Sociology I + II

The Socio­lo­gy lec­tu­re series aims to teach stu­dents how to under­stand archi­tec­tu­re and the built envi­ron­ment in their social con­text. It gives an intro­duc­tion to the wide ran­ge of con­tem­po­ra­ry urba­ni­sa­ti­on pro­ces­ses in a glo­bal con­text. The Socio­lo­gy I lec­tu­re covers key aspects of social chan­ge, his­to­ri­cal and cur­rent forms of urba­ni­sa­ti­on, and examp­les of urba­ni­sa­ti­on para­digms in indi­vi­du­al cities. Socio­lo­gy II pres­ents cur­rent per­spec­ti­ves and methods in urban socio­lo­gy. It intro­du­ces his­to­ri­cal and cur­rent urba­ni­sa­ti­on pro­ces­ses in Zurich, high­lights the topics of public space and housing, and pres­ents post­co­lo­ni­al per­spec­ti­ves in urban studies.

Socio­lo­gy I (fall semester)

The first part of the cour­se addres­ses some key aspects of social chan­ge, in par­ti­cu­lar the tran­si­ti­on from For­dism to neo­li­be­ra­lism and the intert­wi­ned pro­ces­ses of glo­ba­li­sa­ti­on and regio­na­li­sa­ti­on. The second part pres­ents an intro­duc­tion in his­to­ri­cal and cur­rent forms of urba­ni­sa­ti­on. Among other things, it covers the chan­ging signi­fi­can­ce of the urban-rural divi­de; the pro­ces­ses of sub­ur­ba­ni­sa­ti­on, peri-urba­ni­sa­ti­on and pla­ne­ta­ry urba­ni­sa­ti­on; the emer­gence of glo­bal cities and metro­po­li­tan regi­ons; the emer­gence of new urban con­fi­gu­ra­ti­ons in the cent­re (gen­tri­fi­ca­ti­on, urban rede­ve­lo­p­ment, com­mo­di­fi­ca­ti­on of the urban) and in the urban peri­phery (edge cities, exo­po­lis, new urban inten­si­ty). In the third part, the­se gene­ral pro­ces­ses are illus­tra­ted using spe­ci­fic case stu­dies: Man­ches­ter, Chi­ca­go, Los Ange­les, Paris and Zurich.

Socio­lo­gy II (spring semester)

The cour­se focu­ses on cur­rent ana­ly­ses in urban rese­arch and pres­ents theo­re­ti­cal approa­ches using con­cre­te case stu­dies. First, the his­to­ri­cal trans­for­ma­ti­on of the Zurich regi­on is pre­sen­ted, fol­lo­wed by a dis­cus­sion of urban qua­li­ties in con­tem­po­ra­ry urban deve­lo­p­ment. This is fol­lo­wed by input on the topics of public space as social infra­struc­tu­re, housing in tran­si­ti­on and housing equa­li­ty in cli­ma­te chan­ge. The second part of the cour­se explo­res post­co­lo­ni­al per­spec­ti­ves in urba­nism. It pres­ents an over­view of post­co­lo­ni­al urban theo­ry and dis­cus­ses spa­ti­al pola­ri­sa­ti­on and ever­y­day life under con­di­ti­ons of exten­si­ve urba­ni­sa­ti­on in the so-cal­led Glo­bal South. It also high­lights oppor­tu­ni­ties to re-exami­ne Zurich through a post­co­lo­ni­al lens. The cour­se con­cludes with the need to move bey­ond theo­re­ti­cal and geo­gra­phi­cal dichotomies.