Internal Code: 1AHJJE
Theories of the Social Essay Writing Assessment Answer
Assignment Task:
- A British Prime Minister once said that “There is no such thing as society. There are individual men and women and there are families.” (Ray 2007) Discuss drawing on the theories of ‘the social’ we have examined in the unit.
- Critical theories have emphasized the centrality of power, exploitation, and conflict as central organizing principles in society such that “society” is a field of contestation around specific social categories. (Ray 2007) Discuss drawing on the theories of ‘the social’ we have examined in the unit.
Requirements: 1. Students are required to use a minimum of 10 relevant scholarly references for this assignment, 5 of these should come from the Study Guide. 2. For this assignment, students need to explicitly draw on at least 3 theories of society we have covered between Week 1-9.
For those seeking clarification on the essay topics…
When you think about answering the questions, you need to think about the purpose of the course and what we have covered so far.
The purpose of the course is:
- to explore the ways in which the 'social' and the self is understood in different sociological theories. In writing this essay make sure you center yourself on this (revisit the first lecture & the study guide).
Remember the concept of the ‘Sociological Imagination’, it is a good starting point
What we have covered so far:
- In the first module we covered theories of the social and intersectionality which included neo-liberalism and the idea of disciplinary society (Weber & Foucault)
- The second module introduced you to structuralist theories of society; such as critical social theories on class, gender, race and sexuality. Across these topics we encouraged you to adopt an intersectional lens in understanding how these social categories overlap to provide a more complex picture of inequality.
- The third module addressed the social in more relational terms: specifically drawing on Symbolic Interactionism, and indigenous ideas of the social and relational sociology.
All of these theories offer a theory of the social – that is, they offer a way of understanding the world in which we live, the reasons/forces at play in creating the social world and the people within them (us!). Each theory explains us (individuals) and our social world (society) in different ways, be that through our relations with others (like Symbolic Interactionism and Relational Sociology), and/or through social structures, or discourses (Foucault) or power relations which determine our lives or through agentic understandings.
These leds to questions like: Are we ‘made’ by the world in which we live? How much are we restricted by social structures and power relations of society? Or are we fully agentic?
Each week offered a different way of understanding this, and these essay questions allows you to think beyond a week-by-week account of the social/subject/self and think in broad terms about what sociology has had to say – and then reflect on what you think about that (your argument).
Themes have emerged throughout the course, which we have discussed in the lectures and classes along the way. For example, in the neoliberal lecture Rebecca highlighted the differences between neoliberalism and other accounts of the social. This has happened every week in different ways.
The essay provides you with an opportunity to reflect on the ground we have covered so far, and, by critically engaging with those theories, articulate what you think about the social world as a result (your argument), supported by evidence through your critique or supported by other theories we have covered in the course.
So you need not go blow-by-blow looking at each theoretical approach separately (you probably don’t have the space for that) – you would be better to think about those bigger themes – the similarities and differences between these different accounts of the social/self/society and the key contestations between them.
Question 1: A British Prime Minister once said that “There is no such thing as society. There are individual men and women and there are families.” Discuss drawing on the theories of ‘the social’ we have examined in the unit.
Question 2: Critical theories have emphasized the centrality of power, exploitation, and conflict as central organizing principles in society such that “society” is a field of contestation around specific social categories (Ray 2007). Discuss drawing on the theories of ‘the social’ we have examined in the unit.
This Management Assessment has been solved by our Management experts at My Uni Paper. Our Assignment Writing Experts are efficient to provide a fresh solution to this question. We are serving more than 10000+ Students in Australia, UK & US by helping them to score HD in their academics. Our Experts are well trained to follow all marking rubrics & referencing style.