Unit information: Class and Social Divisions in 2015/16

Unit name	Class and Social Divisions
Unit code	SOCI20045
Credit points	20
Level of study	I/5
Teaching block(s)	Teaching Block 2 (weeks 13 - 24)
Unit director	Professor. Will Atkinson
Open unit status	Not open
Pre-requisites	None
Co-requisites	None
School/department	School of Sociology, Politics and International Studies
Faculty	Faculty of Social Sciences and Law

Description including Unit Aims

While postmodern sociology celebrates the 'death of class', empirical research continues to demonstrate its major influence in a wide variety of domains. Theoretically there has always been controversy about the nature of class and its basis, about the boundaries between classes, about the experience of class and how it relates to politics. The unit explores these debates in relation to contemporary theories of class analysis. And it examines current thinking and research on the relationship between class and other social divisions and on class identities and cultures in late modern societies.

Aims:

• To present the latest theoretical and empirical developments in the study of class

• To explain the relevance of class as both a sociological concept and as an explanatory concept

• To explore the social location of class in relation to other aspects of social division

Intended Learning Outcomes

Level 5

On successful completion of the unit, students will be able to:

• Demonstrate an understanding of the major contemporary theoretical perspectives on class

• Understand the range of methodological techniques used in the study of class

• Analyse how class interacts with gender and ethnicity

Teaching Information

1 lecture and 1 seminar per week.

Assessment Information

Formative: 2000 word essay or equivalent

Summative: 3000 word essay or equivalent

Reading and References

• F. Devine Social Class in America and Britain Edinburgh University Press 1997

• M. Savage Class Analysis & Social Transformation Open University Press 2000

• H. Bradley Fractured Identities Polity Press 1996

• G. Payne et al Social Divisions Macmillan 2000

• B. Skeggs Formations of Class and Gender Sage 1997

• S. Charlesworth A Phenomenology of Working Class Experience 2000