MSTU5606/Building an FAQ

From Studyplace

Let's build a FAQ for the course by listing questions and concerns about the reading we have done, and will do, that you have on your mind at this point and developing responses to them.

Questions

1. How does what we have read so far relate back to the overview provided by the introduction of James T. Kloppenberg's text, Uncertain Victory: Social Democracy and Progressivism in European and American Thought, 1870-1920?

2. On a personal note, Dennis is wondering if in his critique of Max Weber's "Basic Sociological Terms" on October 1st if he might have been confusing empiricism with postivism and Robbie let him get away with it to see where it might lead?

3. Has the progressive sense of contingency, that one later sees in the works of William James, W. E. B. Du Bois and John Dewey, been demonstrated within the works that we have read thus far? If not, how does the work that we have read so far set the tone for the emergence of the concept of contingency in a social democratic context?

4. If we follow the suggestion of prof. McClintock and view the people we've read as trying to come to terms with some novel experiences (e.g. experiences that problematize notions like community and solidarity, foreground the role of productive, economic activity, or necessitate the foundation of the social field as place of quasi-scientific inquiry), how instructive are they when considering current social theorists (who, because of changes precipitated by technological advances and economic trends are dealing with problems that may exceed their current modes of understanding)? My apologies for the unwieldy construction of that question.

5. It was nice for me to have the time this week to revisit our thinkers (finishing some texts) and look at how they are similar and where they are different. Instead of focusing on simply understanding each piece, I was able to see how they are connecting and building on the same themes. How do these texts work with each other? Weber mentions 'fashion' but doesn't go into details... Simmel clearly takes up the conversation of fashion. I'm not sure if I have a specif question here, but I'd like to hear how other people see these thinkers connecting and building on each other.

6. I remain curious about the role of the individual as presented by each of our authors. Tonnies' discussion of will interestes me, but it is Simmel's "individualizing combinations" of social circles that most captures my imagination. As Simmel speaks to free associations and the distribution of freedom and obligation withing them, I can't help but reach out to Dewey.