This course examines how critical social theorists have conceptualized the relation between systems of meaning and social relations of power. We will see how such conceptualizations entail different understandings of the social world, the subject, consciousness and knowledge, reality and representation, conformity and deviance, consent and resistance. We will explore the implications of these different conceptual frameworks for our attempts to understand particular social and political constellations. Prerequisite is a good knowledge of the theories of Marx, Foucault, and Bourdieu, on which we will build further in class.