SOCI3044
Economic sociology
Offer semester
Lecture time
Lecture venue
Credits awarded
1st semester
6
Economic Sociology is concerned with the social construction of economic activities and institutions. Its basic tenet is that economic action is part of social action, and economic institutions are socially constructed with cultural and historical specificities. It challenges the basic assumptions that economic action is universally rational on which neo-classical economics is based. This course begins with an introduction of the key ideas of “new economic sociology.” It followed by some selected topics that apply the new economic sociology perspective to understand a wide range of economic activities.
The course will be run as a mix of lectures and classroom discussions. Students are expected to participate actively in class by raising questions, contributing ideas, engaging in small group discussions and debates, etc.
Comprehend how sociological approach to economic behaviors is different from the conventional economic approach.
Engage in the theoretical debates over the relation between society, culture, market, and the state.
Empirically investigate how economic activities are shaped by social relation, culture, and the state.
Tasks
Weighting
Classroom participation and activities
20%
Tutorial participation and activities
15%
Individual memos based on readings
20%
Mid-term quiz
20%
Group project presentation
25%
Arrighi, Giovanni. 2007. Adam Smith in Beijing: Lineages of the Twenty-First Century. London and New York: Verso. Selections.
Bian, Yanjie. 1997. "Bringing Strong Ties Back in: Indirect Ties, Network Bridges, and Job Searches in China." American Sociological Review 62(3):366-85.
Boli, John and Michael Elliott. 2008. “Façade Diversity: The Individualization of Cultural Difference.” International Sociology23(4):540-60.
Bourdieu, Pierre. 2001. “The Forms of Capital.” Pp.96-111 in in The Sociology of Economic Life, 2nd Edition, edited by Mark Granovetter and Richard Swedberg. CO: Westview Press.
Chan, Cheris Shun-ching. 2009. “Creating a Market in the Presence of Cultural Resistance: The Case of Life Insurance in China.” Theory and Society 38(3):271-305.
Chan Cheris Shun-ching. 2012a. Marketing Death: Culture and the Making of a Life Insurance Market in China. NY: Oxford University Press. Selections.
Chan Cheris Shun-ching. 2012b. “Culture, State, and Varieties of Capitalism: A Comparative Study of Life Insurance Markets in Hong Kong and Taiwan.” British Journal of Sociology 63(1):97-122.
DiMaggio, Paul. 2002. “Endogenizing ‘Animal Spirits’: Toward a Sociology of Collective Response to Uncertainty and Risk.” Pp.79-100 in The New Economic Sociology, edited by Mauro Guillen, Randall Collins, Paula England, and Marshall Meyer. NY: Russell Sage Foundation.
Granovetter, Mark. 1974. Getting a Job: A Study of Contacts and Careers. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. Selections.
Kube, Sebastian, Michel Andre Marechal and Clemens Puppe. 2012. "The Currency of Reciprocity: Gift Exchange in the Workplace." American Economic Review 102(4):1644-62.
Kunda, Gideon. 2006. Engineering Culture: Control and Commitment in a High-Tech Corporation. PA: Temple University Press. Pp.1-25
Smelser, Neil and Richard Swedberg. 1994. “The Sociological Perspective on the Economy.” Pp.3-26 in The Handbook of Economic Sociology, edited by Neil Smelser and Richard Swedberg. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
Swedberg, Richard. 1994. “Markets as Social Structures.” Pp.255-82 in The Handbook of Economic Sociology, edited by Neil Smelser and Richard Swedberg. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
Veblen, Thorstein. 1996. The Theory of the Leisure Class. NY: A Mentor Book, New American Library. Selections.
Watson, James (ed.) 2006. Golden Arches East: McDonald’s in East Asia. Stanford: Stanford University Press.Pp.1-38.
Weber, Max. 2005. The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism. London and New York: Routledge. Selections.
Zelizer, Viviana. 1997. The Social Meaning of Money. NJ: Princeton University Press. Selections.
Offer Semester | Lecture Day | Lecture Time | Venue | Credits awarded |
|---|---|---|---|---|
1st semester | 6 |
