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Theories of Social Change
| Dozent/in |
Till Förster |
| Veranstaltungsart |
Seminar
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| Wann |
Mo 10-12 |
| Ort |
Ethnologisches Seminar |
| Sprechstunde |
nach Vereinbarung |
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Inhalt |
| This seminar is a critical examination of theories of social change and their applications to the comparative analysis of Western and African societies. Social change was one of the major topics in anthropology when it established itself as an academic discipline in the late 19th century. The key concepts evolution and diffusion were widely discussed at the time. However, from the 1920s onwards, the interest in social change gave way to concepts of equilibrium and social as well as cultural reproduction that left little room for social change. With a few notable exceptions – e.g. neo-evolutionism –, theories of social change were addressed by neighbouring disciplines, in particular by sociology, but seldom so by anthropology. However, in the 1970s, with the growth of development studies, social change resurfaced as a major topic of social anthropology. During the 1990s, social change in the context of globalisation and uneven development has become one of the main issues.
One of the goals of the seminar is to assist students with developing their theoretical framework for their thesis. Thus, students will be asked to take an active role in relating social theories to their research proposal. |
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Programm |
| Beginn: 15. November 2004 |
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Literatur |
| A reading list will soon be accessible as PDF-file on this website for download.
required texts:
Vago, Steven. Social Change. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 2004.
Zapf, Wolfgang (ed.), Theorien des sozialen Wandels. Königstein i.T.: Athenäum, 1979. |
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Bemerkungen |
| Teaching and communication in the course will be in English, but you may also use German. Papers may be written in English, French or German.
General prerequisites: A knowledge of basic social science is required. Particular prerequisites in Social Anthropology as major: Zwischenprüfung. In African Studies: none.
Abstract and detailed outline of the proposed paper are due one week ahead of the presentation. First drafts of the papers are due by the end of the semester (approx. 25 pages).
Social Anthropology as Major: Seminar aus dem Wahlpflichtbereich des Grundstudiums, Sach- oder Regionalthema. African Studies: Qualified examination by an essay of about 25 pages (see study regulations for African Studies).
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Shortcuts
Inhalt
Programm
Literatur
Bemerkungen
Download
Detaillierter Semesterplan (pdf)
introduction (excerpts in German, pdf)
transparencies on culture contact and acculturation (ppt, read only)
transparencies on Durkheim (pdf)
handout 3.1.2005 (pdf)
handout 17.1.05 (pdf)
handout 24.1.05 (pdf)
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