02512 - Sociology of Organisation

Learning outcomes

At the end of the course the students:

- know the main properties of the organizational and institutional processes - knows and knows how to use the most relevant sociological tools to analyze the processes of social organization, in the disparate spheres of social life

- know the main problems characterizing the environments and complex organizational processes, both in the public and private sphere

- are able to prepare and participate in investigative actions and understand the problems of organizational phenomena - have the skills to promote interventions and to (re) design in complex organizations

- master the problems of the relationships between actors and organizational processes in the life cycle of development projects and interventions in the socio-economic context.

Course contents

The course aims at:
a) providing an analytical instrumentation for the exploration and investigation of the logics of the social organization and of the processes of institutionalization;
b) providing an opportunity to learn and practice methods of investigation, intervention and design on the ground of those logical and those processes.

The course will be actively involved in the activities of the international project ROCK, Regeneration and Optimization of Cultural heritage in creative and Knowledge cities. Students will perform their field research exercise in relation to this project, presenting and discussing the results of that exercise in the classroom (see Italian website ; International website). Students will carry out their field research exercise in relation to this project, presenting and discussing the results of that exercise in the classroom.

Readings/Bibliography

Attending students:

O. de Leonardis, Le istituzioni, Carocci, 2011

G.F. Lanzara, Capacità negativa: competenza progettuale e modelli di intervento nelle organizzazioni Il Mulino (i capitoli da preparare saranno forniti a lezione)

[reading/consulting G. Semi, L'osservazione partecipante, Il Mulino, 2010 can help for the on field exercise]

Not attending students: they can choose among three alternative paths (articles are online accessible through the online Catalogue of journals [https://acnpsearch.unibo.it/] or, in case it's possible, directly dowloadable here):

1. Public action, institutions, and social innovation:

L. Bifulco, 2017, Social Policy and Public Action, Routledge;

L. Bifulco, 2017, Innovazione sociale e conoscenza: il ruolo dello Stato, in “La rivista delle politiche sociali”, n. 3 [testo da chiedere al docente].

 

2. Knowledge and social organization:

Borghi V., Giullari B., 2015, Astrazioni reali e immaginazione sociologica. Trasformazioni delle basi informative, pratiche sociali e orizzonti della ricerca, in “Rassegna italiana di sociologia”, 56(3-4);

Diaz-Bone R., Didier E., 2016, The Sociology of Quantification – Perspectives on an Emerging Field in the Social Sciences, in “Historical Social Research”, 41(2)

Espeland, W.N., M. Sauder, 2007, Rankings and Reactivity: How Public Measures Recreate Social Worlds, in “American Journal of Sociology”, 113(1);

Fourcade, M., Healy, K. (2013) Classification situations: Life-chances in the neoliberal era, in «Accounting, Organizations and Society», 38

Bruno, I., Didier, E. e T. Vitale, 2014 Statactivism: Forms of Action Between Disclosure and Affirmation, in «Partecipazione e Conflitto», 7(2).

3. Capitalism, global valuechains, foudational economy:

Borghi V., Dorigatti L., Greco L., 2017, Le catene del lavoro, Ediesse;

Mezzadra, S., B. Neilson (2017) On the multiple frontiers of extraction: excavating contemporary capitalism, in «Cultural Studies», online first

For all the students, we suggest reading (you can use English original versions):

W. Richard Scott, Le organizzazioni, Il Mulino, 2007;

Karl E. Weick, Senso e significato nell'organizzazione, Raffaello Cortina, 1997.

Teaching methods

- conventional frontal lessons;
- workshop activities: group research exercise; presentation and discussion in the classroom of the outcomes.

Assessment methods

Students have to submit a paper based on:

[for attending students:] the exercise on the ground, reread and deepened through the study of the exam texts;

[for non-attending students:] the analysis and discussion of the in-depth topics in the texts of one of the chosen paths.

The paper must be about 45 thousand signs (all included), with a 12 character and interline 1.5.


Evaluation method:

- ability to give an account and organize the exposition of the themes and issues covered by the paper (50%);
- ability to argue and define a thread of reasoning with which to cross the themes (30%);
- orthographic, syntactic correctness and, in general, the formal - organization of the elaborate (10%);
- construction of an own bibliographic repertoire, in addition to the exam texts (10%).


WARNINGS:

-ATTENTION: as long as Distance Teaching remains in force, the paper will be delivered in pdf and sent by email to the Professor;

- the paper can be considered as assessed starting from about 15 days after the delivery of the paper; at that moment, students can ask the teacher, always via email, to know the assessment;

- this timing can not be changed, even in the period preceding the end of the academic year;

- we do not accept the delivery of papers during the months of: July, February and (except for attending students) December;

-all those who have deadlines (scholarships, contests, etc.) must deliver the paper by the 15th of the month before the deadline.

Teaching tools

slides and other stuff available on IOL

Office hours

See the website of Vando Borghi