UNIVERSITY OF THE WITWATERSRAND, JOHANNESBURG

Sociology Post Graduate Courses

SOCL4036/7036 - Feminist Theory

This course traces the trajectory of feminist theory since the so-called 'second wave' and focuses on some of the central questions in feminist thought. These include questions such as what is oppression? How are patriarchy and capitalism related? Is there a sex/gender distinction? How do constructs of femininity and masculinity impact on our subjectivity? How is gender an embodied experience? The course will guide the student through a range of feminist theories that asks these questions and many more related to sexuality, the body, violence, subjectivity and emancipation. Participants will be expected to critically evaluate the theories in relation to contemporary life, and use them effectively to create their own theoretical standpoints.

SOCL4039/7042 - The Sociology of Health and Illness

An increasing recognition that professionals other than medical practitioners need to play a more significant role in formal and informal health care structures has contributed to the growing demand for experts in the Sociology of health and Illness. This course aims to fill in the gap in the training of such experts by providing a systematic and comprehensive introduction to the core concepts and current debates in the Sociology of Health & Illness. It focuses on the theoretical as well as the practical aspects in both the global and the South African contexts. Some of the possible themes covered include:

The Theoretical Origins and Development of the Sociology of Health and Illness
Health, Medicine and Society - Key Theories
A Sociological Perspective of Health, Illness, Disease and Sickness
Culture and Health - Medical Pluralism
Power, Medicine and Social Control
Contemporary Health Inequalities
Health and Social Change
Life-style and Risk - The Sociology of Health Promotion
The Sociology of Chronic Illness and Disability
The Sociology of Epidemics and Infectious Diseases

SOCL4038 - The Making of the South African Social Order

The course provides an overview of 20th century South African history, as shaped by the varying legacies of indigenous modes of organisation and colonial rule. It outlines the challenges and opportunities that faced social and political actors in the course of the century, and that have left their mark on contemporary developments. From a theoretical perspective, it pays particular attention to the areas of state formation and resistance, economic development and class relations, and collective identity. Against this background, and drawing on comparative and historical literature, the course will examine developments in South African society since the 1970s, with a focus on the politics of transition of the last decade and a half. The readings for the course will combine historical overviews and discussions of key issues and current debates in South African studies.

SOCL4014/7010 - Economic Sociology: Institutions, Capitalism and Markets

This course will introduce students to the main paradigms that shape modern economic policy debates and positions. Not an economics course, it will, nonetheless, provide post-graduate students in the social sciences with a solid grounding in economic and social theory in a manner that will enable effective policy advocacy and critique. Sophisticated theoretical discussion, plus detailed reading, plus policy analysis, forms the core of the course, which is designed to give students an in-depth understanding of the capitalist system, and its limitations. This course does not require any prior knowledge of economics or economic theory.

Without understanding the larger models that frame discussion and debate, it is impossible to develop an effective grasp of quite elementary questions relating to economic and social justice; trapped within our assumptions, we struggle to develop critical thinking and analysis. Regardless of whether one opposes (or supports) the capitalist system, one will be in a position to argue one s position, understand its political implications and its applicability to real-world policy issues, and appreciate the strengths and weaknesses of alternative assessments. The four main paradigms that will be dealt with are, respectively, economic liberalism, Keynesianism, Marxism and anarchism.

In addition, students will give close readings to key macro-economic policy documents drawn from the local context, and learn how to read and assess such papers. The aim of this reading is partly practical: first, to introduce students to macro-economic policy documents of decisive importance ? decisive, at the very least, as statements of orientation by particular class forces; second, to apply knowledge from the four main texts to the analysis of these documents, developing understanding of the paradigms informing policies and learning to read and assess policy papers; and, third, to equip students for policy work. Equally importantly, this reading introduces students to the synergies of theory and practice: that is, to the practical applications and political implications of different economic paradigms.

SOCL4016/7012 - Global Institutions and Economic Restructuring

This course examines the involvement of global institutions in development as a process of establishing intellectual hegemony of influencing individuals and groups; shaping ideas, discourses and debates; and affecting institutional arrangements inside and outside the state. In respect, the study of their effect on development is simultaneously an investigation of the sociology of knowledge and the sociology of bureaucracy and institutions. The course focuses on global institutions which are involved in promoting development in developing societies, including South Africa. These include, in particular, formal institutions such as the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund, and the World Trade Organisation. In addition, the course examines the role of new social movements that have emerged in opposition to these institutions.

This focus on global institutions is particularly appropriate for the current period in South Africa's history. The democratic government is formulating and re-formulating its development policy in the context of increased exposure to these global institutions and movements. The course will examine the role of these institutions globally, in different developing countries as well as in South Africa. We will be assisted in this process by guest lecturers with direct experience of the policy process

Our approach will combine a meta-theoretical exercise involving reading policy documents within their appropriate theoretical/empirical/policy context with practical exposure to the intricacies of actual policy making. It should set as a useful bridge between student?s formal training in development theory and preparation for more practically oriented, hands-on, policy making.

SOCL7050 - Advanced Research Methods

This course will be divided into two parts: research design and proposal writing.

The first part of the course aims to allow students to formulate, clarify and focus their research questions; understand and develop explanatory models for their projects, and become familiar with various research designs. As an outcome of this part, students will be required to prepare draft proposals for their Masters research reports (or PhD dissertations), within the framework of the course but working together with individual supervisors. This course also covers different data collection methods through a series of assignments.

SOSS7021- Labour and Development

(MA only for GLU students except under exceptional circumstances) Much of the literature that explores the determinants of economic development has focused either on the market and its social carrier, employers, or on the developmental state and its technocratic elites. This developmental literature has tended to see peasants and workers as either victims or beneficiaries, but rarely as active agents of economic and political transformation. Our approach will be to analyse the role of labour in the development process both historically and in the current epoch of globalisation. Our focus will be on labour and development in Southern Africa and the Global South. A key challenge facing labour is its relationship to the post-colonial state, especially the role of labour in economic policy formulation and implementation. Another important concern is the relationship of trade unions (which traditionally organise mainly permanent or 'core' workers) to other civil society organisations, the working poor, peasants and the informal economy. To answer these questions it is necessary to understand labour as an independent actor, its evolution and the dilemmas it faces in developing societies

SOCL4002/SOSS4008 - Advanced Social Research

The course will examine the foundations of social research, and its underlying assumptions and methodologies. It will combine theoretical discussions with the practical application of various research tools. Students will be expected to gain an understanding of theoretical issues together with an ability to choose and use different methods and research designs in an applied context. By the end of the course successful students would have built their capacity to design and execute research in academic and applied settings.

SOCL4045/7048 - Labour in the Global Economy

This course focuses on how the nature of work is changing in the new economy, and the implications for economic opportunity and inequality in both South Africa and the United States. It is a reading-intensive course dealing with the theoretical literature on rapid economic restructuring and how this is shaping work and employment.

The course consists of three main parts. Part one focuses on general theoretical issues in the world of work and the major changes that have taken place on a global scale. Part Two consists of series of comparative case studies that explore these themes in different industrial sectors in both the U.S. and South Africa. Part Three examines the response of labour, at a local (both U.S. and South Africa), regional (Southern African and North American) and global scale.

This course aims to develop a framework for understanding the nature of contemporary processes of economic restructuring and its impact on the world of work. Drawing on research in both a South African and U.S. context, key case studies in the changing nature of work will be examined. This will provide a deeper understanding of how broad macro-level changes in the nature of contemporary capitalism are mediated by a variety of technological, political, and socio-economic factors in particular industries and geographic contexts. Finally, an in-depth look at workers' responses to these changes at different scales (local, regional, global) will help deepen our understanding of the contested nature of workplace restructuring while exploring promising strategies for improving working conditions.

At the end of this course you should:
Have a broad understanding of how processes of globalization and economic restructuring are affecting workers. Be able to think critically and theoretically about workplace restructuring and its implications on working conditions; and Be able to contribute to developing appropriate strategies for improving working conditions in both the developed and developing world context. During the second-half of the semester, all course sessions will include video-conference discussions with students at Pennsylvania State University in the United States. Discussions in these video-conferences will centre around the similarities and differences in South Africa and the U.S. in relation to the themes of the particular session.

SOCL4030/7039 - Social Transitions

The course examines the concept of social transition through close study of a number of key texts in historically-based sociology. The central question is; can we give a coherent account of where the social formation of capitalist modernity came from and where it is going?

Modernity and post-modernity; colonialism and the postcolonial; nation-state and globalization; are some of the key issues explored. The course aims to provide a conceptual and historical framework for thinking about just what it is that we mean by transition which will assist you in dealing with your later specialization. Authors discussed in the course include David Harvey, Marshall Berman, Edward Said, Michel Foucault, Paul Gilroy, Derek Sayer, Achille Mbembe and Frantz Fanon, amongst others.

SOSS4011/7017 - HIV/AIDS in Context

This is an inter-disciplinary course that examines the sociological, historical and anthropological questions relevant to HIV/AIDS as a global pandemic. The aim of the course is to equip learners with the skills and the insights to better understand the complexity of the epidemic in order to be able to make a meaningful contribution to the efforts to combat its devastating effects. It provides a general overview of the facts, debates and controversies surrounding the current HIV/AIDS crisis, with a specific focus on developing countries, including South Africa.
Some of the themes covered include:

Basic biological facts about the virus, prevention and treatment
Social epidemiology - an examination of global and South African statistics
History and ideology of sexually transmitted diseases (STD's) in Africa
Stigma, societal attitudes and issues of death & dying
Social inequalities, health and HIV/AIDS
Gender and HIV/AIDS
HIV/AIDS policy - The role of the South African state
The Treatment Action Campaign (TAC) as a health-social movement
The debates surrounding circumcision as a public health intervention
Medical anthropology of HIV/AIDS

SOCL4009/7009 - Development as Ideology and Practice

What is ''development''? The course will explore the different meanings of the term, review the theoretical debates on ''development,'' and examine elements of the policy and practice of ''development.''

The debate on ''development'' is renewing in its intensity after being somewhat moribund for a number of years. Part of the problem arose from a general crisis of ''development theory'' in the late 1980s. None of the main ''development'' models seemed to provide convincing analyses of the political economies of the ''third world'' at the time. Models of State-led ''development'' - whether Keynesianism in the First World, central planning on the Second World, or ''developmentalism'' in the ''third world'' - seemed viable.

For some, ''development'' itself became seen as the problem. For the post-development school, influenced by post-modern relativism, the very notion of ''development'' was rejected as destructive and oppressive. This assumed, of course, that ''development'' was a meaningful and distinct project in the first place.

Not unrelated to the crisis in theory, a hegemonic policy model emerged around this time, an approach that was presented as self-evidently correct and commonsense, and as a ''technical'' solution, rather than a ''theoretical'' position. This was neo-liberalism, a model that rapidly captured the debate on ''development.''

The social inequities and mixed track record of neo-liberalism have, however, led to a resurgence of debate on ''development'' questions, and played an important part in the emergence of the field of ''development studies'' in the 1990s. This shift reflects the concerns of both the supporters and the opponents of neo-liberalism. For the former, there has been a growing interest in the economic and social prerequisites for market-led economic growth; for the latter, there has been a growing interest in analysing the limitations of - and developing alternatives to - the neo-liberal ''development'' model.

The course will track the trajectories of the successive ''development'' models, looking at their origins, influence, and strengths and weaknesses, and the manner in which ''development'' is imagined. Theoretical models have real implications, and the course will therefore also examine specific areas of ''development'' policy and practice. Case studies of particular ''development'' sectors will provide something of a picture of ''development'' in operation, and provide students with insights into ''development'' work. Where possible case studies will be linked to issues of contemporary concern.