2018/2019

2018/2019

DM270

SPS/07 (GENERAL SOCIOLOGY)

DEPARTMENT OF ECONOMICS AND MANAGEMENT

BUSINESS MANAGEMENT

PERCORSO COMUNE

1°

1st semester (24/09/2018 - 21/12/2018)

6

44 lesson hours

Italian

WRITTEN AND ORAL TEST

RAMPAZI MARIA RITA (titolare) - 6 ECTS

No specific prerequisite is requested. Considering the interdisciplinary nature of the matter, it is however useful an open approach, in order to establish connections between different theories and phenomena, to focus on the ambivalent feature of social problems and to link their analysis to the historical dimension of social change processes.

The course aims to provide theoretical and methodological instruments in order both to understand the complexity of the process usually intended by the word "globalization" and to analyse its main aspects. A specific emphasis will be placed on the changes taking place in the fields of work and consumption. By the analysis of these phenomena, the course aims to improve the student's knowledge of the origins, the historical development and the social effects of contemporary changes. The main objective of the course is, however, to stimulate the student's capacity to "see" the ambivalent feature of social phenomena and to develop an autonomous capacity to analyze the risks and opportunities arising in contemporary landscapes. This capacity will be stimulated not only by a stronger interaction between teacher and students during the lessons, but also by organizing working groups on specific aspects of to-day's labour market and the new approach of individuals to the processes of consumption.

The course is divided into two parts.

- The first part focuses on the problems of global labour markets and contemporary knowledge based economy: the role of global migrations and de-localization processes on employment opportunities in Western countries; the qualitative changes of work and the skills required by contemporary labour markets; the main reasons of worker's lack of satisfaction for the quality of their work; the main causes of stress for the new workers.

- The second part focuses on the changes taking place in consumers' orientations and choices: from the principle of utility to the one of pleasure; the social construction of taste; the role of consumption in the competition for the status; the end of the "fordist consumption norm"; the critical theories and the development of new forms of individualization; the new reflexivity of contemporary consumer

The course consists both in class lessons with the support of slides (PowerPoint) and in working groups which will develop the empirical analysis of some questions illustrated by class lessons.
The slides of the lessons will be published on the Kiro platform

For the first part: S. Negrelli, Le trasformazioni del lavoro, Laterza, Roma-Bari, 2013

For the second part:
G. Sertorio e M.C. Martinengo, I volti del consumo. Ripensare i consumi in una società che cambia, Giappichelli, Torino, 2010

On the Kiro platform the students will find a detailed programme, some short texts integrating the textbooks and the slides of the course

A written and an optional oral exam for the students who pass the written exam.
The written exam (time: 90 minutes) consists in open questions. The student is asked to answer three questions out of the six proposed (two for the first part of the course, two for the second part and two for both parts). The oral exam concerns the whole programme. Further details and examples will be published on the Kiro platform.
In order to pass the exam, the student will show: 1) a good knowledge of the topics proposed by the textbooks (and the class lessons); 2) the capacity to see the connections between the theoretical analysis and the empirical dimension of the problems studied.

Exam average grade: 27,6