Objectives

After completing this class, you will be able to:

• Compare and contrast classical Marxist, conflict theory, critical theory and political economy;
• Describe the key differences in how these approaches explain the role of the state, form of economic organization, power structures and communication in social processes;
• Analyze and contrast the origins and potential solutions to the needs, problems and issues of communities from these three three theoretical perspectives; and
• Assess the utility of these perspectives in the development and implementation of programs to address the problems, issues and needs of communities.

Allan

Pp. 242-261 First Ed., pp. 363-385 2nd Ed.

Blackshaw

Blackshaw, pp. 83-95 (Cosmopolitanism, Worldliness & the Cultural Intermediaries and Liminality, Communitas and Anti-Structure)

Required Reading

Aamidor, A. & Evanoff, T. (2010) Saving our cities. Pp. 235-270 (Ch. 90 in At the Crossroads: Middle America and the Battle to Save the Car Industry. ECW Press, Toronto, Canada. e-reserve

Teams of two please -- select one article from the Week 12 web page to read for next week.

Other Readings

Almudi, T. & Berkes, F. (2010) Barriers to empowerment: Fighting eviction for conservation in a southern Brazilian protected area. Local Environment 15(3), 217-232.

Alvaro, C., Jackson, L.A., Kirk, S., McHugh, T.L. et al. (2010) Moving Canadian governmental policies beyond a focus on individual lifestyle: Some insights from complexity and critical theories. Health Promotion Internatinoal 26(1), 91-99.

Block, K. (2009) Deep structure and controversy: Re-reading the fluoridation debate. Health Sociology Review 18(3), 246-259.

Brenner, N. (2009) What is critical urban theory? City 13(2-3), 198-207.

Cidell, J. (2009) A political ecology of the built environment: LEED certification for green buildings Local Environment 14(7), 621-633.

Holifield, R. (2009) Actor-network theory as a critical approach to environmental justice: A case against synthesis with urban political ecology. Antipode 41(4), 637-658.

Judkins, G., Smith, M. & Keys, E. (2008) Determinism within human-environmental research and the rediscovery of environmental causation. The Geographic Journal 174(1), 17-29.

Knaus, C.B. (2009) Shut up and listen: Applied critical race theory in the classroom. Race, Ethnicity & Education 12(2), 133-154.

Lauster, N.T. (2010) Housing and the proper performance of American motherhood, 1940-2005. Housing Studies 25(4), 543-557.

Marcuse, P. (2010) The need for critical theory in everyday life: Why the tea parties have popular support. City, 14(4), 355-369.

Meagher, S.M. (2010) Critical thinking about the right to the city. Mapping garbage routes. City, 14(4),

Palmer, R.T. & Maramba, D.C. (2011) African American male achievement: Using a tenet of critical theory to explain the African American male achievement disparity. Education & Urban Society 43 (4), 431-450.

Pincetl, S. (2007) The political ecology of green spaces in the city and linkages to the countryside. Local Environment 12(2), 87-92.

Ribera-Fumaz, R. (2009) From urban political economy to cultural political economy: Rethinking culturea and economy in and beyond the urban. Progress in Human Geography 33(4), 447-465.

Vaandering, D. (2010) The significance of critical theory for restorative justice in education. The Review of Education, Pedagogy & Cultural Studies 32(2), 145-176.

Zimmerer, K.S. (2006) Cultural ecology: At the interface with political ecology -- the new geographies of environmental conservation and globalization. Progress in Human Geography 30(1), 63-78.

Additional Materials

Berlet, C. 7 Vysotsky, S. (2006). Overview of U.S. White Supremicist groups. Journal of Political & Military Sociology 34(1), 11-48.

Bernard, P., Charafeddine, R., Frohlich, K.L., Daniel, M., Kestens, Y. & Potvin, L. (2007). Health inequalities and place: A theoretical conception of neighbourhood. Social Science & Medicine 65(9), 1839-1852.

Coles, T. (2007) Negotiating the field of masculinity: The production & reproduction of multiple dominant masculinities. Men & Masculinities 12(1), 30-44.

Cook, J. & Smith, M. (2004). Beyond formal learning: Informal community e-Learning. Computers & Education 43, 35-47.

Dangschat, J.S. (2009). Space matters -- marginalization and its places. International Journal of Urban & Regional Research 33(3), 835-340.

Delormier, T., Frohlich, K.L. & Potvin, L. (2009). Food and eating as social practice -- understanding eating patterns as social phenomena and implications for public health. Sociology of Health & Illness. 31(2), 215-228.

Devitt, A.J., Bawarshi, A. & Reiff, J. (2003). Materiality and genre in the study of discourse communities. College English 65(5), 541-558.

Franks, T. & Cleaver, F. (2007). Water governance and poverty: A framework for analysis. Progress in Development Studies 7(4), 291-306..

Glover, T.D., Stewart, W.P. & Gladdys, K. (2008). Social ethics of landscape change: Toward community-based land-use planning. Qualitative Inquiry 14(3), 384-401.

Hodgkinson-Williams, C., Slay, H. & Sieborger, I. (2008). Developing communities of practice within and outside higher education institutions. British Journal of Educational Technology 39(3), 433-442.

Hosking, D. & Morley, I.E. (2004). Social constructionism in community and applied psychology. Journal of Community & Applied Social Psychology 14, 318-331.

Ke, F. & Hoadley, C. (2009). Evaluating online learning communities. Educational Technology Research & Development 57(4), 487-510.

Kidder, J.L. (2009). Appropriating the city: space, theory, and bike messengers. Theory & Society 38(3), 307-328.

Lee, J. & Macdonald, D. (2009). Rural young people and physical activity: Understanding participation through social theory. Sociology of Health & Illness 31(3), 360-374.

Lehmann, W. (2009). Becoming middle class: How working-class university students draw and transgress moral class boundaries. Sociology 43(4), 631-647.

Manzo, L.C. & Perkins, D.D. (2006). Finding common ground: The importance of place attachment to community participation and planning. Journal of Planning Literature 20(4), 335-350.

McQuarrie, M. & Marwell, N.P. (2008). The missing organizational dimension in urban sociology. City & Community 8(3), 247-268.

Miller, C.M. & Blevins, A. (2005). Battlement Mesa: A case study of community evolution. The Social Science Journal 32, 1-12.

Nelson, L. & Hiemstra, N. (2008). Latino immigrants and the renegotiation of place and belonging in small town America. Social & Cultural Geography 9(3), 319-342.

Raco, M. (2006). Reshaping spaces of local governance? Community strategies and the modernisatin of local government in England. Environment & Planning C Government & Policy 24, 475-496.

Reicher, S. (2004). The context of social identity: Domination, resistance, and change. Political Psychology 25(6), 921-945.

Sinwell, L. (2008). Using Giddens's theory of "structuration" and Freirean philosophy to understand participation in the Alexandra Renewal Project. Development Southern Africa 25(3),

Stephens, S. (2007). Community as practice: Social representations of community and their implications for health promotion. IJournal of Community & Applied Social Psychology 17, 103-114.

Tusicisny, A. (2007). Security communities and their values: Taking masses seriously. International Political Science Review 28(4), 425-449.

Wandersman, A., Duffy, J., Flaspohler, P., Noonan, R. et al. (2008). Bridging the gap between prevention research and practice: The interactive systems framework for dissemination and implementation. American Journal of Community Psychology 41(3-4), 171-181.

Wheeler-Brooks, J. (2009) Structuration theory and critical consciousness: potential applications for social work practice. Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare, 36(1), 123-140.

Wilson, C.B. (2009). Developing community in care homes through a relationship-centered approach. Health & Social Care in the Community 17(2), 177-186.