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College of Arts & Sciences
Texas A&M University Sociology

Organizational, Political and Economic Sociology

Overview

The Organizational, Political and Economic (OP&E) concentration in graduate program in the sociology department at Texas A&M University conducts research that examines social structure and social change.

Many OP&E faculty emphasize theoretically driven empirical research that contributes to the understanding of continuity and change in social structures at the organizational, community, societal, and global levels.

The underlying logic of the OP&E grouping is the social structure consists of multiple interrelated and interdependent parts (e.g., political and economic systems, states, communities, markets, corporations and other organizations) that cannot be understood without examining the relationships among these component parts.

Course work in OP&E prepares undergraduate and graduate students with the capacity to understand how the historically specific relationship among the component parts of the social structure affects individuals. These courses also facilitate the development of critical thinking skills that include, but is not limited to, how the prevailing social structural arrangements affect people located at different positions in the stratification system.

The OP&E faculty employ a wide range of methods including statistical analysis of large quantitative data sets, surveys, interviews, examination of historical documents, and participant observation and ethnography. Some faculty members in OP&E have affiliations with the Africana Studies, Glasscock Center for Humanities Research, Global Languages and Cultures, Texas A&M Energy Institute, and Women’s and Gender Studies at Texas A&M University and organizations outside the University including the Climate Social Science Network, Institute at Brown University for Environment and Society.

Pathways for Undergraduate Students

Undergraduate students find coursework in organizational, political and economic sociology helpful to obtain positions in business, public policy, non-profit organizations, and local, state and federal governments. In addition to continuing their education in sociology graduate programs, some undergraduate students with expertise in OP&E pursue advanced degrees in business, counseling, economic development, and public administration and policy.

Pathways for Graduate Students

Course work in OP&E prepares graduate students with the capacity to understand how the historically specific interrelationship among the component parts of the social structure affects individuals. An understanding of the interrelations among component parts of the social structure also facilitates the development of critical thinking skills that advance knowledge. To illustrate, Mark Granovetter has written the first and third most cited sociology articles with over 60,000 citations of a single article as of November 2021. Although Granovetter considers himself an economic sociologist, his scholarship draws from many of the areas covered in OP&E including corporations, communities, economic sociology, organizations, markets, political sociology, power, and stratification.

Graduate students specializing in OP&E are prepared to pursue a wide range of opportunities in academic setting, public policy research settings, and local, state and federal governments.

Major and Minor in the PhD Program

According to the new guidelines of the Sociology Graduate Program, doctoral students declare a major (three courses) and a minor (one course) from any of the American Sociological Association (ASA) sections. The ASA sections that are most relevant for graduate students who work in the OP&E area include:

  • Collective Behavior and Social Movements
  • Comparative-Historical Sociology
  • Environmental Sociology
  • Organizations, Occupations, and Work
  • Political Sociology
  • Sociology of Development

Undergraduate Courses

SOCI 206 Global Social Trends

SOCI 210 Sociology of Tech and Science

SOCI 311 Social Change

SOCI 315 Marriage Institution

SOCI 335 Sociology of Organizations

SOCI 326 Sociology of Religion

SOCI 328 Environmental Sociology

SOCI 376/MGMT 376 Entrepreneurial Perspectives

SOCI 377 Entrepreneurial Thought Leaders Seminar

SOCI 404/RPTS 404 Sociology of the Community

SOCI 410 Reproduction, Birth, and Power

SOCI 412 Political Sociology

SOCI 413 Social Movements

SOCI 415 Sociology of Education

SOCI 419 Class in Contemporary Society

SOCI 432/MGMT 479 Technology Commercialization

SOCI 445 Sociology of Law

SOCI 450/MGMT 478 Social Entrepreneurship

Graduate Courses

SOCI 604 Comparative Historical Methods (Dr. Cohn, Dr. Mackin)

SOCI 605 Social Movements (Dr. Över)

SOCI 607 Seminar in Social Organizations: Class in Contemporary Society (Dr. Prechel)

SOCI 607 Seminar in Social Organizations: Deportation and Deportability (Dr. Plankey-Videla)

SOCI 607 Seminar in Social Organizations: Environmental Sociology (to be announced)

SOCI 607 Seminar in Social Organizations: Institutional Analysis (Dr. Thornton)

SOCI 607 Seminar in Social Organizations: Intersectionality and Latinx Migration (Dr. Plankey-Videla)

SOCI 607 Seminar in Social Organizations: Sociology of Religion

SOCI 610 Reproduction, Birth and Power (Dr. Morris)

SOCI 616 Political Sociology (Dr. Prechel)

SOCI 618 Sociology of Education (Dr. Goldsmith)

SOCI 619 Social Stratification

SOCI 629 Sociology of Law (Dr. Gatson)

SOCI 634 Sociology of Community (Dr. Gatson)

SOCI 635 Organizational Theory (Dr. Morris, Dr. Prechel)

SOCI 640 Sociology of Development (Dr. Cohn)

SOCI 689 Global Gender Justice (Dr. Lakkimsetti)

Faculty

Faculty with Research and Teaching Interests that Intersect with OP&E