SOCIAL THEORIES AND GLOBALIZATION

This is one of the complementary courses within the "Japan" curriculum of the master degree programme in "Lingue, economie e istituzioni dell'Asia e dell'Africa Mediterranea". This class aims to acquire knowledge and understanding of the main concepts used in the social sciences and advanced knowledge of contemporary Japan. The aim is to acquire a flexible and diverse approach to various phenomena in contemporary Japan and to be able to apply this in both the private and public sectors.

Attendance and individual study will allow students to:
1. Knowledge and understanding
1.1. acquire the principal thinking of social theory;
1.2. acquire advanced knowledge of contemporary Japan
2. Ability to apply knowledge and understanding
2.1. ability to conceptual thinking to contemporary phenomena in Japan;
3. Making judgements
3.1. ability to exercise judgement in a multidimensional and multiscale way for approaching contemporary phenomena in Japan;
3.2. ability to critically analyse contemporary phenomena in Japan

I recommend that students possess an intermediate level of Japanese (Level N3 JLPT) to integrate and deepen the issues presented during the course. Moreover, Students should have basic knowledge of the history and contemporary Japanese and Asian society or have received credits in SOCIETÀ CONTEMPORANEE DELL'ASIA ORIENTALE.

The schedule of classes is as follows:

① Overview
② Population and Family
③ Countryside and City
④ Economy①
⑤ Economy②
⑥ Labour
⑦ Immigration
⑧ Education
⑨ Science and Technology
⑩ Politics①
⑪ Politics②
⑫ Social Security①
⑬ Social Security②
⑭ Culture①
⑮ Culture②

Supplementary texts:

Chang, Ha-Joon, 2014, Economics: The User's Guide, Pelican.
Conrad, Sebastian, 2016, What is Global History?, Princeton University Press.
Boddy, David, 2012, Essentials of Management: A Concise Introduction, Pearson.
Gamble, Andrew, 2019, Politics: Why It Matters, Polity.
Jones, Andrew, 2012, Human Geography: The Basics, Routledge.
Tim Ingold, Tim, 2018, Anthropology: Why It Matters, Polity.
Peter Burke, 2019, What is Cultural History?, Polity.
Plummer, Ken, 2021, Sociology: The Basics, Routledge.

Bear, Laura , Karen Ho, Anna Lowenhaupt Tsing, and Sylvia Yanagisako, 2015, “Gens: A Feminist Manifesto for the Study of Capitalism.” Fieldsights - Theorizing the Contemporary Series, Cultural Anthropology Online, March 30, 2015, http://www.culanth.org/fieldsights/650-generating-capitalism .
Coleman, William and Alina Sajed, Fifty Key Thinkers on Globalization, Routledge.
Gordon, Andrew, 2012, Fabricating consumers: The Sewing Machin in Modern Japan, University of California Press.
Ho, Karen, 2009, Liquidated: An Ethnography of Wall Street, Duke Univ Press.
井上俊, 2000, 「社会学と芸術」, 『スポーツと芸術の社会学』世界思想社.
井上俊, 2019, 「社会学と文学」, 『文化社会学界隈』世界思想社.
伊丹啓之, 2019, 『平成の経営』日本経済新聞出版社.
Juergensmeyer, Victor Faessel Mark, Manfred B. Steger, Saskia Sassen (eds.), The Oxford Handbook of Global Studies, Oxford University Press.
小熊英二編著, 『平成史【完全版】』河出書房新書.
Sassen, Saskia, 2014, Expulsions: Brutality and Complexity in the Global Economy, Belknap Press.
Tett, Gillian, 2017, THE SYMPOSIUM: How can economic anthropology contribute to a more just world?. Economic Anthropology, 4: 151-153. https://doi.org/10.1002/sea2.12079
Tett, Gillian, 2022, Anthro-Vision: A New Way to See in Business and Life, Avid Reader Press, Simon & Schuster.
Tsing, A. 2005. Friction, Princeton University Press.
Tsing, Anna Lowenhaupt, 2009, Supply Chains and the Human Condition. Rethinking Marxism, 21(2), 148–176. https://doi.org/10.1080/08935690902743088
Tsing, Anna Lowenhaupt, 2015, What Is Emerging? Supply Chains and the Remaking of Asia. The Professional Geographer, 68(2), 330–337. https://doi.org/10.1080/00330124.2015.1099186
内海博文編, 2024, 『グローバル･スタディーズ叢書4　グローバル化と日本』東信堂.

To complete this course, students must pass the following two assignments. The exam programme is the same for non-frequent students.
1) Pass the computer exam on ‘Social Theory and Contemporary Japan’ (pass at 18/30, 50%).
2) Submit a research plan for your Tesi magistrale (50%). The research plan should include the following points: 1) what topics and themes you are interested in regarding Japan, 2) previous research, 3) what question you want to answer (research question), and 4) what methods you will use to collect data (research methods). The report should be written in English or Japanese. If it is in English, it should be around 1500 words; if it is in Japanese, it should be around 3000 characters.

written

Regarding the grading scale (how grades will be assigned), regardless of attending or non-attending mode:
A. Scores in the 18-22 range will be awarded for a sufficient knowledge of social theory and contemporary Japan introduced in class and a sufficient ability to adapt them to their own research.
B. Scores in the 23-26 range will be awarded for a fair knowledge of social theory and contemporary Japan introduced in class and a fair ability to adapt them to their own research.
C. Scores in the 27-30 range will be awarded for a good or excellent knowledge of social theory and contemporary Japan introduced in class and a good or excellent ability to adapt them to their own research.
D. Honors will be awarded for an outstanding knowledge of social theory and contemporary Japan introduced in class and an outstanding ability to adapt them to their own research.

Frontal lessons in Japanese.

All materials of the lessons and further readings will be available on the moodle platform dedicated to the course.

All course materials will be available on the moodle platform dedicated to the course.

Students who have obtained credits in East Asian History may also take this couse.

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