TEORIA SOCIOLOGICA E MODELLI SOCIOLOGICI DELLA COMPLESSITÀ

12 CFU - 1° and 2° Semester

Teaching Staff

ROBERTO VIGNERA - Module The contemporary sociological theory - SPS/07 - 6 CFU
ROSALIA CONDORELLI - Module Sociological Analysis of Complex Systems - SPS/07 - 6 CFU

Detailed Course Content

The contemporary sociological theory
The completion of the training process devoted to General Sociology will be inspired by some considerations made at the end of the Course of History of Sociological Thinking. In the epilogue notes devoted to classical epigones, in fact, it has been announced, as a premise, some of those issues that would become the fundamental conceptual coordinates of contemporary sociological theorists. The specific contents of the first course module will therefore be:

The biological metaphor: functionalism and neo-functionalism;

The enigma of everyday life: symbolic interactionism, ethnomethodology and dramaturgical approach;

The economic man invasion: from rational choice theory to the new institutionalism;

Giddens's theory of modernity;

The empirical turning point in contemporary social theory;

Complexity and risk society;

Identity and modernization.
Sociological Analysis of Complex Systems
The study of Nonlinear Complex System Theory is divided into three sections. The first section relates to the reconstruction of the epistemological debate which questioned the Newtonian-Laplacian classical scientific conception and affirmed the new paradigm of complexity and chaos. It reflects on the distinctive traits, possibilities and limits of Complexity and Chaos Theory, taking into proper account some critical aspects which were emphasized on these issues in recent decades. The second section explores the impact of complexity and chaos paradigm in the field of contemporary sociology, through a reflection on the redefinition of classical sociological problems which is matured in the light of its distinctive categories. The last section regards the study of tools by which complex systems can be analyzed. In particular, it regards the modelling of social processes by non-linear equation models (specifically the Logistic model and its derivatives, and the Lotka-Volterra model) and their application to different fields of social sciences (sociology, economics, political science, psychology, competitive international relations and competition electoral studies).

Textbook Information

The contemporary sociological theory
Text 1): P. Baert, F. Carreira da Silva, The contemporary social theory, Il Mulino, Bologna, 2010; Chap. II, III, IV.
Supplementary text (optional): D. O'Byrne (2012), Sociology. Fundamentals and theories, Pearson.

Text 2): R. Vignera (2011), Identità fluida e indeterminismo genetico, Sociologia e Ricerca Sociale, 94, pp. 79-110.

Text 3): P. Vezzoni, R. Vignera (2012), Equivoci e illusioni su identità e modernizzazione, Sociologia e Ricerca Sociale, 98, pp. 28-53.
Testo integrativo (facoltativo): D. O’Byrne (2012), Sociologia Fondamenti e teorie, Pearson.
Sociological Analysis of Complex Systems
Testo 1. Bertuglia C., Vaio F., Nonlinearità, caos, complessità. Le dinamiche dei sistemi naturali e sociali, Bollati Boringhieri, Torino, 2003, pp. 261-349.
Testo 2. Bocchi H., Ceruti M., La sfida della complessità, Bruno Mondadori, Milanio, 2007, pp.1-19; pp.155-169, pp. 170-183..
Testo 3. Bailey K., “Beyond Functionalism:Towards a Nonequilibrium Analysis of Complex Social Systems”, British Journal of Sociology, 35, 1984, pp.1-18.

Testo 4. Condorelli, R. (2016). Complex Systems Theory. Some Considerations for Sociology. Open Journal of Applied Sciences 6, 422.

Testo 5. Horgan J., La fine della scienza, Adelphi, Milano 2015, Cap.8. La fine della Complessità, pp.293-244.

Testo 6. Condorelli R., Complessità e controllo sociale, Bonanno Editore, Catania, 2007, pp.53-90; pp. 91-124.

Testo 7. Condorelli R (2016) Social Complexity, Modernity and Suicide: An Assessment of Durkheim’s Suicide from the Perspective of a Non-linear Analysis of Complex Social Systems. SpringerPlus 5:374.

Testo 8. Mitleton-Kelly, E. (2003). Complex Systems and Evolutionary Perspectives on Organisations: The Application of Complexity Theory to Organisations. London: Elsevier, Cap 2.

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