17270 - Sociology of Cultural and Communication Processes

Learning outcomes

The course will introduce students to examine the sociological dimension of culture, with particular reference to the issue related to identity in the contemporary society.

Course contents

The aim of the course is to describe and to analyse the different theories about sociology of culture, with particular reference to the relationship between media and power, the link between tourism and migration, within the wider process of globalisation. At the end of the course, the student will know the main paradigms to understand  the transformation of contemporary society, the role played by the global media industry, and the tools to analyze the cultural industries and the different aspect of consumer's culture. Moreover, the student will be able to apply those concepts to empirical cases and to interpret and analyse critically the media in the space where power strategies are played out.

The course will propose a general framework on the main theories on sociology of culture and communication, exploring the ethical aspects of the contemporary society, with particular focus on migration and tourism. More specifically, it addresses how the 'right to mobility' is represented by the media and the consequences of this representation on economics, politics and ethics.

Adopting the theoretical and analytic framework of sociological research, the course explores the different tensions and contradictions of the process of globalization and localization, intended as faces of the same coin. Focusing on the contemporary phenomena of tourism and migration, the course investigates how the space-time compression process of the last 50 years has created an exciting experience for some (tourists) and frustrating for others (migrants).

On the one hand, it will analyze the figure of the tourist and its symbolic practices, exploring the limits and potentials of a central phenomenon in our time. On the other hand, it will analyze how the right to migrate, though theorized since the eighteenth century by international philosophers and jurists as an essential factor in human development and for a cosmopolitan citizenship, remains the privilege of those who are at the top of the social hierarchy.

Moving from Bauman's distinction between tourists and vagrants, the course focuses on how the contemporary freedom of movement corresponds to policies and practices that mark both a physical, symbolic and ethical boundary.

Finally, it will analyze how the media contribute at framing contemporary borders, defining the status of those who cross them, while influencing our sense of responsibility towards the suffering others.

 

Readings/Bibliography

Griswold W., Sociologia della cultura, il Mulino, Bologna, 2005

D'Eramo M., Il selfie del mondo. Indagine sull'età del turismo, Feltrinelli, Milano, 2017

Wihtol de Wenden C., Il diritto di migrare, Ediesse, Roma 2015

Musarò P., Black Mirror: The National Anthem. Arte, media e dissoluzione della democrazia, in Between, vol. IV, n. 8, 2014, pp. 1-21

Musarò P., Diversamente umani: realtà e retorica dell’umanitarismo, in Musarò P, Parmiggiani P. (a cura di), Media e migrazioni: etica, estetica e politica della narrazione umanitaria, FrancoAngeli, Milano, 2014, pp. 43-61

Musarò P., Confine liquido, in Giordana E. (a cura di), Sconfinate. Terre di Confine e Storie di Frontiera, Rosenberg & Sellier, Torino, 2018, pp. 147 - 157

Musarò P., Taxi o ambulanze del mare? Politiche dell’immagine nella crisi dei migranti nel Mediterraneo, con Paola Parmiggiani, in Fausto Colombo e Maria Francesca Murru (a cura di), Iconismo e potere. Politiche dell’immagine nell’era digitale, Problemi dell'Informazione – 1/2018, pp. 87-113

One of the following books:

Bauman Z., Stranieri alle porte, Laterza, Bari, 2016

Abrahamian A. A., Cittadinanze in vendita, laNuovafrontiera, Roma, 2017

Sciortino G., Rebus immigrazione, il Mulino, Bologna, 2017

Only if you feel not prepared in Sociological theory, I suggest you to read:

Jedlowski Paolo, Il mondo in questione, Carocci, Roma, 2009, Cap. 1-7, 10-14.

Giddens A., Sutton P.W., Fondamenti di sociologia, il Mulino, Bologna, 2014, cap. 1-8, 10 e 13.

 

Teaching methods

A mix of lectures, seminars, collective discussion, student's presentations, documentaries and films on the issues of consumptiond and advertising, international cooperation, migration and social communication.

Assessment methods

Grades are based on a final discussion of the programme.

For the students who attend the course, the assessment will consider the participation, debate and group presentation during class discussion (30%) and two midterm exams (70%).

Requirements:

- to have understood the programme

- to be able to develop sociological inferences in an original way

- to be able to apply empirically the main concepts of sociology of culture

 

Teaching tools

Papers, films and documentaries, web sites, Pc.

Office hours

See the website of Pierluigi Musarò