Political Sociology

(3 Credit Hours) · Undergraduate

Political sociology is concerned with the sociological analysis of political phenomena ranging from the State and civil society to the family, investigating topics such as the sources of social power, citizenship, social movements, and political conflict. It is quite a broad field and in this module, we look at four broad themes. The first section focuses on theoretical explanations of the nature and distribution of power within society; the second on the regulation of power concerning the state, governance and civil society; the third on contesting state power, looking at social movements, political protest and understandingtherootcausesofviolence;andthefourthsectionon powerbeyondthe rules, including terrorism and war and the effect on society, and specifically on women. In this module we apply theory to practice and make use of everyday examples to provide context to the topics under discussion.