2. Professors
  3. CAVALCA Guido Gabriele Giacomo
  4. Teaching

SOCIOLOGY OF WORK AND ORGANIZATIONS

Guido Gabriele Giacomo CAVALCA SOCIOLOGY OF WORK AND ORGANIZATIONS

0312300062
DIPARTIMENTO DI STUDI POLITICI E SOCIALI
EQF6
SOCIOLOGY
2021/2022

YEAR OF COURSE 3
YEAR OF DIDACTIC SYSTEM 2019
SPRING SEMESTER
CFUHOURSACTIVITY
640LESSONS
GUIDO GABRIELE CAVALCA T Curriculum
Objectives
THE COURSE AIMS AT GIVING STUDENTS AN INTRODUCTION TO THE SOCIOLOGY OF WORK AND AN IN-DEPTH KNOWLEDGE OF THE MAIN THEORIES, NOT ONLY IN THE SOCIOLOGICAL AREA, ON ORGANIZATIONS.
THE COURSE ASPIRES TO GIVE STUDENTS THE NECESSARY KNOWLEDGE TO UNDERSTAND THE MEANING AND THE ROLE OF WORK IN CONTEMPORARY SOCIETIES AND IN THE HISTORY OF CAPITALISM, BUT ALSO THE FUNCTIONING OF THOSE ORGANIZATIONS WHICH STRUCTURE WORK ACTIVITIES. MOREOVER, THE COURSE INTRODUCES EMPIRICAL RESEARCH ON WORK AND ORGANISATIONS, EMPLOYING THE DISCUSSED THEORETICAL APPROACHES. THE COURSE FACES THE SOCIAL ROLE OF WORK AND ITS TRANSFORMATION THROUGH THE DIFFERENT PERIODS OF CAPITALISM, DELVING INTO THE DIFFERENCES BETWEEN FORDIST AND POST-FORDIST PHASES AND INTERPRETING THE PRINCIPAL QUESTIONS OF CONTEMPORARY WORK AMONG TECHNOLOGICAL AND SOCIAL INNOVATION, THE RESISTANCE OF TRADITIONAL MODELS OF WORK ORGANISATION AND NEW FORMS OF EXPLOITATION.
CONTEMPORARY SOCIETY SHOWS CHANGES AND CONTRADICTIONS THAT MAKE IT COEXISTING AUTONOMY AND ACTIVATION OF SOCIAL ACTORS, ON THE ONE SIDE, AND OLD AND NEW FORMS OF EXPLOITATION, ON THE OTHER; MOREOVER, EXTREMELY HIERARCHIC AND VERTICAL ORGANISATIONS, ON THE ONE SIDE, AND DE-STRUCTURED ORGANISATIONAL MODELS AND SELF-MANAGED ACTIVITIES.
THE COURSE WILL ENCOURAGE THE IMPROVEMENT OF STUDENTS’ CAPABILITIES TO COMMUNICATE LEARNING CONTENTS THROUGH THE DISCUSSION ON SPECIFIC ISSUES. THE COURSE AIMS ALSO TO HELP STUDENTS’ LEARNING ABILITIES, ENCOURAGING, ON THE ONE HAND, TEXTS READING – NOT ONLY TEXTBOOKS BUT ALSO THEORETICAL ESSAYS AND ARTICLES ABOUT WORK AND ORGANISATIONS – AND, ON THE OTHER HAND, CRITICAL DISCUSSIONS ON THOSE CONTENTS.

KNOWLEDGE AND COMPREHENSION
AT THE END OF THE COURSE STUDENTS SHOULD BE FAMILIAR WITH THE MAIN THEORETICAL AND METHODOLOGICAL APPROACHES; THEY SHOULD ALSO BE ABLE TO UNDERSTAND SCIENTIFIC PAPERS ON LABOUR, EMPLOYMENT, AND ORGANIZATIONS AND TO COMPARE DIFFERENT THEORIES ON SPECIFIC ISSUES.

CAPACITY TO EMPLOY KNOWLEDGE AND COMPREHENSION
AT THE END OF THE COURSE STUDENTS SHOULD BE ABLE TO USE THOSE THEORIES OF LABOUR SOCIOLOGY AND ORGANIZATIONS DISCUSSED DURING THE COURSE TO AUTONOMOUSLY EXPLAIN LABOUR AND ORGANIZATIONAL ISSUES AND QUESTIONS.
STUDENTS SHOULD ALSO BE ABLE TO DISCUSS THEIR EXPLANATION ABOUT ORGANIZATIONAL QUESTIONS AND ITEMS AND TO IDENTIFY SOLUTIONS TO MORE FREQUENT AND RELEVANT LABOUR AND ORGANIZATIONAL PROBLEMS.
Prerequisites
STUDENTS SHOULD HAVE A SOUND KNOWLEDGE OF SOCIOLOGY AND ECONOMIC SOCIOLOGY.
Contents
THE COURSE CONNECTS TOPICS RELATED TO THE SOCIOLOGY OF WORK, WORK TRANSFORMATIONS DURING CAPITALISM DEVELOPMENT, AND ISSUES RELATED TO ORGANIZATIONAL PROCESSES AND THEORIES.
WORK-RELATED THEMES (APPROXIMATELY 20 HOURS) WILL FOCUS ON:
-MEANINGS OF WORK AND LABOUR, ITS DEVELOPMENT AND CHANGES WITH THE MODERNIZATION PROCESS, THE DEVELOPMENT OF INDUSTRIALISATION AND CAPITALISM.
- SOCIOLOGY OF WORK
-INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION AND MASS PRODUCTION; INDUSTRIAL LABOUR, TAYLORISM AND FORDISM;
-POST-FORDISM AND NEW INDUSTRIAL LABOUR;
-WORK IN PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION;
-WORKER REPRESENTATION AND INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS;
-LAVORO E WELFARE
-THE TRANSITION OF WORK AND EMPLOYMENT FROM INDUSTRIAL PRODUCTION TO SERVICES AND THE NEW OCCUPATIONAL STRUCTURE;
-THE NATURE AND VARIETY OF SERVICES, AND THE SERVICES TO CONSUMERS;
-STRUCTURAL FEATURES OF LABOUR PATTERNS WITHIN SERVICES TO CONSUMERS;
-LABOUR SPECIALIZATION IN THIS SECTOR; THE ‘SERVICE WORKERS’ AND THEIR WORKING CONDITIONS;
-PROBLEMS OF SERVICE WORKERS’ REPRESENTATION.
THE COURSE CONCERNS ALSO ORGANIZATIONAL PROCESSES AND THEORIES IN THE INDUSTRIAL, ADMINISTRATIVE, AND SERVICE SECTORS (APPROXIMATELY 20 HOURS). IN PARTICULAR, THE FOLLOWING ISSUES WILL BE ADDRESSED:
- MAIN ORGANISATIONAL MODELS AND THEIR CHANGES LINKED WITH ECONOMIC, SOCIAL, AND TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENT;
- RATIONALIST MODELS (BUREAUCRACY AND TAYLORISM);
- CRITICAL THEORIES OF THE RATIONAL APPROACHES;
- SUBJECTIVATION TRANSITION AND THE BOUNDED RATIONALITY (BARNARD AND SIMON);
- POST-TAYLORIST THEORIES, FROM TOYOTISM TO WCM;
- ORGANIZATIONAL CULTURE;
- ORGANIZATIONAL INNOVATION.
Teaching Methods
THE COURSE IS ORGANIZED WITH FRONTAL LECTURES, BUT STUDENTS ARE REQUIRED TO ACTIVELY PARTICIPATE AND DEBATE ON SPECIFIC ISSUES. REGULAR ATTENDANCE ALLOWS DELVING INTO THE COURSE’S TOPICS, EVEN THROUGH READING AND DISCUSSION OF TEXTS RECOMMENDED BY THE LECTURER.
Verification of learning
THE LEARNING PROCESS WILL BE VERIFIED WITH AN ORAL EXAM ON COURSE THEMES AND COURSE TEXTS. THIS EXAM AIMS AT CHECKING STUDENTS’ KNOWLEDGE AND EVALUATING STUDENTS’ CAPACITY TO EXPLAIN AND SUMMARIZE SPECIFIC TOPICS.
THE EVALUATION OF STUDENTS’ KNOWLEDGE IS BASED ON THEIR CAPABILITY TO AUTONOMOUSLY ELABORATE THE THEORETICAL CONTENTS ILLUSTRATED DURING THE COURSE OR THROUGH TEXTS READING, MAKING ALSO EMPIRICAL EXAMPLES, AND ON THEIR ABILITY TO COMPARE DIFFERENT THEORIES ON SPECIFIC WORK AND ORGANIZATIONAL ISSUES.
THE MINIMUN MARK (18/30) IS GIVEN TO STUDENTS WHO SHOW BASIC KNOWLEDGE OF WORK AND ORGANISATIONAL SOCIOLOGICAL THEORIES. THE HIGHEST MARK IS ASSIGNED TO STUDENTS WHO KNOWS VERY WELL WORK AND ORGANISATIONAL THEORETICAL APPROACHES, PINPOINT FITTING EXAMPLES OF CASE STUDIES AND SHOW EXCELLENT ABILITY TO EXPLAIN AND DISCUSS THEORIES AND ISSUES.
THE EVALUATION OF THE ATTENDEES WILL CONSIDER ALSO THEIR LEVEL AND QUALITY OF ACTIVE PARTICIPATION DURING LECTURES: THEY COULD BE REWARDED WITH ADDITIONAL POINTS (UP TO 2 TO BE SUMMED TO THE ORAL EXAM EVALUATION).
Texts
SYLLABUS IS NOT DIFFERENTIATED BETWEEN COURSE ATTENDEES AND NOT ATTENDEES:
FORTUNATO V. (2011; 1. RISTAMPA 2017) TEMI E PERCORSI DI SOCIOLOGIA DEL LAVORO. DALLA RIVOLUZIONE INDUSTRIALE AI NUOVI ODELLI DI ORGANIZZAZIONE, CAROCCI
FELLINI I. IL TERZIARIO DI CONSUMO. OCCUPAZIONE E PROFESSIONI, CAROCCI, ROMA, 2017
FURTHER TEXTS:
DORDONI A. (2017) SEMPRE APERTI. LAVORARE SU TURNI NELLA SOCIETA DEI SERVIZI 24/7, MIMESIS
SENNETT R., SUPIOT A., HONNETH A. (2020) PERCHÉ LAVORO? NARRATIVE E DIRITTI PER LAVORATRICI E LAVORATORI DEL XXI SECOLO, FONDAZIONE GIANGIACOMO FELTRINELLI.
CAVALCA G. (2021) REDDITO DI CITTADINANZA: VERSO UN WELFARE PIÙ UNIVERSALISTICO?, FRANCOANGELI.
AA.VV. LAVORARE OGGI IN FABBRICA. INCHIESTA SULLE CONDIZIONI DI LAVORO IN FCA/CNH, FONDAZIONE FELTRINELLI, MILANO
ROSSI P. (2019) L’INNOVAZIONE ORGANIZZATIVA. FORME, CONTESTI E IMPLICAZIONI SOCIALI, CAROCCI

OTHER TEXTS TO BE TO BE USED EXCLUSIVELY DURING THE COURSE WILL BE COMMUNICATED AT THE BEGINNING OF THE COURSE.
More Information
OFFICE HOURS: WEDNESDAYS 10:30-12:30AM
FOR ANY INFORMATION PLEASE CONTACT ME BY EMAIL: GCAVALCA@UNISA.IT
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