Helping students remember key sociologists can sometimes feel like trying to wrap presents with oven mitts on; possible, but not always easy. This festive activity brings theory to life by imagining what kinds of real-life Christmas gifts each famous sociologist might enjoy, based on their ideas.
It’s a light-hearted way to start a lesson, but it has a serious purpose:
It is reinforcing theoretical concepts through memorable associations.
When students link a theorist to a concrete object – a notebook, a theatre ticket, or even a VR headset – they’re more likely to recall their main ideas later. Consider it the sociology version of mnemonics, but with tinsel and fairy lights.
How the Activity Works
- Students look at each sociologist and choose a gift for them.
- They discuss or jot down why that gift symbolises the sociologist’s work.
- They reveal the explanation and expand the discussion into core sociological concepts.
This encourages:
Recall
Interpretation
Applying theory to real-world analogies
Collaborative thinking
The Sociologists and Their Festive Gifts
Below are some examples that you might want to share with students after the activity – or before and get them to analyse why this gift symbolises that specific sociologist.
Émile Durkheim
Gift: A beautifully bound data journal
Why: Durkheim was obsessed with social facts — patterns of behaviour we can measure and study. A data journal reflects his systematic, scientific approach to society.
Talcott Parsons
Gift: A colour-coded family planner
Why: Parsons saw society as a system where everything functions together (AGIL model). A planner symbolises order, stability, and smooth social functioning.
Karl Marx
Gift: Fair-trade coffee or a revolutionary mug
Why: Marx critiqued capitalism and class inequality. Ethical coffee reflects anti-exploitation values — plus, the revolutionary mug feels suitably Marxist.
Friedrich Engels
Gift: A practical scarf and gloves
Why: Engels focused on working-class conditions and urban poverty. A warm, functional gift evokes his concern with real material struggles.
Max Weber
Gift: A minimalist filing system or fountain pen
Why: Weber analysed bureaucracy, rationalisation, and organisational structures. A tidy filing system represents the “iron cage” of modern life.
Harriet Martineau
Gift: A vintage travel journal
Why: Martineau is known for her detailed observations of society and early sociological travel writing. A journal supports her methodical, reflective style.
Ann Oakley
Gift: A high-end kitchen gadget
Why: Oakley researched gender roles and domestic labour. A gadget that reduces housework highlights the inequalities she critiqued.
Erving Goffman
Gift: A quirky Christmas jumper and props
Why: For Goffman’s dramaturgical theory, social life is a performance. Props and costumes reflect impression management.
Howard Becker
Gift: A label-maker
Why: Becker famously argued that deviance is created by labelling. What better symbol than a device that literally labels people?
Jean Baudrillard
Gift: A VR headset or LED illusion lamp
Why: Baudrillard’s hyperreality describes blurred boundaries between real and simulated worlds — just like VR.
Jean-François Lyotard
Gift: A “create your own story” card game
Why: Lyotard criticised “grand narratives” and embraced diversity of stories. A game about multiple narratives fits perfectly.
Charles Murray
Gift: A premium data-analysis software subscription
Why: Murray is known for controversial discussions about social trends, family structure, and underclass theory. Data tools reflect his reliance on statistics (even where interpretations are contested).
Pierre Bourdieu
Gift: A luxury notebook and fountain pen
Why: Bourdieu’s work on cultural capital and habitus matches a sophisticated writing set — something that symbolises elite cultural taste.
Antonio Gramsci
Gift: A warm writing blanket and political books
Why: Gramsci’s prison notebooks and his theories on cultural hegemony make this thoughtful, cosy academic gift highly appropriate.
Michel Foucault
Gift: A smart home camera
Why: Foucault explored surveillance and disciplinary power. A camera stands in for the panopticon, reminding us how behaviour changes when watched.
Judith Butler
Gift: Theatre ticket gift card
Why: Butler’s theory centres on performance of gender. Theatre provides a metaphorical and literal stage for performance.
Zygmunt Bauman
Gift: A reusable water bottle
Why: Bauman described “liquid modernity”, reflecting constant change. A water-themed gift is a playful metaphor for fluidity.
Ulrich Beck
Gift: A “Risk Society Survival Pack”
Why: Beck focused on global risks — environmental, technological, political. A survival kit (playful or serious) connects perfectly.
Louis Althusser
Gift: A set of festive model buildings (schools, churches, media houses)
Why: These represent the Ideological State Apparatuses he believed shaped our beliefs and behaviours — even during the holidays.
Why This Activity Works
Students often find it easier to recall a theorist’s ideas when linked to an engaging, visual or humorous stimulus.
By associating each theorist with a symbolic gift, learners:
- Strengthen memory through metaphor
- Understand theory through visualisation
- Engage emotionally with the content
- Move from passive to active recall
- Discuss ideas collaboratively
This makes it a great warmer, plenary, or revision activity — especially during December lessons.
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