MIT Department of Urban Studies and Planning Course # 11.469 Urban Sociology 2018 Class meetings: Fridays, 8:30 to 11:30 AM, MCI Norfolk. Faculty: Assistant Professor Justin Steil and Lecturer Aditi Mehta Course Description: This seminar introduces students to core writings in the field of urban sociology and explores the creative dialectic—and sometimes conflict—between sociology and urban policy and design. Topics include the changing conceptions of “community,” the effects of neighborhood characteristics on individual outcomes, the significance of social capital and networks, the drivers of categorical inequality, and the interaction of social structure and political power. We examine several of the key theoretical paradigms that have constituted sociology since its founding, assess how and why they have changed over time, and discuss the implications of these shifts for urban research and planning practice. The course has two primary aims: (1) to give students a more critical appreciation of the contemporary, comparative, and historical contexts in which urban planning skills and sensibilities have been developed and are applied; and (2) to offer a “sociology of knowledge” approach to the field of urban sociology. Learning Approach and Evaluation: The seminar will take in the Massachusetts Correctional Institution in Norfolk with half of the class from MIT and half of the class from MCI Norfolk. The location and composition of the class was chosen based on the belief that bringing together students of sociology and urban studies who are incarcerated with those who are at MIT will create a unique and valuable environment in which to generate new knowledge about our social world and the repeated mechanisms that contribute to persistent socio-economic inequality and other pressing social problems. Participation in the course accordingly involves a commitment to a new learning environment and a significant dedication of time. Students should feel free to raise questions or concerns about the environment at any time, but should be prepared for the time commitment and the new context. The seminar is centered on intensive and often Socratic discussion, as well as brief lectures, about the assigned readings and study questions. Students will be encouraged to discuss how the theoretical and practical concerns that have preoccupied sociologists can be applied to their individual interests and the future of planning. Requirements and grading are as follows: • In-class participation (20%). Be prepared, ask questions, make arguments supported by the readings, listen to each other. This is a discussion-based, rather than lecture-based, course. Students should be well prepared to participate actively in class discussions, with well-supported
Stepan, Alfred and Juan Linz. 2011. “Comparative Perspectives on Inequality and the Quality of Democracy in the United States.” Perspectives on Politics 9(4): 841-56 Volscho, Thomas W. and Nathan Kelly. 2012. “The Rise of the Super-Rich: Power Resources, Taxes, Financial Markets, and the Dynamics of the Top 1 Percent, 1949-2008.” American Sociological Review 77(5): 679-99 Week 1 (February 9) – Introduction & The Sociological Imagination Mills, Charles Wright. 1959. The Sociological Imagination. (pp. 3-14, 17-24, 132-142) Haraway, 1988. “Situated Knowledges: The Science Question in Feminism and the Privilege of Partial Perspective.” Feminist Studies 14 (3): 575-599. Appadurai, Arjun. 2006. “The Right to Research.” Globalisation, Societies and Education 4 (2):167–77. Kelley, Robin D. G. 2008. Freedom Dreams: The Black Radical Imagination. Boston: Beacon Press. Chapter 1, pp.1-12. Massey, Doreen. 2004. “Geographies of Responsibility.” Geografiska Annaler: Series B, Human Geography 86 (1):5–18. NO CLASS (February 16) Week 2 (February 23) Foundations & Urban Sociology Foundations Durkheim, Emile. 1883. The Division of Labour in Society. (excerpts) Tonnies, Ferdinand. 1887. Gemeinschaft und Gesellschaft, translated and edited by Charles P. Loomis, Ann The Michigan State University Press. pp. 223-231 Weber, Max. 1922. Economy and Society. (excerpts) Gramsci, Antonio. 1971. The Intellectuals. 5-23 Early Urban Sociology Simmel, Georg. 1903. The Metropolis and Mental Life. DuBois, W.E.B. 1903. The Souls of Black Folk: A Social Study. (Chapters 1-2 pp. 1-40). DuBois, W.E.B. 1899. The Philadelphia Negro. (pp. 1-3, 385-389).
Week 8 (April 13) Social Capital and Social Networks Bourdieu, Pierre. 1986. “The Forms of Capital.” In Handbook of Theory and Research for the Sociology of Education, edited by John Richardson, 46–58. New York: Greenwood. Granovetter, Mark. 1983. The Strength of Weak Ties: A Network Theory Revisited. Sociological Theory 1: 201-233. Portes, Alejandro and Sensenbrenner. 1993. Embeddedness and immigration: Notes on the social determinants of economic action. American Journal of Sociology 98(6): Small, Mario. 2009. Unanticipated Gains: The Origins of Network Inequality in Everyday Life. New York: Oxford University Press. (Chapters 1 and 7, pp. 3-27, 157-176). Klinenberg, Eric. 2001. Alone: The Social Production of Urban Isolation.” Ethnography (501-531) NO CLASS (April 20) Week 9 (April 27) Theories of Urban Inequality & Identity Harvey, David. 1973. Social Justice and the City. (Chapters 1 and 6 (excerpts), pp. 22-49, Tilly, Charles. 2005. Identities, Boundaries, Social Ties. Boulder: Paradigm. (Chapters 3, 5, 6, pp. 23-44; 71-108). Pager, Devah, and Hana Shepherd. 2008. “The Sociology of Discrimination: Racial Discrimination in Employment, Housing, Credit, and Consumer Markets.” Annual Review of Sociology 34 (1):181–209. Bonilla-Silva, Eduardo. 1997. “Rethinking Racism: Toward a Structural Interpretation.” American Sociological Review 62 (3): 465–80. Lorde, Audre. 1984. Sister Outsider. Read Age, Race, Class, and Sex: Women Redefining Difference. Anzaldúa, Gloria. 1987. Borderlands/La Frontera. San Francisco: Aunt Lute Books. La Concienca de la Mestiza, pp. 78-91. Collins, Patricia Hill. 2015. Intersectionality's Definitional Dilemmas. Annual Review of Sociology 41: 1-20.