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 media and migration. 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 first part of the course explores 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 the gap between reality and perceptions, this part of 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.

The second part of the course will focus on social innovation and responsibility.

Social innovation can be defined as a socio-cultural learning process that involves diverse forms of knowledge and types of actors. This kind of innovation originates from the aim of answering to emerging or unresolved social problems (for example: social inequalities, gender inequalities, housing or climate issues, social integration, etc.) and turns into a collective action promoted by local actors, supporting processes of empowerment and the creation of new social relations.

Such initiatives develop, in most cases, within an economic, social and political context of change, using endogenous and exogenous resources and, sometimes, they appear as forms of appropriation of physical and symbolic spaces, giving life to collaborative practices. Among the practices of social innovation, we can find, for example, bottom-up urban regeneration projects that support the short supply chain and social inclusion, as well as artistic projects that promote new forms of citizenship for asylum seekers, or networks of responsible tourism working on sustainable local development.

Secondly, taking into account the cultural global processes, along with the tension between global and local dimensions, the unit will stress on the emerging of responsible communities. The re-composing of the social ties of trust, thus contributes to the revival of innovative forms of collaboration, mostly aimed to rethink local development in a more responsible and sustainable way, in terms of both environmental and social point of views. Communities gathered around the responsible cultures of tourism and food will be primarily taken into consideration because of their direct link to both the global and the local dimension, in a perspective of mutual influence. The unit will end with a reflection on the role of digital technologies within these innovative processes.

 

Readings/Bibliography

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

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

Moralli M., Innovazione sociale. Pratiche e processi per ripensare le comunità. Franco Angeli, Milano, 2019

Spillare S., Cultura della responsabilità e sviluppo locale. La società globale e le culture responsabili del turismo e del cibo. Franco Angeli, Milano, 2019

One of the following books:

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

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

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

See the website of Stefano Spillare