A comparative and historical perspective on the family as a social institution, the range of variation in its structure and the determinants of its development. The city as habitat and as spectacle. An examination of the social and social psychological processes by which individuals become members of human groups. An introduction to the sociological foundations of political life. Topics to be examined include voting behaviour, comparative power systems, ideologies, mass movements, parties, voluntary associations, and bureaucracies.
Attention is given to the concepts of class, status, command, power, authority, and legitimacy.
A study of dominance behaviour in human societies, surveying the range from private to public and from openly exploitative to fully legitimate power systems. An analysis of the basic processes of structure and change in organizations, including formal and informal structure, authority, power and control in organizations, organizational roles and conflicts, organizational environments and bureaucracy in modern society. An examination of social movements which challenge prevailing social institutions and cultural values. Social movements considered may include religious cults and sects, millenarian movements, attempts at utopian and communal living, feminism, labour and revolutionary movements. An exploration of selected topics from issues in contemporary social theory, including theories of feminism, the state, the environment, culture, organization, and communication.