Constructing a debate between two Sociological theorists

Description

INSTRUCTIONS: Your assignment is to construct a debate between two theorists on the topic of The Black Lives Matter movement and the summer 2020 protests following the killing of George Floyd. For this assignment, you must choose ONE of the following pairs of theorists: Option #1: Marx vs Durkheim          Option #3: Gramsci vs Foucault Option #2: Lenin vs Weber               Option #4: Fanon vs Du Bois You are free to choose which aspect of the topic you will focus on. But you must base the essay on evidence from the following news articles: 1 Buchanan et al. Black Lives Matter May Be the Largest Movement in US History Actions 2 Altman Why the Killing of George Floyd Sparked an American Uprising Actions 3 Godfrey The Enormous Scale of this Movement Actions 4 Taylor The End of Black Politics Actions 5 Ransby The Class Politics of Black Lives Matter Actions 6 George Floyd Death What US police officers think of protests Actions 7 McAdam We’ve never seen protests like these before Actions 8 Amnesty International Law Enforcement Violated Black Lives Matter Protesters Human Rights Actions All the articles you need for the assignment are posted above. DO NOT USE ARTICLES OTHER THAN THOSE POSTED IN THE LIST ABOVE. You do not need to reference all of the articles above. Please pick and choose from the articles as you see fit to make your argument.   MAKING AN ARGUMENT, AND QUESTIONS TO ADDRESS The essay should have a clear argument that characterizes the different and contrasting positions of the two theorists. You should introduce this argument in the first 1-2 sentences of the paper (Introduction), and summarize it in the last 1-2 sentences of the paper (Conclusion). In making your argument, your essay should address the following two questions, with approximately half of the essay devoted to addressing each question: Q1. PROBLEM: How would each theorist evaluate or explain what is happening? (In other words: How would they interpret the events taking place in terms of their own concepts and theory as a whole? What would they understand to be the root problem? What aspects of the situation would they support, and which would they dislike?) Q2. SOLUTION: What would each theorist hope for in terms of the future? (In other words: How would they apply their own ideas about positive social change to this specific example? How would they want to see the situation develop? What outcome would they promote?)   DETAILED REQUIREMENTS You must adhere to the following requirements. All other formatting choices are up to you. The essay must be between 400 and 600 words. You must provide a word count, along with your Name and ID Number, at the top of the first page. Introduction and Conclusion should NOT be more than 1-2 sentences each. Even if you decide to write out a dialogue in the voice of the two theorists, please include an Introduction and a Conclusion in the voice of yourself or a narrator. Do NOT use direct quotes. Instead, put the ideas in your own words. Paraphrase or interpret passages, and then cite them by noting the relevant page number. Cite relevant sources using footnotes or endnotes, and include a reference list of works cited at the end. Do NOT include citations or your reference list in the word count. Do NOT use sources other than the articles posted on Canvas.   SOME HINTS FOR WRITING AN EFFECTIVE ESSAY A successful essay will do three primary things: First, be sure to ground your essay in the key ideas of your chosen theorists. Second, directly and explicitly engage the news articles. You do NOT need to reference all of the articles. Instead, choose the evidence within the articles that enables you to draw out the differences between your two theorists. Third, directly and explicitly contrast the two theorists. It is not sufficient to only show similarities. I want you to emphasize their differences. DO NOT ASSUME THAT THE DIFFERENCES ARE OBVIOUS. You must make them obvious! For example … include sentences that refer to both authors (e.g. “Durkheim would disagree with Marx’s idea that YYY is a result of XXX. He would argue instead that YYY is a result of ZZZ.”) have the authors respond and react to each other, rather than just showing what they would say about the topic. keep an eye on the big picture contrasts (e.g. Marx’s wants to abolish the division of labor whereas Durkheim wants to perfect the division of labor).