ASOK15101U Knowledge, organization and politics - NB This course is closed for further registration
MA Sociology 2015 - Compulsory course package subject.
Sociology students must be enrolled under MSc Curriculum 2015 to
take this exam.
BA-Undergraduates from foreign countries (exchange students) can sign up for this course.
This is a compulsory course for the course package "Knowledge, organization and politics".
The course reviews a range of central theoretical-analytical perspectives and empirical studies, each contributing to the sociological analysis of the ways in which society is organized and governed as well as the role(s) played by the production and use of knowledge in different organizational and political fields. For this purpose, analytical tools from three branches of sociology will be introduced and discussed: organizational sociology, sociology of knowledge, and political sociology. The mutual relations, overlaps, and tensions between these subject areas and fields serve as the object of both theoretical and empirical analysis, as well as being put to use by students in their independent project work, i.e. inquiries into a chosen topic or problematic within the thematic field.
The course is structured along two main analytical axes. First, we read and analyze core sociological texts dealing with politically central forms of societal organization, at and across micro-, meso- and macro-sociological levels of analysis (municipalities, state bureaucracies, social movements, professional elites, multinational companies, international organizations etc.). Second, we introduce and discuss a range of theoretical-analytical perspectives relevant for the thematic field (neo-institutional organizational theory, neo-Weberian sociology of professions, Bourdieu-inspired field analyses, pragmatic-sociological convention theory etc.).
In this context, one central question running throughout the course is how knowledge and power come to relate in specific organizational contexts, and how we might understand and analyze such contexts in terms of concepts such as validity, legitimacy, conflict, and democracy. Here, we link our analyses to contemporary and central sociological discussions on such themes as the knowledge- and risk society, neo-liberalism, and globalization. These and related theoretical-analytical concepts will be used as tools for contextualizing the project-based inquiries within the thematic field which students will carry out and discuss in-between themselves throughout the entirety of the course. At certain points during the course, experts in possession of practical experiences from relevant organizational fields will be invited as guest lecturers.
Upon finishing the course, the student will have gained a broadly based overview of the core sociological research literature within the thematic field of knowledge, organization and politics. This will give them the ability to thoroughly compare and contrast key theoretical perspectives that are central to the wider MA specialization in Knowledge, organization and politics, as well as identifying significant historical and contemporary developments in the field.
Moreover, based on paradigmatic empirical studies, the student will be able to identify and analyze other cases and settings where knowledge and politics shape or influence the functioning of organizations. Via the project work, the student gains and demonstrates abilities to apply central concepts from the literature within independently chosen, empirically and methodologically informed inquiries into the way knowledge and power are related in specific organizational contexts. In this way, the student also attains broader competences and methods to contribute to the practical handling of key issues and problems that cut across a range of organizational fields where relations between knowledge and politics is important.
A compendium consisting of central texts within the thematic field will be put together and made available prior to course start. The total curriculum is app. 1200 pages. In addition, students are required to choose supplementary reading materials for their project work (app. 200 pages).
- Category
- Hours
- Exam Preparation
- 90
- Exercises
- 30
- Lectures
- 56
- Preparation
- 140
- Theory exercises
- 97
- Total
- 413
Deadline for signing up for Summer School courses
is June 1st, 2015.
When signing up you are automatically signed up for exam.
International students must sign up by filling in an application
form which you find
here:
course registration
Meritstuderende:
klik her
- Credit
- 15 ECTS
- Type of assessment
- PortfolioVed porteføljeopgave forstås en opgave bestående af et antal mindre opgaver, der besvarer et eller flere stillede spørgsmål. Opgaverne kan udarbejdes løbende, mens undervisningen i faget finder sted. Der vil være mulighed for af få feedback på opgaverne i løbet af undervisningsforløbet, hvis fristerne for feedback-indlevering overholdes. Opgaverne kan viderebearbejdes som følge af feedback.
Der gives én karakter på bagrund af en samlet vurdering af porteføljeopgaven og det mundtlige forsvar. De skriftlige porteføljeopgaver kan udarbejdes i mindre grupper (max 4 studerende) og det mundtlige forsvar foregår herefter som gruppeprøve med individuel bedømmelse.
De samlede porteføljeopgaver må maximalt fylde 30 sider. Ved gruppebesvarelser tillægges 15 sider pr. ekstra studerende. - Exam registration requirements
No specific registration requirements.
- Aid
- All aids allowed
- Marking scale
- 7-point grading scale
- Censorship form
- External censorship
Criteria for exam assesment
See learning outcome
Course information
- Language
- English
- Course code
- ASOK15101U
- Credit
- 15 ECTS
- Level
- Full Degree Master
- Duration
- 1 semester
- Placement
- Autumn
- Schedule
- See schedule
- Continuing and further education
- Price
Open University - Continuing and professional education - read more here
- Study board
- Department of Sociology, Study Council
Contracting department
- Department of Sociology
Course responsibles
- Anders Blok (3-686973477a766a35727c356b72)
Lecturers
Anders Blok, Jens Arnholtz og Anna Ilsøe