94110 - Anthropology and Ethnography of Social and Educational Services

Learning outcomes

At the end of the course the student will be socialised to the main anthropological paradigms in the study of policies, organisations and institutions. She will know also the theoretical and methodological challenges of cultural anthropology when appled to social educational and welfare policies. She will be able to translate the anthropological reflections towards ethnicity, nation, religion and culture into a careful project elaboration within multicultural societies. She will be able to champion the anthropological (theoretical as much as methodological) perspective also in the critical evaluation of projects for the socio-educational contexts. She will be better able to communicate her or his (often comparative) readings of contexts within her o his working groups. She will be able to refer to ethnographic approaches to enhance her or his ablity of listening and interpreting communication in different working environments. Finally, she will be able to expand autonomously her or his analytical perspective in the exploration of the anthropological knowledge when applied to socio-educational policies

Course contents

To sit and follow the course it is compulsory to have previously taken the exam of Cultural Anthropology. The course aims at providing an introduction to the anthropological approaches to welfare policies in order to facilitate the practical translation of ethnographic skills into the social and educational work. With intermittent theoretical lectures and weakly participatory workshops, we will be exploring different ways with which policies, organisations and institutions respond to and construct social and educational problems and needs. On the one hand, we will interrogate ethnographically social and cultural dynamics informing institutional projects and practices; on the other hand, the anthropological perspectives will provide a critical lens to recognise contradictions and organisational changes of bureaucratic and institutional structures. Both processes will enhance the understanding of exclusionary practices and unequal access to social rights. During the course students will engage in individual or collective presentations and discussions on the potential use of anthropological skills in the analysis of specific socio-educational fields (migrants reception policies, homelessness, health, etc.)

Readings/Bibliography

Riccio B., Tarabusi F., Antropologia ed Etnografia per i servizi socio-educativi, Junior, Bergamo, 2023.

Tarabusi F., Gallotti C. (a cura di), Antropologia e servizi: intersezioni etnografiche fra ricerca e applicazione, Ledizioni, Milano, 2023.

One book among the following:

• Reader available on the platform Virtuale
• Dubois V., Il burocrate e il povero. Amministrare la miseria, Misesis, Milano, 2018.
• Herzfeld M., La produzione sociale dell'indifferenza. Esplorando le radici simboliche della burocrazia occidentale, Franco Angeli, Milano, 2022.
• Ong A. Da rifugiati a cittadini, Milano, Cortina, 2006.
• Rimoldi L., Pozzi G. (a cura di), Pensare un'antropologia del welfare. Etnografie dello stato sociale in Italia, Meltemi, Milano, 2022
• Porcellana V. (2022), Antropologia del welfare. La cultura dei diritti sociali in Italia, Ogliastro Cilento, Licosia.

Some further readings

Basile D., Viazzo P. (a cura di), Alta tensione. Spazi di confronto tra antropologia e istituzioni, Unicopli, Milano, 2023.

Castellano V. Revolving door. I servizi sociali e la riproduzione delle disuguaglianze a New York, Junior, Reggio Emilia, 2018

Douglas M., Come pensano le istituzioni, Il Mulino, Bologna, 1990.

Fassin D., Ripoliticizzare il mondo: studi antropologici sulla vita, il corpo e la morale, Ombre corte, Verona, 2014.

Graeber D. Burocrazia. Perché le regole ci perseguitano e perché ci rendono felici, Il Saggiatore, Milano 2016.

Minicuci M., Pavanello M. (a cura di), “Antropologia delle istituzioni”, Meridiana. Rivista di storia e scienze sociali, 68, 2010.

Palumbo B., Classificare, agire, disciplinare. Riflessioni critiche su alcune tendenze dell’antropologia politica contemporanea, in “Illuminazioni”, n. 11, 2010, pp. 36-110.

Porcellana V., Dal bisogno al desiderio. Antropologia dei servizi per adulti in difficoltà e senza dimora a Torino, Franco Angeli, Milano, 2017.

Quaranta I., Ricca M., Malati fuori luogo, R. Cortina, Milano, 2012

Severi I., Tarabusi F. (a cura di), I metodi puri impazziscono. Strumenti dell’antropologia e pratiche dell’etnografia al lavoro, Ogliastro Cilento Licosia, 2019.

Tarabusi F. Dentro le politiche. Servizi, progetti, operatori: sguardi antropologici, Guaraldi, Rimini, 2010.

Tarabusi F., Zinn D., eds., (2023), Antropologia e politiche pubbliche: ricerche e prospettive, Rivista di Antropologia Contemporanea, 2.

Zinn D., (2018), Migrants as metaphor. Institutions and integration in south tyrol's divided society, Roma, CISU.

Teaching methods

Lectures, weekly individual or collective presentations and discussions, workshops

Assessment methods

Oral exam aiming at evaluating the acquired knowledge and understanding of the topics trated in the course

Teaching tools

Lectures Ppt, articles, reports and other teaching material available on the platform virtuale

Office hours

See the website of Federica Tarabusi