Sociology

GIULIO MOINI

1. Knowledge and understanding: on having passed the exam students will have acquired basic knowledge about the relationships between political, cultural and economic sub-systems as well as on political actors, structures and processes in terms of policy and politics.
2. Applying knowledge and understanding: through exercises on case studies focusing also on methodologies, students will be able to select basic concepts and indicators to set the analysis and understand the main characteristics of phenomena about which they will have learned basic knowledge. In particular, this regards the ability of analyzing aspects of public policy making, political cultures, specific changes affecting relationships between policy, politics and the market, specific changes affecting political institutions and the rules of representation; processes of political rescaling, changes affecting political parties, interest groups and lobbying, patterns of governance
3. Students will improve their capacity to develop their own points of view as well as critical capacity on the topics studied through active participation in group exercise and debates, as well as preparing both individual and group presentations
4. Communications skills. Students will improve their capacity to communicate the knowledge learned through individual and group presentations on the topics studied and participating in collective debates.
5. Learning skills. Students should improve the capacity to keep up their studies on the topics of this course through the ability acquired to connect concepts, theories and phenomena This ability may be developed through the explicit presentation of these connection, tested through exercises on specific case studies. At the end of the course, students should be able to autonomously explore the issues analyzed through the consultation of political sources and specialized research reports.

After successfully taking the exam the student will have acquired :
1. Knowledge and comprehension skills related to the topics stated in the training objectives and the course syllabus

2. Ability to apply the knowledge acquired
Ability to find studies and research on the transformations of politics and policies, governance and institutions on different scales, understanding the plurality of approaches

3. Critical and judgmental skills
Ability to navigate theoretical and conceptual perspectives) of interpreting the forms and criticalities of contenporan politics

4. Communication skills
Ability to:
- Present articles or book chapters
- Take part in classroom discussions
- Draft and present a research project

5. Ability to pursue study independently
Ability to use the tools to:
- conduct a literature search
- write a concise literature review

Basic knowledge of:
- modern and current sociological theories;
- history of contemporary Europe
- characteristics of constitutional orders, at least as far as Italy is concerned

The course is divided into two parts:

- the first part will present and explore the main categories through which sociology interprets contemporary politics. After brief historical references to the relations between society and politics and the forms of politics in modernity, the processes of transformation induced by globalization and the spread of different forms of neoliberalism will be examined. Once the basic concepts of power, hegemony, public policies and actions, governance, politicization and depoliticization of public actions and problems have been explained, innovative features of contemporary politics and institutions will be explored and interpreted using these tools: party transformations and post-democratic drifts; the nature and role of populisms and sovereignisms; emerging forms of political communication; contemporary public administrations; the emergence and crisis of transnational governance regimes; the multiscalar politics and governance of the European Union and cities; the role played in relations between society and politics by interest organizations and lobbying; new conflicts, practices and social movements; and the role of knowledge carriers and civil society, including through emerging forms of participation.

- The second part will have a laboratory character. Students will work in groups experimenting with how to use one or more of the concepts of the theorists and analytics encountered in the first part to interpret specific features and criticalities of contemporary political phenomena. To this end, they will be guided in the retrieval and use of materials and documents of various kinds and the creation of a product, which will be presented and evaluated.
These have been the themes in recent years:
2022/2023: Politics and policies in strategies for sustainable development
2021/2022: Policy and society in sustainable development
2020/2021: Continuity and policy changes with the Covid crisis

1) d'Albergo E., Moini G. (a cura di, 2024), Sociologia della politica contemporanea, Roma, Carocci (tutto)

2) Moini G. (2020), Neoliberismo, Milano, Mondadori (tutto)

During the course there will be frontal teaching, exercises and presentations by the students

Those who have attended at least 80 percent of the lectures in the first part will be able to take the midterm test and take part in the Research Lab

Students who cannot attend the lessons will take a written examination, with essay questions
Students attending the lessons will take a written examination at the end of each of the parts of the course. The final grade results from the average of the grades

What are the main differences between political sociology and other disciplines concerned with the study of political phenomena?

• From lesson 1 to lesson 6
  • Books: Teaching Unit 1: Three challenges for contemporary politics


• From lesson 7 to lesson 12
  • Books: Teaching Unit 2: The historical and theoretical roots of contemporary politics


• From lesson 13 to lesson 17
  • Books: Teaching Unit 3: Basic Concepts


• From lesson 18 to lesson 24
  • Books: Teaching Unit 4: Politics and society in the contemporary world


• From lesson 25 to lesson 36
  • Books: Research laboratory