in non-modern contexts, the idea of alternative or multiple modernitiesWeek - 12: Reflexivity: dialectic of engaging with and interrogating modernity