39980 - Social Justice and Equity Studies

Learning outcomes

At the end of the course the students will be able to:

- carry out critical analyzes of social reality through the concept of social justice;

- Discriminate between the various theoretical approaches to equity and social justice;

-Apply sociological concepts related to social justice to concrete cases and empirical examples.

Course contents

The course aims to provide key knowledge about most important theories of social justice and equity. In particular the course focuses on political liberalism, communitarianism, contractualism, proceduralism, libertarian approaches.

Based on a thorough analysis of the theory of social justice (as fairness) of John Rawls, it will be presented and compared: the approach of capabilities economist A.Sen, the theory of M.Nussbaum, the theories of German sociologists J.Habermas (theory of deliberative democracy) and N.Luhmann (justice as procedure); the contributions of moral philosophers: A.MacIntyre, C.Taylor and A.Honneth; the contribution of social epidemiology, through the work of M.Powers and R.Faden and P.Farmer.

These theories will also be used in the analysis of complex social phenomena, especially in the area of health inequalities and social cohesion. A specific focus will be reserved to new systems of detection and measurement of well-being, in particular will be discussed and analyzed the twelve domains / dimensions of BES - Fair and Sustainable Wellbeing elaborated by ISTAT and CNEL: 1. Health; 2. Education and training; 3. Labour and conciliation lifetimes; 4. Material well-being; 5. Social Relationship; 6. Politics and institutions; 7. Security; 8. Subjective well-being; 9. Landscape and cultural heritage; 10. Environment; 11. Research and Innovation; 12. Services Quality.

Readings/Bibliography

Maturo A. (2012) (a cura di), Teorie sulla giustizia e l'equita'  sociale, FrancoAngeli, Milano.

Bassi A. (2008), Coesione sociale, disuguaglianze sociali e salute. Un confronto tra approcci neo-durkheimiani, neo-weberiani e neo-marxiani, in I. Colozzi (a cura di), La coesione Sociale: che cos'e'  e come si misura, in "Sociologia e Politiche Sociali", Vol. 11, n. 2, 2008, FrancoAngeli, Milano, pp. 81-110.

and two articles among the following:

Bassi A. (2012), Etiche religiose e lo spirito dei modelli di Welfare State in Europa, in Bassi A. e Pfau-Effinger B., (2012) (a cura di), Lo Spirito del Welfare, numero monografico della rivista “Sociologia e Politiche Sociali”, Vol. 15, n.3, 2012, pp. 11-20 , Franco Angeli, Milano.

Bassi A. (2015), Introduzione – Innovazione Sociale e Politiche di Welfare, in Bassi A. e Moro G., 2015, (a cura di), Politiche sociali innovative e diritti di cittadinanza, FrancoAngeli, Milano, p. 5-13.

Bassi A. (2016), La politica sociale: scenari e prospettive, in Corbisiero Fabio e Ruspini Elisabetta (a cura di) (2016), Sociologia del futuro. Studiare la società nel 21mo secolo, CEDAM, Padova, pp. 51-75.

Bassi A. (2016), Stato Sociale Relazionale, voce di dizionario in Terenzi P., Boccacin L. e Prandini R. (a cura di) (2016), Lessico della Sociologia Relazionale, Il Mulino, Bologna, pp. 315-320,

Bassi A. (2016), Welfare Society, voce di dizionario in Terenzi P., Boccacin L. e Prandini R. (a cura di) (2016), Lessico della Sociologia Relazionale, Il Mulino, Bologna, pp. 353-358,

Bassi A. (2016), Il vero, il bello e il giusto. Tre criteri relazionali per valutare la validità del discorso scientifico nelle scienze sociali, in “Sociologia e Politiche Sociali”, Vol. 19, N. 1, 2016, pp. 98 - 126;

Bassi A. (2016), Imparare aiutando. La pratica educativa del volontariato scolastico, in Angela Spinelli (2016) (a cura di), Manuale di formazione per il volontariato. Una prospettiva interdisciplinare, Franco Angeli, Milano, pp. 125-158.

Teaching methods

The course is based on lectures with the support of electronic devices and audio-visual.

Assessment methods

The final examination consist of a colloquium that aim to ascertain students' understanding of the arguments presented during lectures.  

Teaching tools

Video projector, PC, overhead projector.

Office hours

See the website of Andrea Bassi