Kursinformation

This course takes place on Thursday 12h15 at AR-B 2210. It starts on 18 April.

If climate change was (only) a matter of academic knowledge, the world would enjoy a large consensus. Hélas, when it comes to responding to climate change in terms of political action and social behaviour, there is no easy agreement. Provided this jarring mismatch (of knowledge and action), one might expect the social sciences to work intensively on this issue. The picture, however, is rather mixed. On the one hand, climate change is virtually absent from theoretical discussions in the highest-ranking journals. On the other hand, it is easy to feel overwhelmed by empirical studies on (a) how Northern lifestyles have become immensely resource dependent, on (b) why responses to climate change vary (denial; local adaption; migration) and on (c) how this variation may be explained. By selectively taking up these literatures, this seminar emphasizes how people are mobilized or, to the contrary, immobilized by events related to climate change. Among the moving targets, it looks at evacuations during and relocations after Katrina hit New Orleans, and at the itinerant labour of immigrant rescue workers in the US. It also considers how staffing agencies recruit construction workers in various regions of the Global South, to work for large-scale projects under the climatic conditions of the Near East. On the other hand, we will ponder the populations brought to a standstill during the recent pandemic. By studying extreme examples of sedentarism and migration which severely strain “the social division of labour” (E. Durkheim), this seminar critically revisits a topical concept of sociological inquiry, at a transnational scale.

A note on reading requirements: To meet reading requirements of about 150 pages, you need an adequate device. If you do not have a an adequate device, you may purchase a printed copy of all readings on 18 April. If you want to buy a copy (12€), please let me know (by E-Mail) latest by 15 April.

Non-graded exams („SL“ or “Studienleistung”)

Three comments on three seminar readings. Each of these comments should be three pages long (spaced 1,5, Arial 11 pt.). Please do not use bullet points but only complete sentences. Comments are to be sent to the instructor three days in advance of the scheduled reading. Please send in pdf-files, to be named as follows: “Your last name_name_date_last name [of the original author].” E.g.: „Potthast_Jörg_2024/5/24_Stillman.pdf“. A selection of these submissions will be made available on the course website (moodle).

Your comments should respond to the following questions:

1. (a) What is the contribution’s claim for originality? (b) How do you assess this claim: Is it a valuable claim? Please start (a) by offering a description, providing a basis for (b) your judgement.

2. (a) How does the contribution proceed in claiming for disciplinary relevance? (b) Do you consider the contribution to be conscious of its relevant tradition(s)? Please start (a) by offering a description, providing a basis for (b) your judgement.

3. (a) How does the contribution proceed in claiming for a rigorous method logy? (b) Do you consider this claim to be valuable? Please start (a) by offering a description, providing a basis for (b) your judgement. 

 

Graded exams („PL“ or “Prüfungsleistung”)

The classes scheduled for 5 July and 12 July are reserved for oral exams. How to prepare: Please contact the course instructor to schedule your exam latest by 7 June. The exam conversation will draw on a one page “Thesenpapier”. (Do not use bullet points, but only complete sentences.) This one-pager must cover (at least) two seminar themes. It must be sent to the course instructor one week in advance of the scheduled exam. The oral exam takes 25 minutes. To begin with, you are invited to deliver an introductory statement (3 minutes). You are not allowed to use notes (etc.). We will let you know your grade immediately after the exam. To assess your grade, I will consult a colleague assigned to taking notes. (As this person is usually authorized to examine herself, she may ask questions, too.) In case of:  If for some reason, the scheduled exam does not take place, there is no replacement date. Instead, I will ask you to submit a written term paper. (This term paper may draw on earlier submissions, such as the one page “Thesenpapier”.) Deadline for written submissions is 30 September (12-15 pages, spaced 1,5, Arial 11pt or Times New 12pt; pdf). You may cite according to any convention, but it is important that only one style is consistently at work.