Political Sociology

2020-21

Professor Carlo Ruzza

Course Contents

1. Introduction: what is political sociology?

• Definitions and history of the field of political sociology

• Historical overview of the main approaches to political sociology

2. Conflict theories

• The concept of social conflict

• Power and the classics of political sociology

• Marxist and Neo-Marxist approaches

3. Weberian and Durkheimian approaches

4. Elite theories, power and institutionalisms

5. Theories of state formation and change; types of Contemporary European States; Citizenship

• Theories of state formation

• The autonomy of the state

• States and globalization

6. Globalization, governance and the State

• Globalization in various domains

• Globalization and neo-liberalism

• Horizontal and vertical governance

• New governance

• Territorial governance

7. Transnational and Supranational Challenges to the State – Human Rights

• Challenges to the power of the state from above and from below

• State responses to globalization

• How do different actors in a global governance structure replace functions formerly performed by the state? 9

• Human rights at the international level

8. Bureaucracies, Institutions and Neo-Liberalism

• What are the features of a traditional and a modern bureaucracy?

• Why is bureaucracy important for state development and political rule?

• The impact of the ideology of New Public Management on state bureaucracies

9. Political participation and theories of representation: introduction

• The concept of political participation

• The political sphere

• Changing forms of political participation

10. Forms of Political Participation: electoral behaviour and party politics

• Theoretical approaches to the study of electoral behavior

• Parties and party systems: an overview

• Institutionalization dynamics in different social and political realms

11. Forms of Political Participation: interest groups, advocacy and civil society

• Interest groups and functional representation

• Private and public interest groups

• Forms of advocacy

• Judicial activism

• The concept of civil society and its relevance in contemporary governance

• Civil society and its uses as a political ideology

• International civil society

12. Deliberative structures; activism and the city,

• The concept of political participation in cities

• The political sphere at city level

• Urban activism in different contexts

13. Forms of Political Participation: social movements

• Explaining unconventional political participation and social movements

• The contribution of political sociology to the study of movements and on theories of activists’ mobilization

• Action repertoires and their historical transformations

14. Left-liberal movements: the no-global movement

• The Anti-Globalization movement or Global Justice Movement as a new type of movement

• Transnational coordination and the role of the new media

• Main organizations

15. Ethnicity and political participation: political-sociological approaches

• The nature of ethnicity

• Traditions in the study of ethnicity: the contribution of political sociology

• The multicultural backlash

16. Anti-racist movements in Europe

• Varieties of anti-racist movements in Europe

• Anti-racism in different institutional domains

• The controversial nature of anti-racism

17. Public Policy, Migration and Health

• Migration and public policy issues

• Health as a key domain in migration policy

• Health in relation to other domains, such as housing and work safety.

18. Nationalism

• Nationalism,

• Postnationalism

• Euroscepticism

• Transnational Ethnic identities and globalisation

19. Ethno-Nationalism

• Ethnicity and self-determination

• Regionalism

20. European Ethno-Nationalism in a comparative perspective

• Catalanism

• Sardism

21. Ethnicity and the Extreme Right

• Ethnicity and right-wing parties

• Demand and supply theories of the radical right

22. Populism

• Populism: definitions

• The personalization of politics

• The politics of the enemy and populism

• Populism and Italian politics

23. Political Communication and the Media

• The new media

• Ethnicity and the media

• Framing processes, social movements and the public sphere

24. Political Sociology, the 2008 Financial Crisis and its aftermaths

• The impact of the 2008 financial crisis and its aftermaths

• The crisis and new vulnerabilities in Europe

• The crisis and the EU