89994 - Politics and Ideology of Culture (1) (LM)

Learning outcomes

The course aims to reconstruct the political significance of certain ideological-cultural constellations that have established themselves and are affirmed on a global level in modern and contemporary times. Every ideological-cultural constellation includes the elements through which individuals establish, evaluate, and affirm their own collective representations and knowledge with respect to others. Each of the historical constellations investigated is not only a discursive effect but is the product of the tension between the material constitution of society and its political representation, and is at the same time fundamental for the reproduction of society and the legitimization of its political organization. At the end of the course the student: - has acquired a historical knowledge of the political significance of ideological-cultural constellations - has acquired historical knowledge of the political effects of ideological discourse - has acquired historical knowledge of the political legitimacy function of culture - is able to evaluate its importance for the reproduction of society - it is able to analyse political action in relation to the ideologies and culture that legitimize it.

Course contents

The course aims to reconstruct the ideological-cultural constellation established by the critiques of social reproduction that have emerged since 1960s. From this moment onwards, in fact, the analyses of the reproduction of society become privileged places to investigate the reconfiguration of the relations of power and domination. Precisely for this reason, every discourse on reproduction always refers to the criticism of society itself. After a reconstruction of the history of the concept of critique, the course will be divided into three thematic blocks: a) the critique of the reproduction of capitalist society; b) the critique of the reproduction of cultural apparatuses and symbolic forms; c) the feminist critique of reproduction. The course will be structured as follows:

1) Critique and crisis: on the history of two political concepts

2) The Seventies: production and reproduction

3) Ideology and its criticism

4) Reproduction of cultural capital

5) Domination and forms of reproduction

6) The return of critical theory and the crisis of criticism

7) Sociology of criticism or critical theory

8) Alienation and reproduction

9) The male domination and its reproduction

10) Neoliberalism and criticism

11) Social criticism and artist criticism

12) Feminist criticism of reproduction

13) Reproduction as a production of the male domination

14) The Sexual reproduction of society

15) Final Discussion: For the criticism of social reproduction

Readings/Bibliography

1. Sul concetto di critica

Rahel Jaeggi, Il punto di vista della teoria critica. Riflessioni sulla rivendicazione di oggettività della teoria critica, in «Consecutio temporum», n. 7, 2014, pp. 1-16, disponibile all’indirizzo: http://www.consecutio.org/2014/12/il-punto-di-vista-della-teoria-critica-riflessioni-sulla-rivendicazione-di-oggettivita-della-teoria-critica-2/

L. Boltanski, Della critica. Compendio di sociologia dell’emancipazione, Torino, Rosenberg & Sellier, 2014.

R. Koselleck, Crisi. Per un lessico della modernità, Verona, Ombre Corte, 2012

Rahel Jaeggi, Che cos’è la critica dell’ideologia?, in Id. Forme di vita e capitalismo, Torino, Rosenberg & Sellier, 2016, pp. 61-89..

2. Critica della società del capitale

L. Althusser, Lo Stato e i suoi apparati, Roma, Editori Riuniti, 1997.

Rahel Jaeggi, che cosa c’è (se c’è qualcosa) di sbagliato nel capitalismo? Tre strategie della critica, in Id., Forme di vita e capitalismo, Torino, Rosenberg & Sellier, 2016, pp. 91-118.

Rahel Jaeggi, Alienazione, Roma, EIR, 2015.

L. Boltanski - Eve Chiapello, Il nuovo spirito del capitalismo, Milano, Mimesis, 2014, (the chapters agreed with the teacher).

A. Honneth, Reificazione. Sulla teoria del riconoscimento, Milano, Meltemi, 2019.

3. Critica della riproduzione culturale e simbolica della società

P. Bourdieu, Homo academicus, Bari, Dedalo, 2013

P. Bourdieu, La riproduzione: per una teoria dei sistemi di insegnamento, Rimini, Guaraldi, 2006

J. Rancière, La partizione del sensibile. Estetica e politica, Roma, DeriveApprodi, 2016.

J Rancière, Lo spettatore emancipato, Roma, DeriveApprodi, 2018.

J. Rancière, Le philosophe et ses pauvres, Paris, Flammarion, 2007.

P. Bourdieu, Il dominio maschile, Milano, Feltrinelli, 2014.

4. Critica femminista della riproduzione sociale

Tithi Bhattacharya, Introduction: Mapping Social Reproduction Theory e How Not to Skip Class: Social Reproduction of Labor and the Global Working Class, entrambi in Tithi Bhattacharya (ed), Social Reproduction Theory. Remapping Class, Recentering Oppression, London, Pluto Press, 2017, rispettivamente alle pp. 1-20 e 68-93

Cinzia Aruzza, Functionalist, Determinist, Reductionist: Social Reproduction Feminism and its Critics, in «Science & Society», Vol. 80, No. 1, January 2016, 9–30.

Isabella Bakker – S. Gill, Ontology, Method and Hypotheses, Isabella Bakker – S. Gill (eds) Power, Production and Social Reproduction, Houndsmills, Basingstoke - New York, Palgrave Macmillan, 2003, pp. 17-41.

Danièle Kergoat, Dynamique et consubstantialité des rapports sociaux, in Elsa Dorlin (ed), Sex, Race, Classe: pour une épistémologie de la domination, Paris, Puf, 2009, pp. 111-125.

Roberta Ferrari, Donne, migrazioni, confini, in S. Mezzadra – M. Ricciardi (eds), Movimenti indisciplinati. Migrazioni, migranti e discipline scientifiche, Verona, ombre corte, 2013, pp. 29-49.

Chandra Talpade Mohanty, Sotto gli occhi dell’Occidente, in Id., Femminismo senza frontiere. Teoria, differenze, conflitti, Verona, ombre corte, 2012, pp. 29-62.

Nancy Fraser, Contradictions of Capital and Care, in «New Left Review», 110, 2016, pp. 99-117.

Paola Rudan, Donna. Storia e critica di un concetto polemico, Bologna, Il Mulino, 2020.

Raffaella Baritono, «Dare conto dell’incandescenza». Uno sguardo transatlantico (e oltre) ai femminismi del lungo ’68, in «Scienza & Politica. Per una storia delle dottrine, 30, n. 59, dic. 2018, pp. 17-40. Disponibile all'indirizzo: <https://scienzaepolitica.unibo.it/article/view/8900/8832 >

Teaching methods

Due to the restrictions imposed by the current health emergency, teaching will be carried out in a didactic manner:


Traditional: the teacher will always be present in the classroom designated for teaching, students will alternate in attendance according to a schedule of shifts being defined (more detailed information about the shift and how to access the lesson in attendance will be provided later). It will always be possible to connect remotely and follow live streaming of lessons in the classroom via TEAMS platform, lectures and seminar discussions.

Assessment methods

Given the seminar character of the laboratory, attendance is strongly recommended.

1) Attending students
Attending students can write a paper of at least 2500 words on a topic agreed with the teacher and based both on the references listed in the reading list and on further bibliographical references that emerged during the lessons. Students can discuss the topic of the paper with the teacher in class, during the office hours (via Teams or in presence) or via email. Alternatively they can take an oral exam after having agreed on the program with the teacher.

2) Non-attending students

Students who do not attend can agree with the teacher during the office hours (via Teams or in presence) on a path within the thematic blocks indicated in the bibliography. They can then opt for the presentation of a paper of at least 3000 words.

All papers must be delivered at least one week before the institutional exam date.

Office hours

See the website of Maurizio Ricciardi