GLOBAL SOCIAL MOVEMENTS

In general, this course will allow: a thorough understanding and an adequate capacity of analysis of the functioning of complex societies, of global social phenomena and of social transformations linked to globalization and social movements;
an advanced knowledge of sociological and political disciplines, with particular reference to the relationship between social policies and social movements;
an adequate knowledge of methodologies related to social science research;
an advanced knowledge and understanding of the evolution of reference paradigms in social movements in Europe and the United States;
an advanced knowledge of how to map social needs from the local community;
an advanced knowledge of how to protect human and social rights by interacting with the network of public and social actors operating in the field of social policies;

Learning Goals

1) knowledge and understanding: this course will enable you to grasp advanced questions regarding the field of global studies and social movements theory, in order to know the specific geopolitical, cultural and linguistic realities by means of a complete bibliography accounting for the social interactions, negotiations and social transformations that occur in the field of social movements.
2) applying knowledge and understanding: this course will provide the instruments to organize and present your work in such a way that it can help monitor international and transnational developments in fields such as human rights, democratization processes and protection of minorities.
3) making judgements: this course will help you identify problems and analyize the relationship between social movements an social institutions utilising appropriately sources of information, bibliography, documents, websites, in order to produce awareness about the historical and socioeconomic issues related to the role of social movements in international relations.
4) communication skills: this course will give you the ability to work in a multicultural environment and it will help you communicate in your own and foreign languages using the appropriate terminology in this subject area.
5) Life long learning: this course will help to develop those learning skills that are necessary to continue to undertake further study on social movements research with a high degree of autonomy.

there are no prerequisites for this course

Social movements have long been a driving force behind political and cultural change. From the Civil Rights movement of the 60’s to the Arab Spring, social movements have been fundamentally re-shaping global society and social institutions: International non-governmental organizations pressured financial institution to drop Third world debt in the late Nineties; thousands of activists met in Seattle in 1999 to halt the World Trade Organization meetings; highly mediatized protests surrounded international summits – such as the G8,WTO or IMF meetings; millions in cities around the world joined in protests against military intervention in Iraq; communities around the world are organizing to stop climate change.
This course explores the major theoretical and empirical approaches used in the social sciences to understand the emergence, endurance, and outcomes of social movement activism. We will discuss: (1) Political Opportunity Structure, (2) Internal Mobilizing Structures, (3) Cultural Approaches, and (4) Global Movements and Transnational Advocacy. Course readings, videos, and lecture/discussion will introduce students to core concepts and new research from the field of social movement theory. This seminar offers students the opportunity to analyze the potential and limits of contemporary social movements drawing on inter-disciplinary readings from media and cultural studies, anthropology, political science and sociology.
The point of this seminar is to allow us to work through social movement literature, comparative politics paradigms, democratization literature. In the first part of the semester, we will look at the different theoretical frameworks used to explain the origin and goal of social movements. In the second part of the semester, we will look at several case-studies and examples of different social movements.

Required readings for working students:

Donatella della Porta and Mario Diani (eds.), Social Movements: an introduction, Blackwell pub, 2006;

Jochen Roose and Hella Dietz (Eds), Social Theory and Social Movements. Mutual Inspirations



Our classes will address the following topics:

Beyond marxism

Feminist movements

Civil rights movements / Decolonization movements"

Climate change, social ecology

The direct democracy of stateless populations

Migrants and refugees rights

Movements against austerity

Activism & social media

Right-wing movements

Your final grade will be based:

on a final paper that will be discussed during the oral exam (60% of your final grade).

on an in-class presentation (40% of your final grade).

For the in-class presentation, the class will be divided in small groups. Each small group of students will discuss a social movement of their choice using the bibliography provided in class.


In the final paper, students should answer the following five questions regarding the definition of a social movement.

1. What do we mean by social movements?
2. Discuss the main theoretical paradigms of social movements theory
3. What do we mean by the notion of framing?
4. How did social movements change in the neoliberal era?
5. Please discuss a social movement of your choice.

In general, the presentation in the classroom will allow to verify the learning of how societies express their social needs from the local community and how they protect their human and social rights by interacting with the network of public and social actors operating in the field of social policies;

The final paper will verify the advanced level of learning in sociological and political disciplines, with particular reference to the relationship between social policies and social movements, the knowledge of methodologies related to research in the social sciences and the advanced understanding of the evolution of paradigms of reference in the study of social movements in Europe and the United States;

Each week we will have one frontal lecture and one student-led class discussion. Moodle discussions are considered an integral part of the class.

English

Class Policies

Active participation is a key aspect for succeeding in this class.
The exam consists in active participation in class discussion, one in-class presentation and a final paper. As for the in-class presentation, students will develop a research question about a particular social movement, situate that question within the relevant literature, and present it to the class. Students will work in groups and develop a focused research question about their chosen social movement that will culminate in a 15 page final paper. Working students should write a 25 page final paper that addresses two different social movements on question 5. The final paper must be submitted by email one week before the appeal date.

written and oral

This subject deals with topics related to the macro-area "Poverty and inequalities" and contributes to the achievement of one or more goals of U. N. Agenda for Sustainable Development