2009/2010

2009/2010

DM270

DEPARTMENT OF POLITICAL AND SOCIAL SCIENCES

POLITICAL SCIENCE AND INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS

DIRITTO E POLITICA

3°

Annual (28/09/2009 - 29/05/2010)

12

Italian

Although no specific prerequisites are requested, having passed the exams of sociology and economics will enhance learning.

The aim of the course is to make students aware of the micro-sociological mechanisms at the basis of the two main macro-arrangements for the organization of economic activity: decentralized exchanges (capitalist markets) and centralized hierarchy (socialist plan). Moreover, The course aims to provide the basic tools for the scientific enquiry of socio-economic phenomena, and the basic concepts drawn from economic sociology to study economic development, and to illustrate some of the main problems of capitalist development.

The course considers the theoretical bases of organisation: action, interaction, institutional rules. Game theory has highlighted the sociological mechanisms underlying the dilemmas of collective action. These are at the heart of the organizational debate on the economy in the XX century: market exchanges vs. hierarchical plan. The course analyses the hierarchy of the Soviet Plan, and explains its collapse due to the above-mentioned dilemmas of collective action. Sociology of development course - relying on concepts and tools drawn from methodology of research, economics, economic sociology, four broad questions are addressed: what is economic development? What are its causes? How can it be measured? How can it be studied? Some of the main aspects of capitalism – such as its origins, phases and territorial differences – are also discussed.

Lectures and short exercises

Written exam