37174 - Sociology of Law in the Economic and Labour Processes

Learning outcomes

The student will know the main classical sociological theories relevant for the developement of a sociological view of the law. He can also understand in a sociological and economical perspective the main problems of the Italian job market, and the significant changes that occurred in the last decades.

 

Course contents

The course will be divided into three parts. For students of the Sociologia del diritto e tecnologie course, the course will consist of only parts A and B, excluding part C.
A) The first part will be dedicated to the exposition of the theories and philosophical and legal currents that have contributed to the formation of a sociological vision of law.
The main problems of contemporary sociology of law will then be illustrated with reference to the sociological currents they derive from, with a focus on the Durkhemian, Marxian, Weberian and structural-functionalist schools.
Particular attention will be paid to empirical research methodologies and their applications in the legal field.

B) The second part of the course will be devoted to analysing, from a sociological perspective and with the help of the paradigms studied, some of the most important social dynamics linked to the use of technologies, such as, for example, the phenomena of polarisation, the creation of ideological bubbles and online hate speech.
C) In the third part of the course (which will only concern students of Sociologia giuridica nei processi economici e del lavoro, and not those of Sociologia del diritto e tecnologie), sociological aspects typical of the labour market will be analysed with particular reference to the following issues:
- the birth of the labour market (commodification of labour, neoclassical and Keynesian theories, declaration of human rights)
- the 1930s and social research on unemployment;
- international and national sources for the study of the labour market;
- the tools for reading the labour market;
- the 1950s to the 1990s;
- The new century and the unresolved issues of the Italian labour market.

Readings/Bibliography

Necessary readings:

Part A.

For students not attending the course: R. Treves, Sociologia del diritto, Einaudi, Torino, whatever edition, par. 1-9, 12-13, 19-24, 26, 28, chap. VII, chap. IX.

For students attending the course (at least, 70% of the classes), it will be possible, alternatively, to study the materials and the integrations delivered during the classes.

Part B. Reading of one item of your choice from the following volumes:

Francesco Pozzi, Digital nudge. L'architettura delle scelte nei contesti digitali, Ledizioni, Milano, 2022.

Gianpietro Mazzoleni e Roberta Bracciale, La politica pop online, il Mulini, Bologna, 2019.
ATTENDING STUDENTS (who attended at least 70% of the lectures) may alternatively bring their lecture notes together with any supplements provided in class during the course.
Part C (for students of Legal Sociology in Economic and Labour Processes only). BOTH ATTENDING AND NON-ATTENDING students: G. Orientale Caputo, Analisi sociale del mercato del lavoro, Il Mulino, Bologna, 2021.

For in-depth studies and integrations we recommend in addition the (optional) reading of R. Semenza, Manuale di sociologia del lavoro, UTET, 2022, chapters 2 and 8.

Teaching methods

Frontal teaching. The teacher will also use powerpoint slides and films. In general during the course, discussion among the students on the theoretical issues addressed will be encouraged.

On the platform Virtuale of Unibo dedicated to the course, simple assignments will be proposed in order to keep student participation alive.

Please, note that the last 21 hours of this course will be delivered online.

Attending classes is not compulsory, but only students who attended at least the 70% of the classes will have the possibility to opt for the alternative assessment methods (see below).

Assessment methods

The student will be asked to discuss some of the relevant topics of the course, in order to assess not only the knowledge of the discipline, but also the methodology and capacity for criticism developed by the student.

Graduation of the final grade

Preparation on a very limited number of topics; analytical skills emerging only with the help of the teacher; overall correct language → 18-19.

Preparation on a limited number of topics; limited analytical skills; correct language → 20-24.

Preparation on a large number of topics; analytical skills; mastery of specific terminology → 25-29.

Exhaustive preparation; analytical skills above average; full mastery of specific terminology; autonomous argumentation skills → 30-30L.

Only the students regularly ATTENDING at least the 70% of the classes will have the possibility to be examined according to an alternative method, involving:

- first of all a written multiple-choice test (duration:40 minutes) on the topics of parts A; the mark for this test will be determined mathematically by the number of correct answers; the maximum mark for all correct answers will be 30; textbooks and notes may not be used during the test

- For part B, an individual paper (an essay of about 2 pages) or a group presentation (a powerpoint of at least 3-4 slides per participant) on one of the topics examined, to be uploaded in Virtuale.
- For part C (only for students of Sociologia giuridica nei processi economici e del lavoro) the preparation and discussion of an in-depth study that will be presented to the class.

The final grade, which may be up to 30 cum laude, will be determined from the grade of the written test on Part A, which may be raised on the basis of the quality of the work on Parts B and C.

For students of Sociologia del diritto e tecnologie, the examination will only cover parts A and B according to the same procedure as above.

Teaching tools

The teacher will use powerpoint slides, Teams, the Virtuale platform, online tools for the creation of written tests like Kahoot or Quizziz, and films.

Students with special needs related to different forms of disability or to DSA, are welcome to contact their teacher in order to be referred to the contact persons and to arrange the most appropriate measures to be taken.

Office hours

See the website of Annalisa Verza