22563 - MUTAMENTO SOCIALE

Learning outcomes

At the end of the course, the student: - possesses a competent knowledge of the study of human societies, with a focus on the processes of social change over time and the theoretical approaches with which to analyse them; - possesses tools for analysing and understanding important contemporary social phenomena, knowing how to interpret them from a social change perspective with reference to relevant theoretical and analytical concepts from classical and contemporary sociology.

Course contents

The course aims to provide students with theoretical and conceptual tools to read and interpret the changes that have characterised human societies over time, and to apply the knowledge acquired to specific historical and contemporary phenomena. In particular, the course focuses on analysing the concept and process of social change by focusing on the dialectic between forms of social organisation and the underlying economic and structural phenomena that shape them. Throughout the course, we will explore how the transformations of the productive-economic system, and specifically the evolution of capitalism from modernity to contemporaneity, impact on the forms of social organisation over time, marking the transition from modernity to post-modernity, from societies based on reciprocity to market societies, from societies based on the nation state to globalised societies, etc. We will also look at how ‘bottom-up’ social processes such as social movements and conflicts, as well as major contemporary transformations such as the double digital and ecological transition, can act as levers of social change.

Readings/Bibliography

The main course text assigned is Karl Polanyi's "The Great Transformation" (1944), in its Italian edition.

Additional bibliography (journal articles and book chapters) will be assigned for each seminar and published before the start of the course in Virtuale.

Teaching methods

The course adopts the so-called ‘Y-shaped’ teaching method: the course content is presented and discussed through a mix of lectures in which the entire class participates (with the use of slides, discussions and exercises in groups, for a total of 28 hours), and interactive seminars in which the class is divided into two groups to encourage interaction, direct participation and in-depth discussion of the texts (8 seminars for each group, for a total of 16 hours per group). During the seminars, students will be assigned group presentations, discussion exercises and critical analysis of the assigned texts.

Assessment methods

Attending students


- Written exam: one in-class written exam for attending students, worth 50% of the final grade. The exam consists of answering two open questions (chosen from a choice of three).
- Group presentation: each student will give a group presentation during seminar lectures on a topic matter chosen by the group and relevant to the course subject and to the texts and concepts that the course deals with. The presentation will determine 40% of the final grade.

To be considered an attending student, it is necessary to attend at least 16 lectures (out of 22 in total).


Non-attending students

During the examination session, non-attending students will have to hand in two essays of 2,500 words each, responding to two tracks to be chosen from a choice of six. The essay questions will be published on Virtuale one week before the corresponding date of the exam, by which time the papers must be submitted to the lecturer via the submission system on Virtuale.

Teaching tools

Additional teaching and reading material will be uploaded on Virtuale.

Office hours

See the website of Arianna Tassinari