BSocSc Sociology

This unit will introduce you to the importance of ‘personal life’ as a core sociological topic. The unit will start with an introduction to what is meant by ‘personal life’ and everyday life. Subsequent lectures will draw out the broad theme of connectedness in personal life through exploring diverse connections between people; between people, objects and their environment; between the personal and the political; and between the past and the present.

The lectures after Week 1 are structured into two major blocks: Intimacies and Connectedness (Romantic Intimacy; Mediated Intimacy; Friendship; More-than-human Intimacy); and The Personal is Political (Youth, Adulthood and Temporality; Gender and Feminisms; Sexualities and LGBTQIA+ Lived Experiences; Home, House and The Everyday Life of Objects).

Lecture topics will include: personal life in and out of time (lifecourse and temporality); intimate relationships; friendship and acquaintanceship; sexuality, gender and the politics of personal life; potent connections to the past (memory, biography and identity); the making and unmaking of home; the everyday life of objects; and the personal and the political. In so doing, we will address demographic, social and cultural shifts that have occurred in the area of personal life over the last century or so, as well as the impact on personal life of more recent global shocks such as the pandemic, the Black Lives Matter movement and the transnational #MeToo movement and digital feminisms. The course will end with a lecture that provides a summary and overview of what everyday and personal life means in sociology.  

• To introduce students to a sociological approach to the study of personal life and the everyday  

• To examine how personal lives have changed over time and how wider social changes have impacted upon personal life, including the impact of recent global shocks such as Covid-19 pandemic  

• To underline the theme of connectedness in personal life and the everyday  

• To provide conceptual tools for understanding the micro level of day-to-day life  

On completion of this unit successful students will:

• analyse the relationship between personal experience and wider social phenomena
• explain how the 'present' is rooted in the past and oriented towards the future in everyday life
• have an appreciation of the connectedness of personal life through exploring diverse connections between people; between people, objects and their environment
• critically and creatively examine the relationship between the personal and the political through engaging with the contemporary issues and historical contexts
• have knowledge of the interconnections between issues of biography, sexuality, identity, memory, emotions and other areas defined as 'personal'
• have an appreciation of why and how the personal, relationality and everyday life are important to the study of sociology 

Weekly lecture (1 x 2 hour)

Weekly tutorials (1 hour)

Formative essay (non-assessed but feedback will be provided)  

All sociology courses include both formative feedback - which lets you know how you’re getting on and what you could do to improve - and summative feedback - which gives you a mark for your assessed work.

Barker, Meg-John, Rosalind Gill, and Laura Harvey (2018) Mediated Intimacy, Cambridge: Polity Press.

Elliott, Anthony (2023) Algorithmic intimacy: the digital revolution in personal relationships. Cambridge: Polity. 

Mason, Jennifer (2018) Affinities: Personal Connections in Personal Life, Cambridge: Polity

May, Vanessa and Nordqvist, Petra.(eds) Sociology of Personal Life (2019, second edition)¸London: Red Globe Press.

Smart, Carol (2007) Personal Life: New Directions in Sociological Thinking, Cambridge, Polity.

Jamieson, Lynn (1998) Intimacy: Personal Relationships in Modern Societies, Cambridge: Polity.

Quaid, Sheila, Hugman, Catriona and Wilcock, Angela (2021) Negotiating Families and Personal Lives in the 21st Century: Exploring Diversity, Social Change and Inequalities. London: Routledge.

Scott, Susie (2009 ) Making Sense of Everyday Life, Cambridge: Polity.