82146 - Globalization And Capitalism

Learning outcomes

The course, after having proposed some theoretical-general interpretative grids on capitalism, intends to focus on the economic and social transformations that have characterized it since the crisis of its fordist and industrial development model. More specifically, the objective of the course is to provide students with some interpretative coordinates of social phenomena that qualify capitalism starting from the processes that globalization has entailed on the productive organization, on the valorisation processes and on the social experiences of work and new technologies of production. The theme of the diffusion of new social profiles of vulnerability and the phenomenon of occupational and social precariousness, are also areas of analysis and privileged reflection of the course. At the end of the course the student is able to understand and master the most important sociological concepts on capitalism and on the phenomena of globalization. In addition, the student recognizes and governs the key topics presented in the classroom and the topics advanced through the texts examined and possibly investigated with experts invited in the classroom. It has knowledge about the relationship between work and growing processes of social precariousness, between transformations of the labor market and crisis and welfare systems, between cognitive work, the service economy and new world production contexts.

Course contents

The course is organized on two main thematic topics. The first of these is dedicated to reconstructing, on a theoretical and methodological level, the concept of capitalism, a concept that too often is taken for granted and which we instead consider opportune to study in its conceptual and historical-social genealogy. We will try to answer some fundamental questions about that: what should we mean for capitalism? What are the structural characteristics of this economic and social organization model? What are the fundamental processes that through contemporary capitalism? How has the latter changed with respect to its previous industrial phase? What are its most stringent current critical issues?

This first axis of reflection then meets the themes of the second part of the course, dedicated to the conceptual reconstruction of the recent phenomena of spatialization of capitalism (globalization). In other words, the fundamental objective of the second part of the course will be to reflect about complexity of the lines of development starting from which the global space of contemporary capitalist society is breaking down and then recomposing itself. In particular, there will be two phenomena that will be placed at the center of the arguments of this part of the course: 1) the process of multiplication (of the shapes) of the work and 2) the formation of new rules of government of society that are organized starting from definition of new borders (which in turn produce and define new processes of differential inclusion). All this will be studied and investigated starting from what Mezzadra and Neilson can be called "border as method". The proliferation and the multiplication of new borders today draws new economic, social, subjective and geopolitical geographies that we will try to investigate, also in the light of migratory emergencies that cross and dramatically characterize the current European and global society.

Finally, the same topics will be analyzed in the classroom through the vision of films and documentaries that will provide important insights to deepen the social relevance of such phenomena. The proposal and the discussion in the classroom of the films will be proposed in collaboration with the expert of cinema and social history Domenico Guzzo.

Readings/Bibliography

First part of the course:

Harvey D., Marx e la follia del capitale, Feltrinelli, Milano, 2018.

Marazzi C., Che cos'è il plusvalore?, Casagrande, Bellinzona, 2016.

Second part of the course:

Mezzadra S., Neilson B., Confini e frontiere. La moltiplicazione del lavoro nel mondo globale, Il Mulino, Bologna, 2014.

The program of study for attending students could have some changes that will be communicated during the course by the teacher.

Teaching methods

The different sections of the course will be centered around lectures led by the theacher. Moreover, a seminar activity with experts and relevant scholar and several screenings will be planned.

At the methodological level, it is important to underline the pivotal role that will be played by paradigms and interpretative frameworks. Those tools are necessary to comprehend both problems and their analytical contents. Otherwise put, the students will be provided with transversal competencies for the understanding of sociology of labour. The goal, to conclude, is to build up with them a methodological tool-box.

Assessment methods

To evaluate the degree of students knowledge, for this teaching, the exam will be in written form.

Only for attending students two written partial tests are been scheduled. The final exam will also be in writing.

Teaching tools

Students will be able to find information and important teaching materials to support the course at the web spaces set up by the University for this purpose.

Office hours

See the website of Federico Chicchi