Social Change - Syllabus. We often hear that we are living in a technological society and that technology is changing our world. New technologies are certainly part of the changes that we experience, but to what extent are they the causes of these changes? Perhaps some or all new technologies arise to serve the new requirements of a changing society. - Education and Social Change - "Education must light the path for social change."

Social Change Syllabus

Social Change in the Global Economy

Syllabus - Rutgers University - http://camden-www.rutgers.edu/~wood/270syl.html
I. Introduction: Commodity Chains and Global Linkages (Jan. 18-25)
Philip McMichael, Development and Social Change, "Preface" and "Development of the Global Marketplace"
Sarah Cox, Nike Action Alert (Campaign for Labor Rights)
Just Stop It: The Nike Watch Campaign
The Cocoa-Chocolate Commodity Chain (New Internationalist)
New York Times article: Anti-Sweatshop Movement Is Achieving Gains Overseas (Jan. 20, 2000
Films: Will the World Starve? and Emerging Powers: India

II. The Rise of the Development Project (Jan. 27-Feb. 3)
Philip McMichael, Development and Social Change, Chs. 1-2
6 Myths About Hunger
FAO Press Release on World Hunger (1999)
Films: Selling the American Way, Global Assembly Line, Global Firms

III. The Unraveling of the Development Project
Philip McMichael, Development and Social Change, Chs. 3-4
World Bank Group, Understanding and Responding to Poverty
World Resources Institute, Economic Growth and Human Development

Films: The Africans: A Garden of Eden in Decay, Challenges and Change: The World Bank Today
In-class, multiple-choice exam on Tuesday, Feb. 22nd

IV. The Rise of the Globalization Project (Feb. 24-March 9)
Philip McMichael, Development and Social Change, Chs.5-6
World Trade Organization, About the WTO (read through the "Ten Common Misunderstandings" section)
Celia Dugger, Why India and Other See U.S. as Villain on Trade (New York Times 12-17-99)
Turning Point Project, Economic Globalization Series
Robert Kuttner, A New Political Power
Celia Dugger, "India's Unwired Villages Mired in the Distant Past," New York Times 3-19-2000
Film: Emerging Powers: China, Big Brother and the Ghost of Confucius
Virtual Tour Assignment due by Friday, March 10th

V. Rethinking Development and Globalization (March 21-April 11)
Philip McMichael, Development and Social Change, Chs. 7-8
Benjamin Barber, Jihad vs. McWorld
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Sustainable Development
National Wildlife Federation, Population and Consumption: Redefining Happiness
Amartya Sen, Public Action to Remedy Hunger
Films: Voice of the Amazon, Beyond Beijing: Women and Economic Justice, Nepal: The Power of Women's Groups; Quiet Revolution: Literacy and Social Reform
Essay Exam due on Tuesday, April 11th

VI. Changing Forms of Consumption and Culture in the Global Economy (April 13-27)
George Ritzer, Enchanting a Disenchanted World: Revolutionizing the Means of Consumption, entire book
Robert Wood, Baby Boomers--and Globalization--At Sea
Suzanne Daley, French See a Hero in War on 'McDomination'
Affluenza: Read about What It Is and Do You Have It?
Film: Consuming Images

sociologicalimagination.net/ ~blcampbell/teach/technochange/2601syllabus.htm

Goal: The goal of this course is to develop sociological thinking about technology and society.

Description: We often hear that we are living in a technological society and that technology is changing our world. New technologies are certainly part of the changes that we experience, but to what extent are they the causes of these changes? Perhaps some or all new technologies arise to serve the new requirements of a changing society. This course is an analysis of the relationship between technology and society. Throughout the course we will consider to what extent and in what circumstances technology influences society, and reciprocally, how society influences technology. In looking at these relationships we will examine the meaning of the concepts of technology and society. Most of the materials will be drawn from an analysis of social change in Western societies in modern times.

Prerequisites: Three credits from Sociology 1001 and three credits in Social Science; or Philosophy 1631, History 1621; or permission of the Department.

Course Structure: In this course we use a mix of traditional lectures, discussions, group work, presentations and online communication. The course has a scheduled time at 4:00pm to 5:20pm on Tuesday and Thursday. Some of our online and group work may displace some traditional scheduled classroom time.

Textbooks: Cowan, Ruth Schwartz, More Work for Mother: The Ironies of Household Technology from the Open Hearth to the Microwave

In this book Cowan analyzes housework in America from the 17th century through until the present. She looks at the shifting importance of the house in industrialization, and examines how household tasks have become industrialized and how this has made more work for women. One interesting aspect of the argument, which extends well beyond the particular situation of housework and gender politics, is the escalation of demands that accompany some new technologies and the problems this creates for the idea of technology as labour saving. For example, clothes washers make it easier to get clothes clean, but this contributes to a demand for cleaner clothes and thus more clothes washing than before.

Course Package of Readings (CP) The course pack includes an eclectic range of materials on everything from bicycles to electricity to computers.

Reading Outline: 1. Technological Determinism
Ron Westrum, Chapter 3. "The Ogbum Generation." in Technologies & Society: The Shaping of People and Things. pp. 50-67. Wadsworth Publishing Company, 1991.

2. Technologies and Societies as Systems
Ron Westrum, Chapter 4. "Recent Theoretical Approaches." in Technologies & Society: The Shaping of People and Things. pp. 68-83. Wadsworth Publishing Company, 1991. (CP)

Hughes, Thomas P. "The Evolution of Large Technological Systems" pp. 51-82 in Bijker, Wiebe E., Thomas P. Hughes and Trevor J. Pinch, eds. The Social Construction of Technological Systems. Cambridge: The MIT Press. 1987. (CP)

Ellen Ullman "The Myth of Order" Wired 7.04 http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/7.04/

3. Where Does Technology Come From?: The Evolution of Technology
George Basalla, Chapter 1. "Diversity, Necessity, and Evolution." pp. 1-25. in The Evolution of Technology. Cambridge University Press, 1988. (CP)

Henry Petroski,. Chapter 4. "From Pins to Paper Clips." in The Evolution of Useful Things. pp. 51-77, 255-257. New York: Vintage Books, 1994 (CP)

4. Which Technologies Succeed?: Technology Diffusion
Ron Westrum, Chapter 9. "The Sponsorship of Technology." in Technologies & Society: The Shaping of People and Things. pp. 171-193. Wadsworth Publishing Company, 1991. (CP)

Everett M. Rogers, Chapter 7. "Innovativeness and Adopter Categories." pp. 241-251. in Diffusion of Innovations 3rd Ed.. The Free Press, 1983. (CP)

5. Technical Subcultures and Technological Change
Ellen Ullman, Chapter 5. pp. 95-121. Close to the Machine: Technophilia and Its Discontents. City Lights Books: San Francisco, 1997. (CP)

Ron Westrum, Chapter 12. "Adapting and Tinkering." in Technologies & Society: The Shaping of People and Things. pp. 237-249. Wadsworth Publishing Company, 1991.

6. The Industrialization of Technologies and Work: The Example of Housework
Ruth Schwartz Cowan, More Work For Mother, Chapter 1, “An Introduction: Housework and Its Tools”, pp.3-15.

Ruth Schwartz Cowan, More Work For Mother, Chapter 2, “Housewifery: Household Work and Household Tools under Pre-Industrial Conditions”, pp.16-39.

Ruth Schwartz Cowan, More Work For Mother, Chapter 3, “The Invention of Housework: The Early Stages of Industrialization”, pp.40-68.

7. Technology, Deskilling, Unemployment, and the Intensification of Work
Ruth Schwartz Cowan, More Work For Mother, Chapter 4, “Twentieth-Century Changes in Household Technology”, pp.69-101.

Ruth Schwartz Cowan, More Work For Mother, Chapter 5, “The Roads Not Taken: Alternative Social and Technical Approaches to Housework”, pp.102-150.

8. Technology and Productivity: The example of computers
Thomas K. Landauer, Chapter 1. "The Evidence." pp. 13-45, 367-371. in The Trouble with Computers. Cambridge: The MIT Press, 1996. (CP)

Thomas K. Landauer, Chapter 2. "What Computers Do." pp. 47-72, 371-375. in The Trouble with Computers. Cambridge: The MIT Press, 1996. (CP)

Edward Tenner, Chapter 9. "The Computerized Office: Productivity Puzzles." pp. 235-267, 396-400. Why Things Bite Back. New York: Vintage Books, 1997. (CP)

Environment and Social Change
College of Social and Behavioral Sciences
Department of Sociology and Social Work (ucc.nau.edu)

Course Description:

A belief in mastery over nature rather than harmony is one of the most fundamental taken-for-granted aspects of American culture. Environment and Social Change explores the cultural roots of this belief system and the structural arrangements that maintain a master-over-nature worldview. The class explores shifts and challenges to this worldview through exploration into the anti-globalization movement, contemporary environmental movements, sustainable development and the emergence of ?eco-consciousness.?

Course Objectives:
Students will be able to analyze environmental belief systems using a sociological perspective.
Students will be able to analyze environmental belief systems in terms of culture, social structure and stratification.
Students will analyze how the environmental belief systems shape social structure, culture and individual experience.
Students will explore the role of environmental belief systems in social movements and social change.

Course Structure/Approach
Environment and Social Change is designed so as to provide students with hands-on research experience in environmental sociology. Students will complete two research projects. In the first project students explore the cultural roots of environmental belief systems and the structural arrangements that maintain such belief systems. In the second project, students explore social change and the environment.
The course involves primary learning components, reading, lectures, discussions, group work and individual research projects. Students are expected to complete assigned readings prior to the class for which they are assigned, attend all class sessions and participate in discussions and other activities. Although lectures will touch on issues raised by the reading, they will extend and supplement the reading material. Students will have opportunities to articulate their understanding of the materials and engage in social analysis of the environment and social change. Class sessions may also include guest speakers, videos, exercises and slide-show presentations.

Required Reading

Merchant, Carolyn. (1980). Death of Nature.

Rifkin, Jeremy. (1991). Biosphere Politics: A New Consciousness for a New Century.

Bowers, C. A. (1997). The culture of denial : why the environmental movement needs a strategy for reforming universities and public schools.

Bryner, Gary C. (2001) Gaia's wager : environmental movements and the challenge of sustainability.

Jamison, Andrew. (2001) The making of green knowledge : environmental politics and cultural transformation.

Recommended Optional Materials/References:

Badiner, Allan Hunt. (1990). Dharma Gaia: A Harvest of Essays in Buddhism and Ecology.

Barth, Gunther. (1990). Fleeting Moments: Nature and Culture in American History.

Berry, Wendell. (1977). The Unsettling of America: Culture and Agriculture.

Devall, Bill and Sessions, George. (1985). Deep Ecology.

Haraway, Donna J. (1995). Cyborgs and Symbionts: Living Together in the New World Order.

Nash, Roderick F. (1989). The Rights of Nature.

Ross, Andrew. (1994). The Chicago Gangster Theory of Life: Nature's Debt to Society.

Romanyshyn, Robert D. (1992). Technology as Symptom and Dream.

Shepard, Paul. (1982). Nature and Madness.

Shepard, Paul. (1991). Man in the Landscape: A Historic View of the Esthetics of Nature.

Short, John Rennie. (1991). Imagined Country: Society, Culture and Environment.

Wilber, Ken. (1995). Sex, Ecology, Spirituality: The Spirit of Evolution.

Course Outline:

Week 1: Introduction to Environment and Social Change

Week 2 ? Week 5: Environmental Belief Systems

Reading: Merchant?s Death of Nature

Week 6 ? Week 8: Maintaining Destructive Practices

Reading: Bowers: The Culture of Denial

Week 9 ? 11: Environmental Movements and Sustainability

Reading: Bryner, Gaia's wager

Week 12 ? 16: Cultural Transformations

Reading: Rifkin, Biosphere Politics: A New Consciousness for a New Century

Reading: Jamison, The making of green knowledge : environmental politics and cultural transformation

Globalization and Social Change - http://academic.bowdoin.edu/courses/f02/soc225/

Syllabus. Sociology 301. Rural Sociology: Agriculture & Social Change ... interplay and articulation between the. globalization of trade in agricultural commodities, migration of ...
http://www.aers.psu.edu/rsscig/sonnenfeld_301.pdf

Carl Cuneo, McMaster University, Canada - http://socserv2.mcmaster.ca/ soc/courses/stpp4C03/stpp4C03_99.htm

Planning & Social Change
PPPM 635, Winter 2004
University of Oregon
Department of Planning, Public Policy, and Maagement
Instructor: Marc Schlossberg, Ph.D.
Telephone: 346-2046
E-Mail: schlossb@darkwing.uoregon.edu
Office: 128 Hendricks
Class Logistics: Tuesday/Thursday
Lecture: 2:00 – 3:20, Room #100 Hendricks Hall
Class Web Pages: Blackboard Account
www.uoregon.edu/~schlossb/PPPM/pppm635/
www.uoregon.edu/~schlossb/planning/ (consider making this your
home page)
Purpose of the course and Course Description
The purpose of this course is to explore the notion of social change and to challenge students to see themselves, as well as the profession of planning (broadly defined), as agents of that change.
Students who take this class are often characterized by a strong sense of idealism (good!); this class is geared toward helping students understand how to translate that idealism into tangible social change. The geographic focus of the class will be on local community change rather than national or global, although final research papers can go in any of these directions.
The primary output for this class is to develop an “Action Plan for Change”, which will culminate in a presentation and a planning document/term paper that addresses the who, what, why, when, where, and how of a proposed social/planning change of the student’s choice.
The class will include exploration of principles of community organizing, the role of the
nonprofit sector, and organizational collaboration as we try to determine appropriate roles of planners in affecting social change. We’ll also think a bit about race, class, and gender and our role as planners to interact with communities and people that are often different than our own.
The class will follow a seminar format with students expected to actively participate in
discussions and debate, challenge assumptions and stereotypes in order to facilitate a rich learning environment, and work together to support one another’s projects, offering constructive criticism and valuable input. This really is designed to force you to confront your idealism and challenge you to develop a plan to move the world closer to the one you envision.
Research Topic
Each student will choose a topic of social change to study and to plan for. This topic will be one that you want to see happen, not one that has happened in the past. There is great latitude on what can be chosen, for whom the social change will benefit, and within which environment the social change work will be done. You will develop a plan of action to bring about the change that you want – this plan will be based on responding to the following:
PPPPM635: Planning & Social Change 2 University of Oregon
Who: Who is impacted? Who is part of the change process? Who holds the existing
power? Who will be targeted with the change effort?
What: What is the main issue? What are the sub-issues that need to be addressed as well?
Why: Why does this issue warrant an organized response?
When: What kind of timeline will it take to achieve the desired change? What are the
key milestones along the way?
Where: Where will the campaign take place?
How: What tactics or strategies for change will be pursued and utilized?

Books On Sociology Of Social Change:

Sociology Index
Sociology Books 2013	Books, E-Books
Sociology Topical Subject Index