ECONOMIC SOCIOLOGY

The course introduces the students to the key themes, concepts and theoretical perspectives of economic sociology and contributes to the acquisition of a basic sociological culture that fosters an understanding of the dynamics of contemporary societies. Thus, the course aims at providing basic knowledge useful for understanding economic facts as social facts.

At the end of the course students:
- Are familiar with the main terms and concepts used in classical sociology for the study of economic processes and in particular for understanding the rise of capitalism;
- Are familiar with the main themes and concepts used in the "new economic sociology";
- Are able to understand the main interpretative categories of the discipline;
- Are able to use the fundamental concepts to study and to understand sociological researches;
- Are able to analyse and discuss contemporary problems investigated by sociologists, with particular attention to socio-economic phenomena;
- Are familiar with and able to identify phenomena related to social and economic innovation.

It is suggested that students have basic knowledge of sociological theories (or are familiar with the basic concepts and theoretical approaches of sociology).

Three parts form the course.
The first part of the course introduces the main notions useful for the analysis of contemporary economic problems and explores the main themes and approaches of classical economic sociology. In this part, the focus is on the theme of the economy as an institutional process and on the concept of embeddedness of economic processes in social systems (with particular attention to the work of Weber, Polanyi and Schumpeter).
The second part of the course focuses on the recent development of economic sociology, with particular attention to structuralist approach of Granovetter and Coleman and to new sociological institutionalism (Powell and DiMaggio).
The third and final part of the course is dedicated to topics that have dominated the research agenda of economic sociologists in recent years, especially to study of social construction of economic innovation.
The arguments of the three parts of the course will be directly applied to the analysis of the phenomenon of collaborative spaces (coworking, creative hubs, living labs) through workshops and exercises.

Carlo Trigilia, Economic Sociology: State, Market, and Society in Modern Capitalism, Blackwell Publishing
Other papers will be suggested during classes.

The exam covers:
- The understanding of the main themes, concepts, theories and empirical elements discussed during the course;
- The ability to explain clearly key elements and concepts of historical and contemporary debates on economic processes from a sociological perspective;
- The ability to apply concepts and theories to real and concrete cases;
- The ability to critically discuss questions and problems.

For attending students:
Written exam with open questions (50%) and evaluation of the work(s) done during the course (presentations, participation in discussions, written exercises) (50%).
For non-attending students:
Written exam with open questions (70%) and oral exam (30%).

The course will be based on lectures and workshops
During the plenary lessons, the main themes, concepts and theories will be introduced also with the use of PowerPoint presentations and different documents (photos, videos, etc.). Here, the professor is available to answer general questions about the course content, study materials, examination methods, etc.
For the workshop/laboratory meetings, students will be organised into small groups and they will have to explore and apply concepts and present their main outputs in dialogue with the professor. The workshops are designed to aid understanding, stimulate critical analysis and discussion of contemporary issues and problems in the light of the theoretical and empirical contribution of economic sociology.

English

written and oral

This subject deals with topics related to the macro-area "Circular economy, innovation, work" and contributes to the achievement of one or more goals of U. N. Agenda for Sustainable Development