The course offers a speculative exploration of the fundamental analytical tools to detect and study all those historical, economic and cultural processes that contributed to the formation of problems within contemporary societies.
Castel, R. 2004, L'insicurezza sociale, Einaudi, Torino (the parts of the text that must be read will be available in the moodle class)
Goffman, E. 2003, Stigma. L'identità negata, Ombre Corte (the parts of the text that must be read will be available in the moodle class)
Bauman, Z. 2018, Le nuove povertà, Castelvecchi (the parts of the text that must be read will be available in the moodle class)
C. Wright Mills, Il mito della patologia sociale, Armando, 2001
(Optional):
Ang, I. 2011, Navigating complexity: From cultural critique to cultural intelligence. Continuum, 25:6, 779-794
Krause, E. and Bressan, M, 2017. Via Gramsci: Hegemony and Wars of Position in the Streets of Prato, International Gramsci Journal, 2(3), 2017, 31-66.
Learning Objectives
Operate with a high level of social and cultural awareness; interrogate the relations between culture and society; analyse social problems through key theoretical ideas and empirical case studies. Students will acquire the ability to critically interpret social phenomena formulate congruent proposals capable to intervene in contemporary complex scenarios
Prerequisites
None
Teaching Methods
Lectures and group discussion
Further information
Students are invited to be proactive during the lectures and are encouraged to participate.
Current issues that affect the field of social work will be taken into consideration
Type of Assessment
Oral examination will test the knowledge acquired throughout the course
Course program
1.Course introduction: social problem as 'complexity'
2.The construction of alterity: migration, ethnicity and citizenship
3.Differentiation of the occupational structure: work as a problem
4.Poverty, inequality and deprivation in contemporary society