03495 - Economic and Labor Sociology

Learning outcomes

Students should acquire capacities to interpret the current transformations of economy, work and employment, and of welfare and labour market policies in a comparative perspective.

Course contents

The course contents are divided in two parts:

First part (40 hours):

The first part of the course focuses on the relationship between economic sociology and labour market policies adopting a comparative and interdisciplinary approach. The analysis is organized as follows: a first descriptive provides information on labour market policies (definition, programs, analytical dimensions), a second depicts their evolution interpreting the emerging regimes in the vast international panorama. An explanatory third dimension identifies the causal mechanisms of change based on political, economic and social factors. The role of collective actors and their interactions with particular reference to specific turning points is part of the analysis.

Specifically, the following topics will be addressed:

-Economic sociology and labour market policies
- Labour market policies: definition, characteristics and comparative aspects
- Labour market policies: programs
- Labour market policies in Europe and the United States: from the origins till the 1990s
- The emerging regimes of labour market policies in the 2000s


Second part (20 hours): the following topics will be addressed:

- industrial revolution and the capitalist mode of production;

- industrial development and the scientific work organization;

- class structure: entrepreneurs, working class, clerical class, managers, middle managers;

- origin and development of the platform economy;

- human capital and digital labor.

Readings/Bibliography

For the first module:

Rizza R., Scarano G. (2019), Nuovi modelli di politica del lavoro, Milano, Egea

For the second module:

Accornero A., Il mondo della produzione, Il Mulino, Bologna, 2013. First part (chapters I & II); third part (chapters IX, X, XI & XI); fourth part (chapters XIII, XIV, XV, XVI, XVII)]

Casilli A., Schiavi del clic, Feltrinelli, Milano, 2020 [Introduction; chapt. 2, 3 & 5; Conclusions]

Huws, U., 'Cybertariato: lavoro e tecnologia nel nuovo millenio', in Into the Black Box (eds), Capitalismo 4.0, Meltemi, Milano (p. 151-167) [online]

Teaching methods

The course is divided in different parts and presentations will be prepared by students.

Assessment methods

Two written examinations for students who attend classes.

Teaching tools

Videos, essays and articles not included in the texts, but particularly significant for the topics covered in class.

Slides and other teaching materials will be available to the students in electronic format on Virtuale. Username and password are reserved for students enrolled at the University of Bologna.

Office hours

See the website of Roberto Rizza

See the website of Emanuele Leonardi