90899 - COMPARATIVE LABOUR MARKET POLICIES

Conoscenze e abilità da conseguire

The course aims to provide an overview of labor market policies, highlighting the main areas of intervention and the beneficiaries: employment protection legislation, income support, promotion of job opportunities and training, employment services. A comparative analysis of the evolution of labor policy regimes will be carried out with particular reference to current demographic, social and economic challenges, considering the influence of politics on labor market policies. At the end of the course the students will be able to: - have a knowledge of the main areas of intervention of labor market policies and their beneficiaries - identify and compare the different labor policy regimes - gain an expertise as regards to the definition and planning of active and passive labor market policies - recognize the current characteristics of the labor market and the employment system, the emerging risks and the related needs in terms of labor market policies - interpret the influence of politics in labor market policies

Contenuti

The aim of the course is to provide students with the theoretical, conceptual and analytical tools to read, interpret and understand the transformations of labour market policies in advanced capitalism, and the social, economic and political forces underlying their transformations. The course adopts a comparative perspective, in which the historical and contemporary evolution of labour policies in the context of advanced capitalist economies is analysed in relation to the broader macro-transformations of capitalism and of regimes of production and social reproduction between the 20th and 21st centuries. The course adopts an iterative approach between theoretical debates and the analysis of cases and empirical examples, also based on current events and trends, and aims at integrating in a transversal way a focus on the gender aspects of the issues addressed.

At the end of the course, the student: - possesses a competent knowledge of the main concepts useful for analysing labour policies, their historical evolution and their geographical variation in a comparative perspective; - possesses tools for analysing and understanding important phenomena relating to changes in the labour market and labour policies in the contemporary era, knowing how to interpret them in the light of different theoretical frameworks.

Testi/Bibliografia

A general reference text used for the course will be:

Clegg, D. and Durazzi, N. (eds.), (2023), Research Handbook of Labour Market Policy in Rich Democracies. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar.

Specific readings will be assigned for each week. The detailed course guide will be published on Virtuale; students are requested to always refer to the detailed course guide uploaded on Virtual for the exact schedule of topics covered in each lesson and the assigned readings.

 

Metodi didattici

The course contents are presented and discussed through lectures with a seminar format, in which moments of frontal explanation with the use of slides alternate with group discussions and students presentations. The teaching method is therefore interactive, focusing on collective discussion of questions, texts and concepts and group activities in class. Students are requested to always refer to the detailed course guide uploaded on Virtual for the exact schedule of topics covered in each lesson. For the course to run smoothly, it is essential that students complete the assigned readings for each lesson.

Modalità di verifica e valutazione dell'apprendimento

Attending students (frequentanti)

• In-class presentation (10%)
• Mid-term essay (1,200 parole) (40% of final grade)
• Final essay (2,500 parole) (50% of final grade)

Non-attending students (non frequentanti)

During the examination session, non-attending students are required to submit an essay of 4,000 words on a topic of their choice related to the topics covered in the course, agreeing the title in advance with the lecturer; the content of the essay and related topics will then be the subject of an oral discussion, following which the final grade will be awarded.

Strumenti a supporto della didattica

Reading materials and additional materials (blog posts, videos, news items) will be posted on Virtuale.

Orario di ricevimento

Consulta il sito web di Arianna Tassinari