CSO 501: Contemporary Sociological Theory -- Past Final Examination Papers (MA)


UNIVERSITY OF NAIROBI


MODULE II DEGREE PROGRAMME 2006/2007


EXAMINATIONS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF ARTS IN SOCIOLOGY


CSO 501: CONTEMPORARY SOCIOLOGICAL THEORY



DATE: 21ST AUGUST, 2007         TIME: 5.30 P.M. - 8.00 P.M

 


 

ANSWER ANY THREE QUESTIONS:


1. Critically discuss the meaning, variants and practical applicability of the concept of function, as understood by
    at least three scholars of your choice.

  

2. What insights might Hirschman's theory of exit, voice and loyalty inspire in the minds of those who seek to
    empower local communities or grass-roots organizations in Africa today?

  

3.     (a) What is social capital, how do we accumulate or erode it, and what difference does it make in social life?

        (b) Briefly discuss other forms of capital that you are familiar with.

  

4. With the support of relevant theories and examples, briefly re-construct the process by which individual acts and
    habits evolve into society as you understand it.

  

5. Articulate the synergy between induction and deduction in sociological theorizing.

  

6. "Think globally, act locally." Critically discuss the practical utility of this statement, outlining the key elements
    of the relevant theory or theories to which it refers, and supporting your answer with empirical examples.

 

 

 

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UNIVERSITY OF NAIROBI


UNIVERSITY EXAMINATIONS 2006/2007


EXAMINATIONS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF ARTS IN SOCIOLOGY


ADVANCED SOCIOLOGICAL THEORY



                                        DATE: 10TH APRIL 2007                 TIME: 9.00 A.M. - 12.00 NOON


 


ANSWER ANY THREE QUESTIONS

 

1. Using African examples, distinguish between collective decisions and collective action in theory and practice.

 

2. Interrogate the social and intellectual roots of social theory, and identify social theory's main trends to-day.

 

3. "Globalization theory apprehends the nature, velocity and direction of social change more comprehensively to-
    day than does conflict theory." Critically discuss this statement, citing appropriate empirical examples.

 

4. "By social capital we mean the portfolio of assets which we accumulate and expend in the course of social and
    economic exchange.» Critically discuss this statement, identifying the key components of the portfolio as
    detailed by you, and the main avenues for such accumulation and expenditure in Africa to-day.

 

5. Critically discuss the interplay of structure and practice as postulated by Bourdieu in relational analysis and
    Giddens in structuration.

 

6. Is modernity as we know it to-day a Western project, or is it post-modern and "pastWest"?





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UNIVERSITY OF NAIROBI



MODULE II DEGREE PROGRAMME 2005/2006


EXAMINATIONS FOR THE DEGREE-OF MASTER OF ARTS IN SOCIOLOGY


CSO 501: CONTEMPORARY SOCIOLOGICAL THEORY


DATE: 19TH DECEMBER, 2006                 TIME: 5.30 P.M. - 8.30 P.M

 


 

ANSWER ANY THREE QUESTIONS:


1. Citing relevant examples, briefly discuss the following:


(a) The interplay of time, space, number and velocity in social life.


(b) The main functions of sociological theory

 

2. What do you consider to be Anthony Giddens' main contributions to contemporary sociological theory, and why
    do you say so?

 

3. Illustrating your answer with a critique of Randall Collins and examples from Africa, discuss the linkage between
    micro-social events and macro-level sociological theories.

 

4. Supporting your answer with relevant examples and showing their applicability to African society to-day,
    critically discuss Pierre Bourdieu's conceptions of habitus, field, practice and capital.

 

5. Select at least five themes in sociological theory and show why you think that they are the most enduring, and
    at the same time the most important for the continuity and vibrancy of the discipline.

 

6. "The social world is defined by principles of reciprocity in give-and-take relationships." Critically discuss this
    statement, outlining the key elements of the relevant theory or theories-to which it refers, and supporting your
    answer with empirical examples.

 

 

 

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UNIVERSITY OF NAIROBI



MODULE II DEGREE PROGRAMME 2005/2006


EXAMINATIONS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF ARTS IN SOCIOLOGY


CSO 501 : CONTEMPORARY SOCIOLOGICAL THEORY


DATE: 22ND AUGUST 2006                         TIME: 5.30 P.M. - 8.30 P.M.


INSTRUCTIONS


ANSWER ANY THREE QUESTIONS:


1.         a. What do you understand by these two terms: structure and function?

b. Critically discuss Kingsley Davis' contention that sociological analysis is ipso facto functional analysis.

 

2. What insights might Hirschman's theory of exit, voice and loyalty inspire in the minds of those involved in
    institution-building in a contemporary African state, in the context of a wider world which is at once globalizing
    and regionalizing?

 

3. Giddens prefers the term structuration, while more conservative sociologists are more comfortable with
    stratification. Critique the two concepts, with particular reference to social change in contemporary African
    society.

 

4. Critically discuss the following passage, in terms of four models of media mediation of culture:


"The focus on 'rooted,' 'authentic' or 'native' culture and experience fails to address 'the wider world of intercultural import-export in which the ethnographic encounter is always already enmeshed' . .. We should work, [Clifford] argues, not only with a model of 'ex-centric' natives, conceived in their multiple external connections, but with a notion of places as sites of travel encounters as much as sites of residence... [And] we should be attentive... 'to the fact that culture is also a site of travel for others and that one group's core is another's periphery' " (Morley and Robbins, 1995: 233).

 

5. What role does theory play in scientific inquiry?

 

6. "People always retain the capacity to change the social worlds that constrain them." Critically discuss this
    statement, supporting your answer with empirical examples.





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UNIVERSITY OF NAIROBI



EXAMINATIONS 2005/2006


EXAMINATIONS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF ARTS IN SOCIOLOGY


ADVANCED SOCIOLOGICAL THEORY

 


 

                                              DATE: 3RD MARCH, 2006                     TIME: 10.00 A.M. -1.00 P.M.

 


 

ANSWER ANY THREE QUESTIONS:


1. Critically discuss Giddens's concepts of structuration, "duality of structure" and "reflexivity of modernity,"
    illustrating your answer with contemporary African examples.

  

2.     a. What are the similarities and differences between Talcott Parsons' notion of  the social system and Peter Senge's systems thinking?

          b. What lessons can we draw from the two?

  
3. "Conflict causes change in the social structure, and vice versa, but not all the time." Discuss in detail with
    reference to Marx, Dahrendorf and Coser.

 

4. Based on your readings of theoretical texts, what do you consider to be the six most frequently
    recurring themes in sociological theory?
 
5. Critically discuss the contribution of Hirschman's Exit, Voice and Loyalty to our understanding of interpersonal,
    business-customer and state-citizen relationships in Africa to-day.

 
6. Wallerstein writes at length on the world system:

            (a) What does he mean by it?

(b) What are its main components?

 (c) To what extent does he, in doing so, in effect write about globalization?






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UNIVERSITY OF NAIROBI


MODULE II DEGREE PROGRAMME 2005/2006


EXAMINATIONS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF ARTS IN SOCIOLOGY


CSO 501 : CONTEMPORARY SOCIOLOGICAL THEORY

 


 

DATE: 10TH JANUARY, 2006                                TIME: 5.30 P.M. - 8.30 P.M.



ANSWER ANY THREE QUESTIONS:


1. Discuss in some detail the essential aspects of C. Wright Mills' conception of the sociological imagination,
    interrogating its relevance to contemporary social life.
 
2. In Giddens' view, Kuhn "exaggerates the internal unity of paradigms." Discuss.

 

3. Conflict theorists generally fault structural-functionalism for over-emphasizing the persistence of social systems.
    Cancian's version of functionalism, on the other hand, posits that social systems, as G, are, not by definition
    constant. Discuss.

  

4. "The social world is defined by principles of reciprocity in give-and-take relationships. "Discuss this statement in
     terms of:


(a) Social exchange, social capital and rational choice theories.

(b) The wrangles which characterized Kenya's polity in the period 2003 to 2005.

 
5. Where does the promise of Africa's prosperity lie in the 21 st century: in globalization, regionalization, or both?

 

6. Stewart Brand argued that while fashion and commerce 'learn' and change quickly, and while infrastructure and
    governance change at "middling rates", nature and culture change slowly, simultaneously defining the limits of
    all change and serving as the anchor for continuity. Indeed, he sought to remind us that "the real power lies in
    the domains of deep, slow change." In what ways would this kind of thinking add value to national development
    policy formulation in Africa to-day?



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UNIVERSITY OF NAIROBI



MODULE II DEGREE PROGRAMME 200412005


EXAMINATIONS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF ARTS IN SOCIOLOGY


CSO 501: CONTEMPORARY SOCIOLOGICAL THEORY

 

DATE: 20TH SEPTEMBER 2005 TIME: 5.30 P.M. - 8.30 P.M.



ANSWER ANY THREE QUESTIONS:


1. Critically discuss the following concepts, with empirical illustrations: Hermeneutics, micro sociology, dialectics
    and hybridity.

 

2. Use the concepts of Time, Space, Number and Velocity to construct your own theory of contemporary African
    social systems.
 
3. Critically discuss the contribution of Michel Foucault to our understanding of penal systems in contemporary
    Africa.

 
4. "The modern world is an iron cage of rational systems from which there is no escape." Discuss.

 
5. Critically discuss the interface between theory and method in sociological thinking.

 
6. Illustrating your answer with reference to specific authors or texts, discuss what you consider to be enduring
    themes in sociological theory?






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UNIVERSITY OF NAIROBI



OCTOBER 2004-FEBRUARY 2005 SEMESTER EXAMINATIONS


EXAMINATIONS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF ARTS IN SOCIOLOGY


REGULAR PROGRAMME


ADVANCED SOCIOLOGICAL THEORY
 

DATE: 25TH MARCH 2005                TIME: 9.00 AM. -12.00NOON
 

ANSWER ANY THREE QUESTIONS:

1. Stewart Brand argued that while fashion and commerce 'learn' and change quickly, nature and culture define the
    limits of all change, and serve as the anchor for continuity. Indeed, he sought to remind us that "the real power
    lies in the domains of deep, slow change." Critically discuss this view in the context of the Marxian theory of
    revolutionary change.

  

2. With close reference to text, critically discuss Randall Collins' "micro" approach to macro sociology.

 
 3. Critically discuss Giddens' structuration theory, pointing out the ways in which it departs from the Parsonian
    view of structure and function.
 
 4. Does regionalization enhance or undermine globalization, and should that matter to us here in Eastern and
    Central Africa?

 
 5. Is modernity un-African?

 
 6. Illustrating your answer with concrete examples, identify the theories learnt in class which you found to be
    most relevant to specified   real-life situations frequently encountered in Africa to-day.




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UNIVERSITY OF NAIROBI



MODULE II DEGREE PROGRAMME 2004/2005


EXAMINATIONS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF ARTS IN SOCIOLOGY


CSO 501: CONTEMPORARY SOCIOLOGICAL THEORY



DATE: 26TH FEBRUARY, 2005            TIME: 9.00 A.M. - 12.00 NOON



ANSWER ANY THREE QUESTIONS:

 


 

1. Critically discuss Giddens's concepts ofstructuration, "the duality of structure" and "the reflexivity of modernity," illustrating your answer with contemporary African examples.

 

2. What are the similarities and differences between Parsons' social system and Senge's systems thinking, and what lessons can we draw
     from the two?

  

3. Critically discuss the contribution of Hirschman's Exit, Voice. and Loyalty to our understanding of interpersonal, business-customer and

    state-citizen relationships in Africa to-day.

  

4. Illustrating your answer with close reference to relevant text, show in what ways Kuhn's notion of "paradigm shift" reflects the Marxian

    theory of social revolution.

  

5. "Conflict causes change in the social structure, and vice versa, but not all the time." Discuss in detail with reference to Marx, Dahrendorf and Coser.

 

6. Wallerstein writes at length on the world system: (a) What does he mean by it and what are his main arguments? (b) Does he, in doing
      so, in effect write about globalization?




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UNIVERSITY OF NAIROBI



MAY-AUGUST 2002 SEMESTER EXAMINATIONS


EXAMINATIONS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF ARTS


CSO 501: CONTEMPORARY SOCIOLOGICAL THEORY


 

                                                        DATE: 30th August, 2002             TIME: 5.30 P.M.- 8.30 P.M.


 

INSTRUCTIONS


ANSWER ANY THREE QUESTIONS


1. "Any action which is continually repeated acquires, over time, a pattern and therefore a structure which
    is ubsequently reproducible with a minimum of like action." To what extent do you think that Berger and
    Luckman, Talcott Parsons, and Giddens, respectively, would agree with this paraphrase, and why?

 

2. What do you understand by the term "paradigm shift", and how does such a shift mirror a social revolution in the
    Marxian sense?

 

3. Illustrating your answer with good empirical examples, discuss the patterns of social action in contemporary
    society in the context of "Exit and Voice" theory.

 

4. Compare and contrast the social exchange theories of George Homans and Peter Blau.

 
5.         a. Outline the essential elements of a theory.
 

            b. Critically discuss the process by which theory construction evolves over time.

 

6. In terms of Time, Space and Number, what is the linkage between micro-level social phenomena and macro-
    level sociological theories? Illustrate your answer with examples from Africa.




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UNIVERSITY OF NAIROBI



EXAMINATIONS 2001/2002


EXAMINATIONS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF ARTS


IN SOCIOLOGY


CSO 501: CONTEMPORARY SOCIOLOGICAL THEORY




                                                    DATE: 20 APRIL, 2002                 TIME: 9.00 - 12.00 NOON




INSTRUCTIONS



ANSWER ANY THREE QUESTIONS



1. Critically discuss the main ideas and/or arguments in Foucault's Power/Knowledge, illustrating your discussion with empirical examples
     from contemporary Mica.

    

2. Outline the contributions of Marx and Kuhn to the articulation of the idea of revolutionary change.

  

3. "Action is the medium; structure is the outcome." Critically discuss this insight with reference to Giddens' notion of "duality of structure",

    illustrating your discussion with empirical examples.

  

4. Whose theory or theories do you find more interesting, Homans or Geertz; and why?

  

5. In view of recent global events, is the process of globalization stoppable, irreversible or uncertain?

  

6. "Practice has a logic which is not that of a logician." critically discuss this statement with reference to Bourdieu's thoughts.





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UNIVERSITY OF NAIROBI



MODULE II DEGREE PROGRAMME 2000/2001


EXAMINATIONS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF ARTS IN SOCIOLOGY


CSO 501 : CONTEMPORARY SOCIOLOGICAL THEORY

 


 

                                        DATE: 15TH DECEMBER, 2001                     TIME: 2.00 P.M. - 5.00 P.M.

 


INSTRUCTIONS



ANSWER ANY THREE QUESTIONS

 

1. "Conflict and social structure are a dialectical set, in that each effects change in the other but not all the time".
    Analyze this claim, with reference to the contributions of Dahrendorf, Coser and Giddens.
 

2. What are the main arguments in Thomas Kuhn's The Structure of Scientific Revolutions?
 

3. Critically discuss social exchange theory, with empirical examples from to-day's urban Africa.


4.     a. What do you see as the major characteristics of the globalization process to-day?

        b. Discuss the main inequalities inherent in the world system, and identify theirorigins, as argued by
            Wallerstein.

  

5. What interesting sociological lessons can we draw from Hirschman's Exit, Voice and Loyalty?

 

6. "Bourdieu thinks more like Talcott Parsons than like Karl Marx". Critically discuss this view with reference to the
    writings of each of the three authors.



 

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UNIVERSITY OF NAIROBI


MODULE II DEGREE PROGRAMME


MAY-AUGUST 2001 SEMESTER EXAMINATIONS


EXAMINATIONS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF ARTS IN SOCIOLOGY


CSO 501 : CONTEMPORARY SOCIOLOGICAL THEORY



                                             DATE: 1ST SEPTEMBER 2001                     TIME: 9.00A.M. – 12.00 NOON

 

 


INSTRUCTIONS



ANSWER ANY THREE QUESTIONS

 


 

1. Critically discuss the main ideas and/or arguments in Foucault's The Birth of the Clinic, illustrating your discussion with empirical
     examples from contemporary Africa.

  

2. What do you understand by the term "paradigm", and how does a "paradigm shift"occur?

 
 

3. "The Culture of Hybridity" or "The Hybridity of Culture". Either of these seems to be a book or chapter title which a contemporary
     scholar might soon well publish. Why would she/he want to do that; and what do you think he/she might say, or leave unsaid?

 

4. With close reference to the thought of Talcott Parsons, discuss:

 

(a) the main properties of social systems; and

 

(b) he functional properties of a society.

  

5. "Since most globalization ideas are Western in origin, globalization is, as a process, really westernization. More particularly, it is

    Americanization". Discuss.

  

6. What sociological lessons can you draw for 2pt century Africa from Giddens' observations in The Consequences of Modernity?


 

 

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UNIVERSITY OF NAIROBI


MODULE II DEGREE PROGRMME

SEPTEMBER-DECEMBER 2000 SEMESTER EXAMINATIONS


EXAMINATIONS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF ARTS IN SOCIOLOGY


CSO 501 : CONTEMPORARY SOCIOLOGICAL THEORY



                                            DATE: 5TH MAY 2001                             TIME 9.00 A.M. - 12.00 NOON


 


INSTRUCTIONS


ANSWER ANY THREE QUESTIONS

 

 

1. "Conflict and social structure are a dialectical set, in that each effects change in the other but not all the time". Analyze this claim, with

    reference to the contributions of Dahrendorf, Coser and Marx. .


 

2. What are the main arguments in Thomas Kuhn's The Structure of Scientific Revolutions?

 

 

3. Talcott Parsons and Edward Shills, in Toward a General Theory of Action, argue for a particular focus on "the organization of the actor's

    orientation to a situation". Critically discuss this approach, paying attention to each component of the theory's frame of reference.

 

 

4. What do rational choice and social exchange theories tell us about the patterns of social life in an African city of your choice?

 


5. Discuss in detail the relationship between power and knowledge, with reference to the Foucault's ideas.

 


6. "Bourdieu's thinking is cast rather more in Parsonian than Marxian terms". Critically discuss this view with reference to the writings of  
     each of the three authors.

 


 


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UNIVERSITY OF NAIROBI


SEPTEMBER-DECEMBER 2000 SEMESTER EXAMINATIONS


EXAMINATIONS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF ARTS

IN SOCIOLOGY.


CSO 501: CONTEMPORARY SOCIOLOGICAL THEORY

 


 

                                            DATE: 16TH DECEMBER, 2000                 TIME: 9.00 A.M. - 12.00 NOON


 


INSTRUCTIONS


ANSWER ANY THREE QUESTIONS

 

 

1. "Because we ...pay most attention to ...fast-changing elements, we forget that the real power lies in the
    domains of deep, slow change. Nature and culture define the limits of what's possible for the quicker elements,
    and they provide the base of continuity... While fashion and commerce 'learn' quickly, governance and culture
    integrate lessons steadily and 'remember'." - Stewart Brand. Critically discuss tills statement with reference
    both to Parsons' social system theory and the Marxian conception of revolution.
 
 2. Simmel has argued that significantly more social interaction assumes the form of social exchange than is
    usually supposed; and that such interaction invariably involves giving and returning equivalents. Critically
    discuss this view with reference both to Simmel and Romans.

  

3. "Any action which is continually repeated acquires, over time, a pattern and a structure which is subsequently
    reproducible with a minimum of like action." To what extent do you think that Berger and Luckman, Bourdieu,
    and Giddens, respectively, would agree with this paraphrase, and why?

  

4.     a. What do you see as the major characteristics of the world system?

          b. Discuss the main inequalities inherent in the world system, and identify their origins, as argued by its
              leading critics.

  

5. With particular reference to Africa, what sociological lessons can we draw for the 21st century from Foucault's
    rendition of the birth 'and evolution of the prison?

 

 6. Row new and comprehensive are Giddens' New Rules of Sociological Method, given the observable
    complexities of social life to-day?


 

 

 

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UNIVERSITY OF NAIROBI


PARALLEL DEGREE PROGRAMME

MAY-AUGUST. 2000 SEMESTER EXAMINATIONS


EXAMINATIONS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF ARTS IN SOCIOLOGY


CSO 501 : CONTEMPORARY SOCIOLOGICAL THEORY




                                        DATE: 28TH AUGUST 2000                         TIME: 5.30 P.M. - 8.30 P.M.


 


INSTRUCTIONS:


ANSWER ANY THREE QUESTIONS

 

   

1. Outline the essential aspects of conflict theory as propounded by Dahrendorf and Marx, respectively; and point
    out those aspects which you consider to be the most appropriate to the analysis of socio-political processes in
    Africa today.

 

2. "In a globalizing world, indigenization is retrograde (backward-looking) and cultural hybridity the norm. There is
    no such thing, any longer, as cultural authenticity - indeed, there probably never was!" Critically discuss this
    statement with reference to relevant texts and empirical examples.

  

3. "Even in the context of Exit. Voice and Loyalty. divorce is in reality an alternative voice, and political refugees do
    not quite lose the power of voice." Critique this statement, bearing in mind Hirschman's conception of the key
    terms: exit and voice.

  

4. Giddens dwells at length on the "reflexivity of modernity". Discuss in some detail what he means by this, and
    show the extent to which such reflexivity is implicated in contemporary social settings in Africa.

  

5. Apply Foucault's notion of "the sovereignty of the gaze" to the problematics of information and knowledge
    management in contemporary society, with particular reference to developing countries.

 

6. What are the main arguments put forward by Randall Collins to support his "micro" approach to social reality?
    To what extent do you agree with him, and why?

 


 

 

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UNIVERSITY OF NAIROBI



PARALLEL DEGREE PROGRAMME


JANUARY - MAY 2000 SEMESTER EXAMINATIONS


EXAMINATIONS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF ARTS


CSO 501: CONTEMPORARY SOCIOLOGICAL THEORY



                                                DATE: 2ND MAY 2000                     TIME: 5.30 P.M. - 8.30 P.M.

 


INSTRUCTIONS.


ANSWER ANY THREE QUESTIONS

 

1. Critically discuss what you consider to be the main aspects of Durkheirn's thinking in the book titled The Division of Labour in Society.

   

2. "In Marx's view social structure reflects the patterned relations among 'actors' who bring to bear on their spiral of social encounters
     unequal resource entitlements and who, in the process, reproduce the social structure and its attendant rules of the game." Discuss with
     close reference to relevant texts. .

 

3. Social theory is by its nature social criticism; consequently, there is no need for a separate 'Critical Theory'. Critically discuss this
     statement with particular reference to Giddens.

  

4. What are the origins and present structure ofthe world system, and what are its emergent characteristics in the light of the countervailing

    trend toward regionalization?

 

5. Discuss:

 

            ( a) the main properties of social systems; and

 

(b) and the functional prerequisites of a society.


 

6. Compare and contrast the social exchange theories of George Homans and Peter Blau.


 

7. Discuss the dialectical linkages among the following factors: Agency, Habitus, Field, and Structure.



 

 

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UNIVERSITY OF NAIROBI



PARALLEL DEGREE PROGRAMME


EXAMINATION FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF ARTS IN SOCIOLOGY


                                          CSO 501: CONTEMPORARY SOCIOLOGICAL THEORY



                                                  DATE: 17TH DECEMBER 1999                         TIME: 5.30 P.M. - 8.30 P.M.

 


ANSWER ANY THREE QUESTIONS:         TIME: 3 HOURS

 


 

1. "Bourdieu's thinking is cast rather more in Parsonimithan Marxian terms". Discuss with reference to what you consider the key elements
      in Bourdieu's book, The Logic of Practice.

 
 

2. "Conflict causes change in the social structure, and vice versa, but not all the time". Discuss with close reference to the writings of 
     Weber, Dahrendorf and Coser.

 

 

3. With close reference to the writings of Giddens and Weber, discuss the dialectical and historical linkages among the following factors:

    religion, capitalism and modernity.


 

4. Critically discuss the main arguments in The German Ideol°ID' and Capital, Volume I, showing their relevance or otherwise to African

    realities at the beginning of the new millennium.

 

 

5. In Toward a General Them)' of Action, Parsons and Shills argue for a particular focus on "the organization of the actor's orientation to a

    situation". Critically discuss this view, paying particular attention to each component of the theory's frame of reference.

 

 

6.     a. Critically discuss any five of what you consider to be the key concepts or factors in exchange theory.

 

         b. Identify the main similarities and/or differences in the exchange perspectives of Romans and Blau.

 

 

7.     a. What are the main arguments of "postmodernity" theorists? In your answer, identify any major variants of postmodernity as posited in the literature.

 

         b. Critically evaluate the future of postmodernity both as a theory and a perceived social phenomenon, and show what is likely to be

             Africa's contribution to that future.


 

 

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UNIVERSITY OF NAIROBI



PARALLEL DEGREE PROGRAMME


FIRST SEMESTER EXAMINATIONS 1998/99


UNIVERSITY EXAMINATIONS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF ARTS IN SOCIOLOGY


CSO 501 : CONTEMPORARY SOCIOLOGICAL THEORY



                                                 DATE: 17TH SEPTEMBER 1999                     TIME: 5.30 - 8.30 P.M.

 

 

 

ANSWER ANY THREE QUESTIONS:


 

Q1. How new are the New Rules of Sociological Method? How useful are they in apprehending social processes in today's world?

 

 

Q2. Critically discuss the Parsonian social system theory in terms of contemporary African society.

 

 

Q3. Giddens talks of structuration, while the more mainstream sociology is more familiar with stratification. Critically evaluate the two

        concepts, with particular reference to the process of social change.


 

Q4. "The Culture of Hybridity" or "The Hybridity of Culture". This seems to be a book or chapter title which a number of contemporary

        scholars might soon well publish. Why do they would want to do that; and what do you think they say, or leave unsaid?


 

Q5. Critically discuss what you consider to be the key concepts in ~exchange theory, and show their relevance, or irrelevance, to specified

        African contexts.

 

 

Q6. In what specific ways does Hirschman's "Exit and Voice" fit into action theory? Illustrate your answer with examples from institutions

        and/or social identities.


 

Q7. Characterize the world system as it is today from one of the three perspectaives – Wallersteins, Giddens’, and/or yours (you the

        candidate) – and highlight what you see as its probable “ trajectory” in the next fifty years.

 


 

Q8. What are the essential components of the Marxian or Weberian conflict theory, and what aspects of the theory do you find most
        relevant to recent events in the Great Lakes Region of Africa?



                                                                                            END

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Mauri
Mauri
Professor, Writer, Publisher at University of Nairobi
Nairobi, Kenya
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