Programme

FIRST PART: ESPISTEMOLOGY AND METHODOLOGY OF SOCIAL SCIENCE
The origins of sociology and its epistemologic status. Epistemology, methodology and social theory. The main paradigms in sociology. Quantitative and qualitative methods.
SECOND PART: MAIN SOCIOLOGICAL CONCEPTS AND THEMES
Culture - Structures, social actions and power – Groups and organizations - Social stratification, social classes and global inequalities - Ethnicity and migrations - Gender and sexualities – Families and socialization process – Deviance - Social changes, globalization and social movements.
THIRD PART: INTRODUCTION TO SOCIOLOGICAL THEORIES
The birth of sociology: sociology and positivism - Karl Marx – Emile Durkheim – Georg Simmel – Max Weber – The Chicago School of Sociology – George H. Mead - Italian sociology at the beginning of '900 – Sigmund Freud and the birth of psychoanalysis - Critic theory – Functionalism – Alfred Schutz – Peter Berger and Thomas Luckmann – Erving Goffman – Contemporary sociology
FOURTH PART: POVERTY, INEQUALITIES AND SOCIAL EXCLUSION
FIFTH PART: THE SOCIOLOGY OF GEORG SIMMEL: DOMINATION
SIXTH PART: ZYGMUNT BAUMAN AND LIQUID MODERNITY

Core Documentation

First and second part:
– CROTEAU D., HOYNES W. (2022), SOCIOLOGIA GENERALE. TEMI, METODO, CONCETTI, SECOND EDITION (EDITED BY ANTONELLI F., ROSSI E.) MC GRAW HILL EDUCATION, MILANO [with the exception of the following chapter 10].
Third part :
–JEDLOWSKI P. (2017) IL MONDO IN QUESTIONE. INTRODUZIONE ALLA STORIA DEL PENSIERO SOCIOLOGICO, CAROCCI EDITORE, ROMA, [with the exception of the following chapters 1, 13, 14].
Fourth part
– ROSSI E., (2012), IN DISPARTE. APPUNTI PER UNA SOCIOLOGIA DEL MARGINE, ARMANDO EDITORE
Fifth part
– SIMMEL G., (2017), IL DOMINIO, (edited by CARLO MONGARDINI), ROMA, BULZONI
SIXTH PART
-BAUMAN Z., (2021), MODERNITA' LIQUIDA, BARI, LATERZA

Type of delivery of the course

Oral lessons.The course includes lectures aimed at acquiring the concepts and main theories of the discipline. Participation of students in educational activities is optional.

Type of evaluation

The exam will be oral, aimed at evaluating the preparation of the student. The questions asked will be oriented to verify the degree of knowledge of the analytical and methodological tools of Sociology. Particular attention will be paid to verify the empirical knowledge that derives from research conducted on different topics which are illustrated in the text books. Finally, the student’s ability to establish links between the different themes will be evaluated, as well as the propensity of critical reflection on the phenomena being studied.

Programme

PART ONE: EPISTEMOLOGY AND METHODOLOGY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES
The origin of the sociology and its epistemological status. The modern science and its scientific paradigms. Verificationism vs Falsificationism. Epistemology, methodology and social theory. Main sociological paradigms. Quantitative and qualitatives methods.

PART TWO: CONCEPTS, SUBJECTS AND SOCIOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVES
Culture, institutions and cultural processes - Power, social action and social structures - Social interactions, groups and socialization - Migrations and ethnicity - Gender and sexuality (with references to the sociology of families) - Social stratification and inequlities in the globalization era - Social changes, social movements and globalization - Classical Sociological Perspective - The main sociological perspectives: functionalism, conflictualism, interactionism. Contemporary social theories: Bauman, Touraine, Bourdieu.

PART THREE: SECOND MODERNITY, RISCK AND CLIMATE CHANGE
The sociology of risk in Ulrick Beck's thought - Individualisation and inequalities - Science and Politics - The climate change within the global risk society: Bruno Latour's contribution - Science, politics and society facing the ecological crisis - History and critics on the idea of the Nature - Root causes of the ecological denial: post-apocalyptic perspectives and political gnosticism - Rethinking democracy and representativeness.

PART FOUR: THE WORLD-SYSTEM ANALYSIS AND VIOLENT RADICALISATION PROCESSES
What is a world-system - Development, power relationships and world-systems - Conflicts.

Core Documentation

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Textbooks for 12 CFU:

A) PART ONE AND TWO
– CROTEAU D.,HOYNES W. (2022), SOCIOLOGIA GENERALE, THIRD ITALIAN EDITION EDS. BY ANTONELLI F., ROSSI E. MC GRAW HILL EDUCATION, MILANO [NO CHAPTERS 11].
- SLIDES BY THE PROFESSOR.
B) PART THREE
- BECK U., LA SOCIETA' DEL RISCHIO. VERSO UNA SECONDA MODERNITA', CAROCCI, ROMA.
- LATOUR B. (2020), LA SFIDA DI GAIA. IL NUOVO REGIME CLIMATICO, MELTEMI, UDINE [NO CHAPTERS 5,6,7,8].

C) PART FOUR
- WALLREISTEIN I. (2013), COMPRENDERE IL MONDO. INTRODUZIONE ALL'ANALISI DEI SISTEMI-MONDO, ASTERIOS, TRIESTE.

Reference Bibliography

Additional books for personal study (optional): - Antonelli F., Tecnocrazia e democrazia - Aron R., Le tappe del pensiero sociologico, Mondadori. - Bauman Z., A tutto campo, Laterza. - Bauman Z., Modernità liquida, Laterza. - Durkheim E., Il suicidio, BUR. - Goffman E., Asylums. Le istituzioni totali: i meccanismi dell'esclusione e della violenza, Einaudi. - Gramsci A., Americanismo e fordismo, Einaudi. - Mills C.W., L'immaginazione sociologica, Il Saggiatore - Simmel G., Le metropoli e la vita dello spirito, Armando. - Weber M., L'etica protestante e lo spirito del capitalismo.

Type of delivery of the course

Educational activities: lessons; workshops and classworks; lectures; homework.

Attendance

Attending lessons is optional. Nevertheless, it is strongly recommended to fully achieve all educational goals.

Type of evaluation

The oral test aims to assess the knowledge of the fundamental sociological categories (i.e. social stratification, groups, socialisation, social integration ecc.) and of the sociological theories (classic sociology, interactionsim, functionalism, conflictualism, contemporary social theories) as well as student's critical abilities, in particular the capacity to understand different nexus among different sociological categories and perspectives, in their historic background. Eventually, a specific assessment is focused on the capacity to read current social reality through sociological "lens".