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 two parts.

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.

Particular attention will be paid to empirical research methodologies and their possible applications in the legal field, with the integration of material that may be distributed in class.

B) In the second part of the course, sociological aspects typical of the Italian labour market will be analysed with particular attention to the perspective of the transformation, tertiarisation and regulation of Italian labour with reference to the following issues
- unemployment (analysing the figures of the employed, the unemployed and the inactive and addressing issues such as unemployment in the two Italies, youth unemployment, intellectual unemployment, and long-term unemployment);
- women's participation in employment (focusing on the so-called "double presence at home and at work", on the feminisation of labour demand and on the age-old problem of gender segregation);
- trends in labour demand with particular reference to the process of tertiarisation, the system of labour market flexibility and atypical and temporary jobs;
- labour flexibility and unstable occupations;
- undeclared employment and double jobs, (from irregular employment to the phenomenon of undeclared work);
- immigrants in the Italian labour market (tracing the evolution of migration flows in Europe and attempting to answer the question of whether immigrants are competitors, complementary or substitutes for Italian workers).

Readings/Bibliography

Necessary readings:

Part A.

For students not attending the course: R. Treves, Sociologia del diritto, Einaudi, Torino, whatever edition, excluding par. 15, 17, 18, 25 and 27, 29, 30, and chaps. VI, VIII and X.

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. For everybody:

E. Reyneri, Introduzione alla sociologia del mercato del lavoro, Il Mulino, Bologna, 2017, excluding chapt. III, V and VI.

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 and collected, assigned in order to keep student participation alive, together with a final quiz useful for student self-assessment.

In order to attend the classes in presence, students must register previously at https://presente.unibo.it [https://presente.unibo.it/], on a bi-weekly basis. Otherwise, like last year, the possibility is given of attending the classes online.

Attending classes is not necessary to be examined, but only students who attended at least the 70% of the classes, either in presence or online, will be admitted to 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 part 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

- the preparation and presentation to the class of one presentation (e.g., using powerpoint) on the topics of part B.

The final grade (with 30 cum laude as a maximum mark) will be determined balancing the results obtained in every step of the exam.

Students must take the Private Law and Constitutional law exams before taking this exam.

Teaching tools

The teacher will use powerpoint slides 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