90058 - History of Work and Professions (1) (LM)

Learning outcomes

By the end of the module the student will know the main methodologies for the study of the industrial age as regards the world of labour and professions. He/she will be able to analyse the main changes during the industrial age to the present day, both from the point of view of the economic processes, and from that relating to labour (employment and self-employment) relations, and lastly with regard to transformations underway in the labour market under the influence of globalization. He/she will be able to deal with comparative analyses of diverse spatio/temporal contexts, referring in particular to the Euro-Atlantic area. He/she can evaluate the role of the historian in fostering a critical and scientific approach to themes of interest for the collectivity.

Course contents

This year's course is dedicated to the analysis of the great transformations that the contemporary (subordinate and autonomous) world of labour is undergoing, driven by technological innovation and the outsourcing of employment. The aim of the course is to verify whether the changes that have begun to occur in production systems and in the division of labor since the 1980s are different from those we are witnessing today, albeit in an evolutionary logic with similar characteristics .

Readings/Bibliography

STUDENTS WHO ATTEND THE LECTURES:

Students who attend the lectures are required to submit a paper focusing one of the topics developed in the courses by professor Cantagalli.

 

STUDENTS WHO DON'T ATTEND THE LECTURES:

They will have to study the following three readings:

- S. Musso, Storia del lavoro in Italia dall'unità a oggi, Venezia, Marsilio, 2011.

- F. Butera et.al. (a cura di), Knowledge Working. Lavoro, lavoratori, società della conoscenza, Milano, Mondadori Università, 2008.

- A. Cantagalli, I commercialisti italiani e la crisi economica. Tradizione, resilienza e nuove realtà, Bologna, Bononia Univesity Press, 2019 (in corso di stampa).

Teaching methods

The course will be delivered by lectures aided by slides and photocopies.

Assessment methods

STUDENTS WHO ATTEND THE LECTURES

Students who attend the lectures are required to submit a paper (minimum 40,000 - maximum 50,000 characters) focusing one of the topics developed in the courses by professor Cantagalli.

The evaluation of the paper will consider the student's capacity to make use of sources and bibliography related to the selected topic. Students who demonstrate to have a global outlook and a good design of the selected topic and to use an appropriate language, will receive an excellent evaluation. Student who write a paper only based on the existing bibliography without making use of sources, will receive an adequate evaluation. Training gaps and / or inappropriate writing, even in a context of minimal knowledge of the subject, will lead to a sufficient evaluation. Training gaps, inappropriate writing, lack of orientation within the bibliographic materials will be evaluated negatively.

 

STUDENTS WHO DON'T ATTEND THE LECTURES

Students who do not attend the lectures will have to take an oral exam based on the required readings.

The ability to be concise, the mastery of the scientific language of the discipline and a through knowledge of the required readings will be valued as wholly positive; a mechanical knowledge of the subject matter with a few gaps and an incomplete mastery of the language will determine a fairly good evaluation; learning gaps, inappropriate language, mediocre awareness of the course themes will be valued below the pass mark or just above it.

The final grade of the integrated course “Contemporary social structures” is the average of the final grade of the two individual modules (History of industry and business, History of labor and professions). The grades obtained in the two distinct exams have no expiring date and will be integrated in the final evaluation of the course.

Teaching tools

Slides, photocopies, handouts and additional readings.

Office hours

See the website of Alessandra Cantagalli