The course of Political Sociology is aimed to the study of the social bases of politics and to own the instruments which are useful to understand and interpret the multiple and mutual influences between Politics and Society. One of the first basic concepts we will focus on is “political culture”, after which we will analyze the debatable - and debated - notion of “amoral familism”, that is how pioneering comparative research described Italians’ political culture in the aftermath of the Second World War. Another key-concept is “political participation”: we will see its various forms and the variables capable of “determining” it, and later on we will critically concentrate on the space and meaning it keeps inside the democratic context. Focusing on the transformations of the forms, but of the nature as well, of political engagement will lead us to introduce the debate around the evolutions of democracy. We will then focus on the institutions which provide the mediation of the demands from society toward Government: political parties, social movements and interest/pressure groups. We will dedicate attention to the debate on the theories of social regulation at the light of changes introduced by a new context, marked by processes of globalization. At last, facing the concepts of political socialization and of generation, we will start the analysis on young people and on theit relationship with adult generations in Italy in comparative perspective. This theme will be analyzed at first by introducing the most important research literature since the sixties, in order to arrive then to the most recent research and debate. Students will also have the opportunity to take part in a collective class exercise consisting in the planning and development of a research project focused on the theme of young people’s approach to politics. This will be aimed both to encourage a critical rethinking of theories and concepts introduced during the course, and to stimulate an exercise of translation of these concepts into research questions, in order to sharpen their methodological skills.

• The discipline’s origins and aims
• Political engagement: main typologies, forms of activism, models of explanations (why do(n’t) people engage and who actually engages?)
• Political engagement and democracy
• Political parties: definition, party models, perspectives of study
• Social movements: definition and perspectives of study
• Interest and pressure groups
• Political culture: definition and application to the Italian case in comparative perspective. The debate around the notion of “amoral familism”.
• Theories of social regulation and globalization processes;
• Political socialization and generational change: the younger generations according to sociological literature and in today debate.
• Class exercise: research project about younger generations and politics (more detailed objectives and research design will be define as a part of the class work).

Students will have to show their knowledge of the main theoretical perspectives concerning Political Sociology and their ability to critically analyze fundamental study objects of the discipline, such as Parties, social movements, interest/pressure groups and so on and concepts (political engagement, political culture and so on). The course is also aimed to give the students a series of instruments of analysis and interpretation of complex socio-political facts which are different from those of the journalistic debate since they result from comparative and long-period research and so they prove more useful to a serious and in-depth analysis of political systems and social trends. At last, through the class exercise, students will be able to acquire and sharpen methodological skills concerning the planning and the development of a socio-political research project (planning of the research design and definition of the research goals, development of survey instruments, conducting and analyzing interviews and interpreting results at the light of existing reasearch's achievements).

The teaching material prepared by the lecturer in addition to recommended textbooks (such as for instance slides, lecture notes, exercises, bibliography) and communications from the lecturer specific to the course can be found inside the Moodle platform › blended.uniurb.it

Class debate and collective research project on the theme of younger generations.

Teaching

Attendance to lectures and participation in class debates, (optional) participation to class exercise (reserch project).

Attendance

Attendance at at least three quarters of the lectures.

Course books

Bibliographies in English or French will be defined in agreement with each student according to her/his study interests.

Assessment

Oral exam

Disability and Specific Learning Disorders (SLD)

Students who have registered their disability certification or SLD certification with the Inclusion and Right to Study Office can request to use conceptual maps (for keywords) during exams.

To this end, it is necessary to send the maps, two weeks before the exam date, to the course instructor, who will verify their compliance with the university guidelines and may request modifications.

Attendance

Study of bibliography (defined in agreement with the lecturer).

Course books

Bibliographies in English or French will be defined in agreement with each student according to her/his study interests.

Assessment

Oral exam.

Disability and Specific Learning Disorders (SLD)

Students who have registered their disability certification or SLD certification with the Inclusion and Right to Study Office can request to use conceptual maps (for keywords) during exams.

To this end, it is necessary to send the maps, two weeks before the exam date, to the course instructor, who will verify their compliance with the university guidelines and may request modifications.