SO470 Half Unit
The Sociology of Markets
This information is for the 2020/21 session.
Teacher responsible
Dr David Pinzur STC.S217a
Availability
This course is available on the MRes/PhD in Management (Organisational Behaviour), MSc in Economy, Risk and Society, MSc in Political Sociology and MSc in Sociology. This course is available as an outside option to students on other programmes where regulations permit.
Course content
This course studies the cultural, social, and technological elements underlying and influencing market behaviour. We will touch upon several key topics, including the production of calculability, valuation and pricing, measurement, classification, application of economic theory, and expectation-setting. Our concern throughout the course will be first, to identify the distinct challenges facing market action, and second, to reveal how these challenges are met, the relation of solutions to existing power structures, and the consequences, both inside and outside the market, that result. By the end of the course, students will have developed a distinctly sociological understanding of economic markets, and applied this perspective to an original case study.
Teaching
This course is delivered through a combination of lectures, online materials and seminars totalling a minimum of 20 hours in MT.
Reading Weeks: Students on this course will have a reading week in MT Week 6, in line with departmental policy.
Formative coursework
A 1500 word essay is required.
Indicative reading
Recommended texts:
- Callon, Michel. 1998. The laws of the markets. Blackwell Publishers: Oxford;
- Fligstein, Neil. 2001. The Architecture of Markets. An Economic Sociology of Twenty-First-Century Capitalist Societies. Princeton, NJ a.o.: Princeton University Press;
- Granovetter, Mark. 1995[1974]. Getting a Job: a Study of Contacts and Careers. Chicago; London: Chicago University Press;
- Krippner, Greta R. 2002. "The elusive market: Embeddedness and the paradigm of economic sociology." Theory and Society 30:775-810;
- Swedberg, Richard. 2003. Principles of Economic Sociology. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press.
Assessment
Case analysis (100%) in the LT.
The course is assessed by a 5000 word case analysis due in LT week 2. Assessment will consist of a report on ONE case study.
An electronic copy of the assessed essay, to be uploaded to Moodle, no later than 4.00pm on the second Wednesday of Lent Term.
Attendance at all workshop sessions and submission of all set coursework is required.
Important information in response to COVID-19
Please note that during 2020/21 academic year some variation to teaching and learning activities may be required to respond to changes in public health advice and/or to account for the situation of students in attendance on campus and those studying online during the early part of the academic year. For assessment, this may involve changes to mode of delivery and/or the format or weighting of assessments. Changes will only be made if required and students will be notified about any changes to teaching or assessment plans at the earliest opportunity.
Key facts
Department: Sociology
Total students 2019/20: 21
Average class size 2019/20: 20
Controlled access 2019/20: Yes
Value: Half Unit
Personal development skills
- Self-management
- Team working
- Problem solving
- Communication
- Application of numeracy skills
- Specialist skills
