Urban sociology

The first part of the course is dedicated to the study of Brussels. I’m going to use this one extensive case study to describe the relationship between concepts, theories, methodology and fieldwork in urban sociology.

The second part of the course is going to be dedicated to the study of four cities belonging to different continents. It is expected that students fully engage in discussions and debates during this second part of the course. Each week will be focused on a specific city for which one mandatory reading, and several complementary ones, are provided.

The Urban Sociology course is drafted as a first encounter with sociology’s theories and concepts. One of the urban sociology and anthropology’s specificity is the long term involvement of researchers on the field and their intimate knowledge of the cities they are working in. Rather than a complete overview of sociological theories, the course aims at describing the way in which sociological concepts are linked to this intimate relationship between urban sociologists and the city they study.

The course is drafted as a number of case studies discussing cities from all over the world. Teaching methods combine ex-cathedra sessions with more participative activities such as direct observation during a walk in Brussels and discussions and debates over readings.

Références, bibliographie et lectures recommandées

An updated bibliography with recommended reading for each lesson is provided during the first course of the year.

Mandatory readings for the second part of the course are:

• CHICAGO: Wacquant L., 2008, Urban Outcasts: A Comparative Sociology of Advanced Marginality, Cambridge, Polity Press.

• RIO DE JANEIRO: Goldstein D., 2003, Laughter out of Place: race, class, violence and sexuality in a Rio Shantytown, Berkeley, University of California Press.

• BANGKOK: Askew M., 2002, Bangkok: Place, Practice and Representation, New York & London, Routledge.

• LAGOS: Agbola T., 1997, The Architecture of Fear. Urban Design and Construction Response to Urban Violence in Lagos, Nigeria, Ibadan, African Book Publishers.

Contacts

martin.rosenfeld@ulb.ac.be

Méthode(s) d'évaluation

• Autre

Autre

The course’s evaluation is based on a written exam and active participation during the debates organised during the second part of the course.

Each student will have to choose one of the four cities discussed during the second part of the course. A common evaluation will be given to all students working on the same city. This evaluation will be based on the general quality of the debate, the pertinence of the references discussed, and the capacity to compare theories and concepts encountered in different urban settings.

Construction de la note (en ce compris, la pondération des notes partielles)

The final mark is a combination of evaluation on the written exam (16 points) and the debates over specific cities (4 points).