Society and Identity in Crisis

This course will build on students' knowledge of sociological perspectives by exploring the political, economic, cultural, and social significance of crisis in society and its impact on identity. Students will consolidate an advanced understanding of sociology by examining examples of crisis in contemporary society from the perspectives of cultural sociology, social change, and identity. Students will examine core debates about the role of culture and identity in social life while reflecting on their own, and other, cultural worlds. Emphasising the centrality and complexity of identity(ies), students will investigate a broad range of competing perspectives in the field, the institutions that represent culture and society, the interrelationship between culture and capitalism, culture as a site of domestic and international conflict, and culture as a facilitator of social change. The course will investigate societal shifts as result of increasing rapid change and uncertainty through a focus on topics such as the rise of consumption, youth culture, media as a site of connection, control and conflict, the invasive influence of information technology and the internet, secularisation and religion, history wars and national identity. The course will facilitate students obtaining a sophisticated understanding of society, culture and identity in a collaborative, reflexive, and systematic fashion.