Sociology Through a discussion of the main theoretical problems faced by the Durkheimian sociological tradition, the course aims at giving to students the knowledge of the mechanisms through which social order is constituted, reproduced and changed. Moreover, the course wants to transfer to students the skills necessary to understand and analyze the roles played by social structures towards subjects, deepening in particular those aspects concerning the influences exercised by different forms of cultural belongings and social memberships over the constitution of individuals identity. At the end of the course, students are expected to elaborate autonomous analysis and judgements about different cultural and social processes and their profound impact on the life of individuals.
After having presented the main features of Durkheimian sociology, the course will focus on two of the most original innovators of this theoretical tradition, i. e. Erving Goffman and Pierre Bourdieu. On one hand, drawing on Goffman, we will discuss the social processes of construction of individuality and those regarding the ritual order of social interaction. On the other hand, drawing on Bourdieu, we will take into consideration concepts such as those of habitus, fields, symbolic capital and symbolic violence.
Prerequisites:
To fully understand the contents of the course it is not requested any particular knowledge, except some general notions of history of modern and contemporary philosophy.
CONTENTS:
Émile Durkheim
What is social order? The Durkheim's answer
Social sanctions and moral sanctions
The coercive nature of social facts and the role of emotions regarding social solidarity
Civil society, the State, and social solidarity
Religion, rituality and social solidarity
Erving Goffman
Being individual as a social fact;
the ritual construction of individuality: the face-work;
deference and demeanor as forms of self construction;
the ritual order and the social construction of reality;
the interaction order as a sui generis form of social order.
Pierre Bourdieu
The objectivism/subjectivism dilemma;
the interiorization of the social: the concept of habitus;
the exteriorization of the social: the concept of field;
the forms of capital: culture, economics, society symbols;
social order, social injustice and symbolic violence.
| Author | Title | Publisher | Year | ISBN | Note |
| Bourdieu P. | Campo del potere e campo intellettuale | Manifestolibri | 2002 | SOLO pp. 51-82 | |
| Goffman E. | Il rituale dell'interazione | Il Mulino | 1988 | Solo i primi tre capitoli: Giochi di faccia; La natura della deferenza e del contegno; Imbarazzo e organizzazione sociale | |
| Goffman E. | La vita quotidiana come rappresentazione | Il Mulino | 1997 | SOLO pp. 95-164 | |
| Durkheim É. | Le forme elementari della vita religiosa | Meltemi | 2005 | SOLO pp. 243-297 | |
| Durkheim É. | Le regole del metodo sociologico. Sociologia e Filosofia | Edizioni di Comunità | 1996 | SOLO pp. 23-57 e pp. 165-206 | |
| Durkheim É. | Lezioni di sociologia | Etas | 1973 | SOLO pp. 91-100 | |
| Goffman E. | L'ordine dell'interazione | Armando | 1998 | SOLO pp. 95-164 | |
| Bourdieu P. | Meditazioni pascaliane | Feltrinelli | 1998 | SOLO pp. 135-216 | |
| Bourdieu P., Wacquant L. J. D. | Risposte. Per un’antropologia riflessiva | Bollati Boringhieri | 1992 | SOLO pp. 66-135 | |
| Bourdieu P. | The forms of capital. In: J. Richardson, (ed.) Handbook of Theory and Research for the Sociology of Education | Greenwood. | 1986 |
The final exam will consist of a written test. The candidate will have to answer to 4 open questions in 2 hours of time. Three questions will deal with the topics presented and discussed during the course. The fourth question will try to elicit the critical analysis skills of the candidates. More clearly, the students will be asked to provide a personal reflection on some topics treated during the course (a comparison, a critical comment, an empirical exemplificaton, etc.)
EVALUATION CRITERIA:
- the degree of comprehension of the discipline;
- the degree of comprehension of the single concepts;
- the capacity of presenting theoretical problems;
- the mastery of the disciplinary lexicon;
- the capacity to connect different topics;
- The capacity to provide powerful empirical exemplification of the theoretical concepts discussed.
