11344 - Social Policy

Learning outcomes

The course aims to transmit the lexicon, concepts and basic definitions of social policies, introducing to the student the main interpretative models which studied the origin and evolution of different European welfare orders, with special reference to Italian welfare and its actual articulation. Secondly, the course intends to socialize the student to the knowledge of main socio-economic processes, which in recent times fostered deep transformations of social needs and risks; and to favour the analysis of experiences of institutional and organizational “recalibration” in the  case of the Italian welfare system.There is an amount of expected knowledge and abilities. First of all, it is expected that the student learns the lexicon and the specific terminology of social policies. Secondly, he/she is expected to know the main concepts and explanations referring to the main characteristics of welfare state systems, becoming able to outline the basic elements of the Italian social policies system. Thirdly, it is expected that he/she learns to single out and analyze the principal social phenomena which originate the transformation of needs and of contemporary social policies, referring to the specific Italian context.

Course contents

The course proposes an in-depht itinerary, articulated as follows: 

1)     The first part is intended to examine the processes which gave place to the beginning and consolidation of contemporary welfare systems. In particular, attention will be paid to the main ideas supporting the progressive consolidation of the modern social policies systems, intended to  protect citizens against life risks and against imbalances due to market regimes; and to institutional models historically experienced in European societies, analyzing differences among these latter.

2)     Secondly, the course proposes an analysis of the implementation of specific measures in the main intervention areas (social security, health, social work and work), focusing in particular on the transformation of social needs in connection with the changes of family structures, of labor markets and of demographic dynamics; and on main policy responses.

 3)     The third part of the course is devoted to research the meaning and scope of some recent transformations of the Italian welfare system, both at the social level and at the level of the organization of social policies. Attention will be paid in particular to intergenerational and gender changes, and to changes due to migrations. In conclusion, the course will examine the reform of Italian welfare, especially considering the emerging forms of governance and the partnership typologies centered on the integration between health care and social work.

Readings/Bibliography

The course is based on the study of the following texts, the knowledge of which will be tested during the exam. 

Prof. De Luigi's module:

• Thomas Humphrey Marshall, Cittadinanza e classe sociale, Laterza, Roma-Bari, 2002.
• At the beginning of the module, other documents aimed at completing and integrating the main text will be proposed to the students. 

Prof. Zurla's module: 

• Ugo Ascoli, Emmanuele Pavolini (2012), Ombre rosse. Il sistema di welfare italiano dopo venti anni di riforme, in “Stato e Mercato”, n. 3, pp. 429-464
• Paola Di Nicola, (2011), Welfare societario e diritti di cittadinanza, in "Autonomie locali e servizi sociali", n.2, pp. 199-212.
• Gosta Esping-Andersen, (2000), Interview on Postindustrialism and the future of the Welfare State, in Employment & Society, Vol. 14, No. 4, pp. 757-769
• Massimo Paci, (2008), Welfare, solidarietà sociale e coesione della società nazionale, in “Stato e mercato”, n.82, pp. 3-29.
• Chiara Saraceno, (2009), L'assistenza senza il Welfare, in “il Mulino”, n.4, pp.553-560.
• Giovanni B. Sgritta, (2007), Ancora su W. H. Beveridge: fu vera gloria?, in "Economia & lavoro", n. 2, pp. 233-240.
• Richard M. Titmuss (1974), What is social policy?, in Titmuss, Richard Morris, Brian Abel-Smith, and Kathleen Titmuss. Social policy, London: Allen & Unwin, (disponibile online su http://rszarf.ips.uw.edu.pl/welfare-state/titmuss.pdf) , pp. 23-32.
• Alessandro Martelli (2015), Oltre la sperimentazione? Dal Reddito minimo di inserimento alla Carta Acquisti Sperimentale per il contrasto alla povertà, in "Autonomie Locali e Servizi Sociali", n. 3, pp. 347-356.
• Maria Cecilia Guerra, Raffaele Tangorra (2015), Prove di Reddito minimo. La sperimentazione della nuova social card: disegno, attuazione, prospettive, in "Autonomie Locali e Servizi Sociali", n. 3, pp. 377-392.
• Marisa Anconelli, Alessandro Martelli, Stella Volturo (2015),La Carta Acquisti Sperimentale per la lotta alla povertà. Il caso di Bologna, in "Autonomie Locali e Servizi Sociali", n. 3, pp. 411-432.

It is suggested to read several lexicon from the Blackwell Encyclopedia of Sociology (http://www.sociologyencyclopedia.com/), in particular:

- Dean, Hartley. "Welfare Dependency and Welfare Underuse"

- Dominelli, Lena. "Social Services"

- Gangl, Markus. "Welfare State";

- Kangas, Olli E. "Welfare State, Retrenchment of";

- Kaufmann, Franz-Xaver. "Social Policy, Welfare State";

- Lessenich, Stephan. "Welfare Regimes"

Teaching methods

Lessons, seminars and group discussions.

The course will pay specific attention to concepts and definitions relating to social policies, so as to favour the knowledge of both the discipline and the code it uses in organizing its contents. During the lesson, multimedial instruments are to be used, along with statistic-descriptive materials (also in Internet) so that students learn to relate to data and empirical-documental materials.

N.B.: It is suggested to use specialized reviews (Autonomie locali e servizi sociali, Prospettive sociali e sanitarie, La Rivista delle politiche sociali, Sociologia e politiche sociali)  to enhance the knowledge of the relevant concepts and themes (the reviews can be found in Biblioteca centralizzata “R.Ruffilli” di Forlì and in biblioteca of Dipartimento di Sociologia).

Assessment methods

The exam is oral and the assessment evaluation will be expressed in thirtieths.

The evaluation of a sufficient level of learning will rest upon the attainment of lexicon, concepts and main definitions of social policies, along with the capacity to recognize and interpret the dynamics and characteristics of those social phenomena which produce main institutional and organizational transformations of actual social policies.

Teaching tools

Projector, overhead projector, PC

Links to further information

http://Eu, Oecd, Cnel, Istat, Ilo, WHO, Ministero del Lavoro e delle Politiche Sociali, Eurobarometro, Eurofound,

Office hours

See the website of Paolo Zurla

See the website of Nicola De Luigi