POLITICAL CONCEPTS AND METHODS

The course is a "characterizing" one in the domain of Political Science of the MA program in Comparative International Relations (RIC) for the curricula in America, East Asia studies, and Eastern European studies. It aims to provide students with an in-depth knowledge of political theory. Nonetheless, the course has not only the goal to provide students with an understanding of the primary and secondary bibliography related to the subject-matters, because it also aims to frame the social, political and cultural changes in the modern and contemporary world in the light of the fundamental political concepts.

By the end of the course, the students should be able to 1) understand the meaning and the scope of the concepts discussed during the course; 2) get a snapshot of the modern and contemporary political vocabulary; 3) understand the methods by which these concepts have been obtained; 4) reflect critically and autonomously about them; 5) apply them to the different economic, political and cultural issues that animate our contemporary world. In order to achieve this result, the students will be familiarized with the basic aspects of the philosophico-political field and the main theoretical and interpretive traditions which have accompanied it.

Admission criteria are those required by the study programme LM60.

Course Topic:
What is Power? A Contemporary Perspective

The course will focus on the topics of power, domination and the state, dwelling on how they have been discussed from the beginning of the modern age to the present day. What will also be investigated is the relationship between the different articulations of power (economic, social, political) and the structuring of society, so as to highlight the functional and normative aspects that are associated with them.

Textbooks (provisional list):
M. Haugaard, Power: A Reader, Manchester University Press, Manchester 2002.
Steven Lukes, Il potere. Una visione radicale, Vita e pensiero, Milano 2007.
Alessandro Roncaglia, Il potere. Una prospettiva riformista, Laterza, Roma-Bari 2023.

Textbooks:
M. Haugaard, Power: A Reader, Manchester University Press, Manchester 2002.
Steven Lukes, Il potere. Una visione radicale, Vita e pensiero, Milano 2007.
Alessandro Roncaglia, Il potere. Una prospettiva riformista, Laterza, Roma-Bari 2023.

The following list does not cover the textbooks. It covers some texts I could mention during the lectures.

J. Habermas, Solidarietà fra estranei, trad. it. di L. Ceppa, Guerini, Milano 1997.
J. Habermas, Teoria dell'agire comunicativo, trad. it di P. Rinaudo, il Mulino, Bologna 1986, 2 voll.
Th. Hobbes, Leviatano, ed. it. di A. Pacchi, Laterza, Roma-Bari 2014.
H. Kelsen, Lineamenti di dottrina pura del diritto, ed. it. a cura di M. G. Losano, Einaudi, Torino 1966.
N. Luhmann, Potere e complessità sociale, trad. it. di R. Schmidt e D. Zolo, il Saggiatore, Milano 2010.
J. Rawls, Una teoria della giustizia, ed. it. di S. Maffettone, Feltrinelli, Milano 1983.
J.J. Rousseau, Contratto sociale, in Id., Scritti politici, ed. it. a cura di M. Garin, Laterza, Roma-Bari 1994.
M. Weber, Economia e società, ed. it. a cura di P. Rossi, Edizioni di Comunità, Torino 1986.

As in the previous academic years, the exam will be oral. It will be structured in the following manner: students are required to answer four questions related to the contents developed within the course and the textbooks. Furthermore, the questions will be aimed to test the understanding of the conceptual contents and to develop the capacity to reflect critically on them. In order to pass the exam, at least three questions must be answered. The exam takes about twenty-five minutes.
The textbooks and the assessment methods are not different for non attending students. The latter are, though, invited to contact me (via email) in order to get an overview of the course.

The teaching will be delivered in a frontal style, but the student participation will be encouraged and an interactive classroom strategy will be developed.

Italian

At the end of the course, I will be available to provide students with a list of instructions about how to write an essay or an MA thesis.

oral

This subject deals with topics related to the macro-area "Human capital, health, education" and contributes to the achievement of one or more goals of U. N. Agenda for Sustainable Development