ASOK15205U Political Sociology Theory Seminar

In the theory seminar we focus on the use of theory in Sociology. How does one make use of theory in the thesis? Deeper understanding of theory and how to make use of theory is the backbone for writting a good master thesis and make use of social science in practice. theories can be abstract theoretical frameworks or operationalizable concrete dynamics, they may be lean or complex, broad or narrow, general or particular. Throughout the course the inner cohesion and workings of a variety of theories will be discussed by posing and answering the question: By what criteria shall we choose a theory Through exercizes and reading, we dig deeper into what a theory is and what it does for us in our scientific practices. The course culminates in an assignment where participants make a presentation of theory as if it was the theroretical part of a master thesis. Bring a theroretical interest to the course and learn how to grasp the inner dynamic of theory and how to present a theory in a useful way. We examine some examples of sociological htoery building: Habermas, Bordieu, Luhmann, Collins and others. But for the assignment the participants can choose sovereignly amongst theories in the field of Sociology.