97284 - SOCIOLOGIA DELLE TRASFORMAZIONI ECONOMICHE E DEL LAVORO

Learning outcomes

Learning outcomes - At the end of the course the student: - possesses knowledge and analytical skills with respect to the most recent transformations of the production system, the governance of labor and its main regulatory forms, the employment system, the characteristics of the emerging production sectors, the training needs, the social criticalities related to them.

Course contents

The course aims to delve into and analyze the study of the most recent transformations in labor and industrial relations in a post-wage context. Addressing the crisis of labor statutes means examining the emerging aspects of the productive context (cognitivization, entrepreneurialization, and platformization of labor) within which value extraction occurs today. Promoting and guiding labor policies must now, consequently, mean understanding what has been termed the digital revolution of the economy and its new business models more specifically. The sharing economy, platform economy, gig economy, digital labor, etc., are all key concepts that will be analyzed to attempt to account for what Antonio Casilli has recently described as the emergence of a new generalized regime of "marchandage." This concept indicates how the decline of the wage labor contract, closely linked to the Fordist enterprise model, makes possible, on one hand, the emergence of new types of labor activities that blur the line between the sphere of production and the sphere of social reproduction, and on the other hand, the reappearance of forms of buying and selling and renting labor services that seemed to have been definitively surpassed. The centrality of the sphere of social reproduction in the processes of valorization will also be discussed, starting from feminist and post-colonial reflections on the topic. This reflection is indispensable for attempting to understand the logic of labor exploitation in late capitalism.

Readings/Bibliography

- Casilli, A. (2020) Schiavi del clic. Perché lavoriamo tutti per il nuovo capitalismo?, Feltrinelli.

- Chicchi F. e Simone A. (2022), Il soggetto imprevisto. Neoliberalizzazione, pandemia e società della prestazione, Meltemi.

- Gago V. (2023), Neoliberalismo dal basso. Economie barocche e pragmatica popolare, Tamu edizioni.

An accessory bibliography will be provided for students attending the course. The student can, in agreement with the teacher, replace parts of the texts presented above with personal in-depth proposals.

Teaching methods

The course is mainly based on the teacher's lectures. However, part of the course will be organized in order to facilitate classroom discussion and the organization of working groups, through which to support the deepening of the issues. The presentation in class of the projects of the groups will have a weight in the overall student evaluation. During the course multimedia supports will be used and documentaries and / or films concerning the course topics, will be viewed and discussed.

Assessment methods

The learning assessment will be in oral form.

If the student actively attends the course, a first part of the evaluation will depend on the student performance in an exam at the end of the course, a second part of the evaluation will instead depend on the quality of the presentations (and subsequent debate) of the activities carried out and managed by the working groups shaped during the course under the coordination of the teacher.

Teaching tools

To support the lessons, the teacher will often use multimedia tools available in the classrooms where the lessons will be held. Finally, some complementary teaching materials will be made available to the students on the dedicated portal unibo.

Office hours

See the website of Federico Chicchi