6 ECTS credits
175 h study time

Offer 1 with catalog number 4020472EER for all students in the 2nd semester at a (E) Master - advanced level.

Semester
2nd semester
Enrollment based on exam contract
Possible
Grading method
Grading (scale from 0 to 20)
Can retake in second session
Yes
Taught in
Dutch
Faculty
Faculty of Social Sciences & SolvayBusinessSchool
Department
Sociology
Educational team
Anton Derks (course titular)
Activities and contact hours

33 contact hours Lecture
6 contact hours Seminar, Exercises or Practicals
136 contact hours Independent or External Form of Study
Course Content

The abolition of slavery, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the granting of equal rights to women and universal suffrage are all developments supported by an important cultural development. The emergence, generalization and institutionalization of freedom and equality as normative ideals can be seen as one of the most characteristic features of cultural modernization.
This course consists out of three parts:

  • In the first part, starting from modernization theory, the cultural consequences of modernization are discussed, with the concept of (formal) equality as a special point of interest.
  • The second part deals with the political and intellectual reactions to the project of modernization.
  • The third part addresses the actual sociological reality. The general public opinion towards equality, democracy and the welfare state will be studied in the context of broader social and cultural developments.
Course material
Digital course material (Required) : Reader and powerpoints, Canvas
Additional info

For more questions, please contact the lecturer.
Anton Derks, Tel *32/2/494.17.20.95, Anton.Derks@vub.ac.be.
A reader will be available. The texts of the reader will be discussed during the lessons. Active learning will be encouraged: the students are supposed to apply their knowledge to various actual social phenomena.

Learning Outcomes

General competences

This course focuses on the cultural consequences of the process of modernization. The conflict between the principle of formal equality and the actual persistence of social inequality will be a point of particular interest. This should improve our understanding of phenomena such as populism, social resentment and the appeal of the extreme right.

Grading

The final grade is composed based on the following categories:
Oral Exam determines 100% of the final mark.

Within the Oral Exam category, the following assignments need to be completed:

  • Oral Exam with a relative weight of 100 which comprises 100% of the final mark.

Additional info regarding evaluation

Not applicable.

Allowed unsatisfactory mark
The supplementary Teaching and Examination Regulations of your faculty stipulate whether an allowed unsatisfactory mark for this programme unit is permitted.

Academic context

This offer is part of the following study plans:
Master of Adult Education: Profile Cultural Studies (only offered in Dutch)
Master of Adult Education: Profile Social Studies (only offered in Dutch)
Master of Sociology: Standaard traject (only offered in Dutch)
Master of Teaching in Behavioural Sciences: agogische wetenschappen (120 ECTS, Etterbeek) (only offered in Dutch)