04718 - Social Anthropology (A-L)

Learning outcomes

At the end of the course, the student will master the main lines of the history of social anthropology and he will acquire a critical knowledge of the anthropological paradigms aimed at studying inequality and social exclusion. Besides, he will master the anthropological debate on Anthropocene.

Course contents

The course described here is intended for students of the Anthropology, Religions, Oriental Civilizations degree program and the History degree program whose last name is between the letters A and L (NO EXCEPTIONS ARE POSSIBLE, therefore email exchanges on this point are to be avoided). For students in the History degree program (6-credit exam), the exam focuses on a single module of their choice.
The course is divided into two modules. For students with 12 credits, the exam cannot be split and must be taken as a single exam.

Starting from an analysis of power relations between subordinate groups and dominant classes, the course will explore several areas of social and urban anthropology with a focus on racism, processes of segregation/marginality, and the production of specific street cultures. Furthermore, the topic of tourism, the economic and urban transformations associated with it, and the resulting problems, including the expulsion of low-income citizens from historic centers, will be addressed.

Through the consideration of research and ethnographies conducted in different contexts (Chicago, New York, Palermo, Paris), the following themes will be addressed: 1) urban innovation and transformation; 2) exclusion and street cultures; 3) inequality and the criminalization of poverty; 3) the rise of the tourism industry and urban/economic transformations. Overall, the proposed ethnographies address, from an anthropological perspective, the issues of racism, inequality, and urban segregation in the current era in which these issues are often addressed through security-based, racist, and criminalizing policies.

Readings/Bibliography

There are no program differences between attending and non-attending students.

First module, two texts to choose from:

Bourgois P. 2005. Cercando rispetto. Drug economy e cultura di strada. Derive Approdi.

D'Eramo M. 2020. Il maiale e il grattacielo. Chicago: una storia del nostro futuro. Feltrinelli.

Fava F. 2008. Lo Zen di Palermo. Antropologia dell’esclusione. Franco Angeli.

Scott, James C. 2006. Il dominio e l'arte della resistenza. Elèuthera

 

 

Second module, two texts to choose from:

D'Eramo M. 2022. Il selfie del mondo: Indagine sull'età del turismo da Mark Twain al Covid-19. Feltrinelli.

Fassin D. 2013. La forza dell'ordine. Antropologia della polizia nelle periferie urbane. La Linea.

Sopranzetti C. 2020. La fragilità del potere. Mobilità e mobilitazione a Bangkok. Meltemi.

Wacquant L. 2002. Anima e corpo. La fabbrica dei pugili nel ghetto nero americano. DeriveApprodi (N.B.: This text is out of print and available in libraries. See: https://opac.sbn.it/).

 

 

Teaching methods

Lessons will be frontal and occasionally the teacher will use audiovisual material to give more concreteness to the topics discussed. Students will be solicited to ask questions and open up debates on the issues addressed in the course.

Assessment methods

The exam is written and will be held in computer labs. Students with 12 cfu will have two hours to answer four questions, one for each text chosen, students with 6 cfu will have one hour for 2 questions.

Students will have to prove to be able to contextualize the texts, to place them within the history of discipline and to reconstruct their theoretical frameworks. The program is the same both for students attending classes as well as for the non-attending ones.

Teaching tools

The teacher will occasionally use audio-visual sources (documentaries, maps and photos).

Students who require specific services and adaptations to teaching activities due to a disability or specific learning disorders (SLD), must first contact the appropriate office: https://site.unibo.it/studenti-con-disabilita-e-dsa/en/for-students .

Office hours

See the website of Luca Jourdan