SOCIAL POWER AND SOCIAL CHANGE
The second part of the course focuses on a specific area of contemporary social change. The topic changes each semester. Previous topics have included: the rise of the extreme right groups in Europe, the role of the business enterprise in affecting positive changes (like sustainability and inclusion) and also negative social changes (like the spillover effects of business-generated pollution on communities and the global environment), and the fathers’ rights movement in Europe.
Learning Community Activities
- Coming up
The EUTOPIA University Learning Community (“LC”) Social Power and Social Change is excited to announce two Learning Activities for the Spring Semester 2023.
The lectures will be delivered at CY Cergy Paris Université and also be available via Zoom. They are open to students, faculty, and staff from all ten members of the EUTOPIA University.
The goal of the LC Social Power and Social Change is to engage students in a debate about what is social change and how it takes place. These lectures will provide an overview of two of the most significant agents of social change – complex organizations and corporations. As both lectures are intended for a general audience, no previous knowledge of the topics is necessary.
--> To attend the lectures, please register here
Lecture 1. An Introduction to Complex Organizations
Who: Brian T. SCHMITT, Associate professor, CY Cergy Paris Université and Agora Laboratoire
Summary: One of the most distinguishing characteristics of modern life is the ubiquity of large, formal organizations. From governmental entities to universities, from hospitals to arms manufacturers, complex organizations are everywhere. Yet the basics of how organizations function – their purposes, their capacities, and their tensions – are rarely included in the typical university curricula. This lecture aims to fill that gap. After a brief review of how simple organizations are structured, the lecture will
present a framework that identifies the key actors in complex organizations: leaders, sub-leaders, rank-and-file, boards, and members. Knowing the capacities and responsibilities of each of these actors can help us understand how they can be changed for the better.
When: Thursday, March 9th, 2023 from 16h15 to 17h45 (Central European Time)
Lecture 2. Are corporations evil or good? The neglected question of corporate purpose
Who: Andrej RUS, Professor at the University of Ljubljana Faculty of Social Sciences and the Research Center for Strategy and Governance
Summary: What are corporations? Where did they come from? From their beginnings in the 17th century as joint stock companies, the purpose of the corporation has been contested. We will examine different conceptions of the purposes of corporation. One prevalent view is that corporations have one and only one purpose and that is to make profits for shareholders. We will look at other perspectives. To promote in class debate, the lecture will present two short case studies exploring the sudden departure of two CEOs in spite of their sustainability credentials.
When: Thursday, April 6th, 2023 from 16h15 to 17h45 (Central European Time)
You can download the document here- Past activities
-
- November 24th, 2022 -- Katarzyna WOJNICKA, professor of sociology at the University of Gothenburg, delivered a Zoom talk entitled the European Fathers’ Rights Movements. There were ten students from CY and approximately eight students from the University of Gothenburg participating online. The talk was followed by a question-&-answer period.
- April 14th, 2022, Azrini WAHIDIN, professor of Sociology at the University of Warwick, delivered an in-person lecture at CY Cergy Paris Université for the course with approximately 40 students from CY. The title of the talk was Green Criminology.
- Guest Speaker EXIT UK followed by a question-and-answer with the students (December 2nd, 2021). (LC Social Power and Social Change). Exit UK works with individuals who want to leave extreme right-wing and white supremacist organisations but may not know how to do it on their own. The Zoom presentation was open to all students associated with the members of the Learning Community, giving them the opportunity to come in contact with each other and discuss an important social issue facing Europe, particularly Europe’s youth.
Modality: Zoom presentation, hybrid CY in-person and UoW online - First edition of EUTOPIA LU EUTOPIA LU 'Social Power and Change', led by Brian Schmitt (CY) - When? Autumn 2021 – More info coming soon
How to get involved?
(Students and educators)
Contact the EUTOPIA curriculum team: Jo Angouri (J.Angouri@warwick.ac.uk) and Karen Triquet (karen.triquet@vub.be).
Learning Community Members
Click on names below to see picture and short biography
- Lead: Brian T. Schmidt (CY). Email: brian.schmitt@cyu.fr
-
Brian SCHMITT is an associate professor of American Studies at CY Cergy Paris University. His current research looks at social power & social change. He has published on the role of the cinema in the entrepreneurial “revolution,” the impact & limitations of think tanks on US health care policy, and the rise of Bill Clinton and the emergence of a global investment class. In the School of Languages & International Studies he teaches courses in the master’s program on the US economy & US business practices. In the first year license he teaches a course entitled Contemporary American Society. Before emigrating to France in 2005, he worked for five years as Director of Research at the Community Development Venture Capital Alliance in New York City. In 2002 he graduated with a PhD from the Bloustein School of Planning & Public Policy at Rutgers University.
- Partner: Azrini Wahidin (UW). Email: Azrini.Wahidin@warwick.ac.uk
-
Professor Azrini Wahidin is the Programme Director for Warwick’s Sociology and Criminology undergraduate programme and the Sociology department’s Director of Internationalisation. Her research intersects gender, criminology, criminal justice, transitional justice, conflict, peace studies and policy. She is a REF panel member for Social Policy and an Executive Member of the British Society of Criminology. Author of a range of academic articles, edited collections and monographs, her latest single-authored book, Ex-Combatants, Gender and Peace in Northern Ireland – Women, Political Protest and the Prison Experience, focused on female former politically motivated prisoners and the role of transitional justice in post-conflict societies. Her most recent edited book with John Brewer (2021) brings together the work of Global South and Global North academics. The book is entitled, Ex-Combatants’ Voices: Transitioning from War to Peace in Northern Ireland, South Africa and Sri Lanka. Her module ‘Gender, Crime and Justice’ will be part of the innovative suite of provision at the University of Warwick, connecting EUTOPIA Learning Communities.
- Partner: Andrej Rus (UL). Email: ar41@caa.columbia.edu
-
coming soon
- Partner: Katarzyna Wojnicka (GU). Email: katarzyna.wojnicka@gu.se
-
coming soon
- Partner: Calin Goina (UBB). Email: gheorghe.goina@ubbcluj.ro
-
coming soon