(in Polish) The Other / Otherness in Social Sciences

During the seminar we are going to analyze how Otherness is defined in social sciences and what concepts and theories apply to it. What are the dimensions of Otherness and what social problems are associated with it? What is the process of Othering? The issues raised will be useful for understanding contemporary social processes and for conducting research on various phenomena connected to Otherness.

During the seminar we are going to analyze how Otherness is defined in social sciences. We will concentrate on selected theories including the Other in Symbolic Interactionism, Structuralism, Post-colonialism, as well in such key concepts for the social sciences as identity, social stigma, minority. What are the dimensions of Otherness and what social problems are associated with it? What is the process of Othering? What is the difference between the Other and the Alien and when the Other becomes the Enemy?

The issues raised will be useful for understanding contemporary social processes and for conducting research on various phenomena connected to Otherness.

Fragments from the following works:

- Allport G. W., The nature of prejudice, Anchor Books, New York 1958;

- Appadurai A., Fear of small numbers: an essay on the geography of anger, Duke University Press, London 2006;

- Babbie E., The basics of social research, Cengage Learning, Boston 2017;

- Bauman Z., Strangers at our door, Polity, Malden - Cambridge 2016;

- Goffman E., Stigma: notes on the management of spoiled identity, Englewood Cliffs, Prentice-Hall, NEW York 1965;

- Jakubowska-Branicka I., Hate Narratives: Language as a Tool of Intolerance, Peterlang 2016

- Jenkins R., Social identity, Routledge, London - New York 2006

- Kapuściński R., The other, Verso, London - New York 2008;

- Kłoskowska A., National cultures at the grass-root level, CEU Press, Budapest 2001;

- Nowak S., Methodology of sociological research: general problems, PWN, Warszawa 1977;

- Riddell S., Watson N., Disability, culture and identity, Pearson/Prentice Hall, Harlow 2003;

- Spivak, G. Ch., Can subaltern speak? In other worlds? In: C. Nelson, L. Grossberg (eds.), Marxism and the Interpretation of Culture, Macmillan London 1988;

- Walby S., Globalization and inequalities: complexity and contested modernities, SAGE, Los Angeles, 2009;

- Waldenfels B., Phenomenology of the alien: basic concepts, Nortwestern University Press, Evanston 2011;

- Wallerstein I, European Universalism: The Rhetoric of Power, The New Press 2006;

- Georg Simmel – The Stranger, in: Wolff K. H., The sociology of Georg Simmel, The Free Press of Glencoe, London 1964.

- Znaniecki F., Studies on Antagonism to Aliens (Strangers), in: A. Kwilecki i B. Czarnowski (eds.), The Humanistic Sociology of Florian Znaniecki. Polish Period 1920-1939, PWN, Warszawa -Poznań 1989.

K_W02 - knowing the basic terminology of the humanities and social sciences

K_W14 knowing the main methods of analysis in cultural studies, history, social studies and philosophy in a historical perspective

K_U02 analysing artistic, philosophical and sociological texts using the appropriate research tools, and presenting the results of such work

K_U04 basic research skills enabling the formulation of research problems from the humanities, philosophy, literature, and arts

K_K03 understanding the dynamics of scientific, cultural and social development and keeping up with new research methods and paradigms

K_K04 the capacity to organize and work with a group and assume different social roles within it

Participation and activity at the seminar plus a seminar paper. A maximum of two (2) unexcused absences is permitted