30201

SoSe 20: Social Structure of European Societies

Jan Paul Heisig

Information for students

Important: This course will take place as an Online-Course. It will be taught using both synchronous and asynchronous teaching formats.
Detailed information will be made available by the lecturer via Blackboard after the enrollment on Campus Management.
If you don’t have access to Campus Management or Blackboard but want to partake in the course, please write an e-mail to the lecturer.
Current Information about changes related to COVID-19 can be viewed at the Institute’s Website. close

Comments

This lecture is designed to present an overview of the main aspects of the social structures of contemporary societies within the European Union. The lecture focuses on contemporary national societies, but it will address long-lasting social cleavages and transnational developments as well. The lecture has three major parts: The introductory block starts with an intense discussion and recap of major concepts of social stratification. A selection of classical and modern approaches will be presented and discussed in class. The second block focuses on selected dimensions of the social structure, such as demographic structures, household and family structures, educational systems, labor market structures and welfare state regimes. The third block presents empirical evidence of the most salient forms of social inequality within and between European societies, such as poverty, material deprivation, gender and ethnic inequalities. The lecture closes with the question whether we experience a trend towards more or less common characteristics in European societies. close