Political sociology

Duration

30h Th

Number of credits

Lecturer

Manuel Cervera-Marzal

Language(s) of instruction

French language

Organisation and examination

Teaching in the second semester

Schedule

Schedule online

Units courses prerequisite and corequisite

Prerequisite or corequisite units are presented within each program

Learning unit contents

This course is designed for first-year students in the humanities and social sciences. The aim is threefold: 1) to introduce students to the issues, concepts and methods of political sociology; 2) to familiarize them with contemporary political life and institutions; 3) to develop their ability to read, understand and synthesize sociological and political texts.

Learning outcomes of the learning unit

The teaching aims to enable students to:
- familiarize themselves with the sociological mode of reasoning
- become familiar with the main themes of political sociology (power, state, representation, democracy, opinion, etc.)
- Read and understand sociological texts, relating them to course content
- Deliberate in small groups

Prerequisite knowledge and skills

Mastery of the French language.

Planned learning activities and teaching methods

The course is organized in 8 sessions of 3 hours each. Each session is devoted to a major theme in political sociology, and is organized into three parts: a lecture on the main issues in political sociology (2h); the reading of a sociological text (15 minutes); then, on the basis of the text, a discussion in small groups around questions proposed by the teacher (45 minutes).


Session 1 (February 4): Science
Session 2 (February 11): Politics
Session 3 (February 18): Power
Session 4 (February 25): Democracy
Session 5 (March 4): State and Government
Session 6 (March 11): Crises and Revolution
Session 7 (March 18): Work
Session 8 (March 25): Religion and Politics

Mode of delivery (face to face, distance learning, hybrid learning)

Face-to-face course


Further information:

Face-to-face teaching only.

Course materials and recommended or required readings

Platform(s) used for course materials:
- eCampus


Further information:

Compulsory reading :

 

BECKER, Howard, « De quel côté sommes-nous ? », in Le travail sociologique, Fribourg, Academic Press Fribourg, 2006, pp. 175-190

 

BERENI, Laure, REVILLARD, Anne, « Un mouvement social paradigmatique ? Ce que le mouvement des femmes fait à la sociologie des mouvements sociaux », in Sociétés contemporaines, n°85, 2012, pp. 17-41

 

PEREIRA, Irène, Les grammaires de la contestation. Un guide de la gauche radicale, Paris, La Découverte, 2010, pp. 5-25

 

SCOTT, James C., Préface de Two Cheers for Anarchism, Princeton, Princeton University Press, 2012

Exam(s) in session

Any session

- Remote

written exam ( open-ended questions )

Written work / report


Further information:

The assessment is based on a written assignment, completed individually at home. Each student chooses one of the four texts (see above, list of required reading) and writes a 10,000-character commentary (including spaces) on that text.

The commentary must be sent to the instructor by email (mcerveramarzal@uliege.be) no later than March 25, 2026.

A methodology sheet will be provided to students during the first session. It contains instructions, expectations, and evaluation criteria for the commentary.

 

Work placement(s)

Organisational remarks and main changes to the course

Contacts

mcerveramarzal@uliege.be

Association of one or more MOOCs

Items online