SubjectsSubjects(version: 945)
Course, academic year 2023/2024
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The Structural Nature of Inequalities: Classes, Elites and Oligarchies - OPDX1O113B
Title: Strukturální povaha nerovností: třídy, elity a oligarchie (FLÚ)
Guaranteed by: Katedra občanské výchovy a filosofie (41-KOVF)
Faculty: Faculty of Education
Actual: from 2021
Semester: both
E-Credits: 0
Hours per week, examination: 0/0, other [HT]
Extent per academic year: 8 [hours]
Capacity: winter:unknown / unknown (unknown)
summer:unknown / unknown (unknown)
Min. number of students: unlimited
4EU+: no
Virtual mobility / capacity: no
State of the course: taught
Language: English
Teaching methods: combined
Teaching methods: combined
Note: course is intended for doctoral students only
enabled for web enrollment
can be fulfilled in the future
you can enroll for the course in winter and in summer semester
Guarantor: PhDr. Ondřej Lánský, Ph.D.
Annotation -
Last update: doc. Mgr. Michael Hauser, Ph.D. (23.11.2020)
In this course, students will gain an overview of current research and analyses of social and economic inequality in the context of the theory of social stratification and the theory of elites and oligarchy. The course thus helps students orient themselves in the current problems of society which are related to this issue. These topics became more relevant after 2008, and they also started to be discussed in the wider professional public and in the media. We will approach the issues of social and economic inequalities from the perspectives of elite theory, elitology, class stratification theory (inspired by Weber and Marx) and oligarchy analyses. This course is dedicated to forming a deeper acquaintance with the theoretical and research field, based on reading and analysing relevant classical and contemporary texts. Content: • The sociological and anthropological sources of socio-economic inequalities: hierarchy or equality? • Inequalities: social and economic causes and possible solutions - analysis, criticism and prognosis. • Classes: Marxist and Weberian models. • Elites: the difference between the critical-descriptive concept and the normative concept of elites. • Oligarchy: empirically-oriented research of oligarchs and their role in politics. • Alternative models of organization: non-hierarchical and egalitarian patterns of economic relations.
Literature -
Last update: doc. Mgr. Michael Hauser, Ph.D. (17.11.2020)

Obligatory literature:

 

BOEHM, Christopher. Hierarchy in the Forest. The Evolution of Egalitarian Behavior. Cambridge & London: Harvard University Press, 1999. ISBN 0-674-00691-7.

BOTTOMORE, Thomas B. Élites and Society. London & New York: Routledge, 1993. ISBN 0-415-08271-4.

KHAN, Shamus Rahman. The Sociology of Elites. Annual Review of Sociology. 2012, 38 (1), 361–377. ISSN  0360-0572.

LÁNSKÝ, Ondřej. Od hierarchie k rovnosti: význam teorie elit v 21. století. In: TÝŽ a SOCHOR, Lubomír (eds.). Materiály k teorii elit a k její kritice. Od klasiků do sedmdesátých let 20. století. Praha: Filosofia, 2018, s. 21–66. ISBN  978-80-7007-552-4.

PIKETTY, Thomas. Kapitál v 21. století. Praha: Knižní klub, 2015. ISBN 978-80-242-4870-7.

WINTERS, Jeffrey A. Oligarchy. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2011. ISBN 978-1-107-00528-0.

WRIGHT, Erik Olin. Class Counts: Student Edition. Cambridge, U. K.: Cambridge University Press, 2000. ISBN 0-521-66394-6.

 

Recommended literature:

 

BOUSHEY, Heather, DE LONG, J. Bradford a STEINBAUM, Marshall (eds.). After Piketty: the agenda for economics and inequality. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press, 2017. ISBN 978-0-674-50477-6.

HARTMANN, Michael. The Sociology of Elites. London and New York: Routledge, 2007. ISBN 978-0-203-96624-2.

JODL, Miroslav. Teorie elity a problém elity: příspěvek k dějinám a problematice politické sociologie. Praha: Victoria Publishing, 1994. ISBN 80-85605-94-5.

KATRŇÁK, Tomáš. Třídní analýza a sociální mobilita. Brno: Centrum pro studium demokracie a kultury, 2005. ISBN 80-7325-067-5.

KHAN, Shamus Rahman. Privilege. The Making of an Adolescent Elite at St. Paul’s School. Princeton & Oxford: Princeton University Press, 2011. ISBN 978-0691156231.

MILLS, C. Wright. Mocenská elita. Praha: Orbis, 1966. Bez ISBN.

Teaching methods -
Last update: doc. Mgr. Michael Hauser, Ph.D. (17.11.2020)

Seminars, consultations, self-study

Requirements to the exam -
Last update: doc. Mgr. Michael Hauser, Ph.D. (17.11.2020)

Mandatory participation in working meetings. Defending a seminar paper on topics of inequality, elites, classes, or oligarchy with respect to the topic of students’ dissertation

Course completion requirements -
Last update: doc. Mgr. Michael Hauser, Ph.D. (17.11.2020)

Oral exam in the form of a debate.

 
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