Study Programmes 2016-2017
SOCI0060-1  
Sociology of organized action
Duration :
45h Th
Number of credits :
Master in political sciences : general (120 ECTS)5
Master in political sciences : general (60 ECTS)5
Master in human resources management (120 ECTS)5
Master in population and development studies (120 ECTS)6
Master in sociology (120 ECTS)6
Master in labour sciences (120 ECTS)6
Master in sociology and anthropology (60 ECTS)6
Master in psychology : general (120 ECTS)6
Lecturer :
Frédéric Schoenaers, Sophie Thunus
Language(s) of instruction :
French language
Organisation and examination :
Teaching in the first semester, review in January
Units courses prerequisite and corequisite :
Prerequisite or corequisite units are presented within each program
Learning unit contents :
Students improve their ability to understand and assess organisational situations and everyday life social activities through the reading and presentation of scientific articles and in-depth analysis of empirical cases.
By learning the key concepts of the sociology of collective action, students become able to understand different types of collective actions and the nature of the relationships between the involved actors. They perform "organisational diagnosis" which means: identifying conflict/cooperation relationships, defining what is at stake is such relationships, describing and understanding organising process and sensemaking operations involved in it.
Learning outcomes of the learning unit :
Following the course of sociology of organised action, students:
  • Understand the key concepts and methodological tools exposed through the course;
  • Are able to apply them for analysing concrete situations of collective action.
The course also helps students developing particular skills, including:
  • Reading, understanding, summarizing and reflecting on scientific articles;
  • Presenting and discussing those articles in public;
  • Working in groups;
  • Understanding oral presentations of empirical cases;
  • Providing oral and written accounts of their reading and empirical cases analyses.
Prerequisite knowledge and skills :
Students must deal with theoretical approaches and concepts presented in the first section of the course "De Taylor à la sociologie de l'action collective".
This course section includes:
  • The first chapter of the Friedberg's book (Le pouvoir et la Règle - compulsory reading);
  • A summary of the main theoretical approaches at the origin of the contemporary sociology of organisations (compulsory);
  • Complementary readings.
On-line individual assessment during the second class, on-line feedback in the few days following the assessment.
Planned learning activities and teaching methods :
The course is composed of six sections including 1 to 3 classes (on-line lessons and classroom teaching). The attendance to classroom teaching and the participation to on-line exercises is compulsory.
The detailed programme of the course is available on e-campus. The main activities included in the course's programme are:


  • Presentation and discussion of scientific articles;
  • Analysis of empirical case studies;
  • Presentation and exercises on the methodology specific to the sociology of organised action.
Mode of delivery (face-to-face ; distance-learning) :
Classroom and on-line teaching.
Recommended or required readings :
Reading material available on e-campus, inluding:
  • Compulsory and complementary readings (scientific articles);
  • Presentation of empirical cases;
  • PowerPoint presentations.
  Reference books
  • Crozier, M., & Friedberg, E. (1992). L'acteur et le système: les contraintes de l'action collective. Éd. du Seuil.
  • Friedberg, E. (1988). L'analyse sociologique des organisations. POUR.
  • Friedberg, E. (1997). Le pouvoir et la règle: dynamiques de l'action organisée. Éd. du Seuil.
  • Weick, K. (1995). Sense-making in organisations. SAGE Publications.
Assessment methods and criteria :
Continued evaluation including:
  • Individual test on prerequisite knowledge (10%).
  • Oral presentation and discussion of scientific articles (by groups) (10%).
  • Test on empirical cases studies (by groups) (30%).
  • Individual 2-pages essay focusing on a key concept of the sociology of collective action and mobilising this concept for analysing a professional situation or social activity experienced by the student (50%).
The second session is an individual online examination taking place in the computer classroom and including an assessment of prerequisite knowledge and the analysis of an original empirical case.
Work placement(s) :
Organizational remarks :
  • In order to get access to e-campus, students must subscribe to this course at the very beginning of the academic year.
  • Students have to create working groups on e-campus (the "connexion" button is used to validate a group).
  • The list of the scientific articles that will be presented and discussed through the course is available on e-campus.
  • PowerPoint presentations will be made available via e-campus following each lesson.
  • Empirical cases studies will also be made available via e-campus, just before the lessons devoted to their presentation and analysis.
  • The date of the first lesson is mentioned on e-campus.
Contacts :
F. Schoenaers
S. Thunus