This course deals with the development of sociological theory from the major foundational thinkers of the 19th and early 20th century, through recent approaches informed by a variety of critical perspectives. Much of classical sociological theory was focused upon growing awareness of society, as such, being the subject of profound change.

The course will centre on the analysis of some of the most important modern and contemporary perceptions of the social self in Western societies, starting from 1492 and the discovery of the “other” in the Americas. The selection of readings focuses on the examination of the characteristics and distinguishing features of the varied conceptions of social self articulated – among others – by liberalism, Marx, Freud and by the advocates of nationalism.

This course deals with the developments of some of the most significant international social movements, from the end of the Ancien Régime, in 1789, to the protests of May 1968, in France. The course offers the analysis of the social movements that contributed to the French Revolution, the Paris Commune, the birth of Soviet Union, the Spanish Revolution of 1936, the Chinese Revolution, the student movement of 1968 in France, and many other topics and historical events of the XIX and XX centuries.

The course explores the applicability of sociological theory – classical and contemporary – to the social issues of modernity particularly, in relation to inequality, exploitation, and democratic rights of subaltern groups and their relationship to elite.

The aim of this course is to critically survey the progressive theories and emancipatory experiments proposed in the time period between the French Revolution (1789) and Russian Revolution (1917), in order to understand how they sought to construct social, economic and political alternatives to the capitalist system. Using the lens of political sociology, we will examine some of the most relevant political changes of the “long 19th Century” in their social and historical contexts.

In the XIX Century, in Europe circulate numerous theories that sought both to respond to demands for social justice unanswered by the French Revolution and to correct the dramatic economic imbalances brought about the Industrial Revolution.

The year 2018 marks the 200th anniversary of Karl Marx’s birth and the 100th anniversary of Georg Simmel’s death. This course wants to take the occasion to reflect on the relation between their works and diagnosis of modern society and culture.

This course deals with the developments of some of the most significant international social movements from the end of Ancien Régime to the fall of Berlin Wall (1789-1989). These include social movements that were formed around the French Revolution, the Revolutions of 1848, the Paris Commune, the birth of Soviet Union, the Chinese Revolution, the anticolonialist movement, and the protests of 1968. These movements will be critically analysed, both in terms of history of ideas and of their major socio-political characteristics.

Goal of the course is to examine the characteristics and distinguishing features of the varied Socialisms articulated by some of the main Socialists of the Nineteenth and the Twentieth century. The selection of readings will focus on the writings in which these thinkers developed their theories of how a Socialist society should be economically and politically organized.

This course will centre on the principal authors, texts and debates of the sociology of knowledge. Its first part will be dedicated to some of the most important foundational texts and classic intellectual developments within the field, while the second part will focus on the contributions and controversies that have followed from Marxist and other critical approaches.