SOCIAL HISTORY

The course is among the Core Educational Activities of the Bachelor's degree course in History and among the Basic Activities of the Bachelor's degree course in Sciences of Society and Social Service. The course will have the history of inequality as its main thread

The objective is to know the themes and problems of social history on the one hand, and historiographical interpretations and research methods on the other.
Students will gain knowledge and understanding of content related to social history, learning to analyze new problems and concepts and use the skills in different contexts.

Knowledge of the general outlines of modern and contemporary history acquired during high school.

In order to study inequality from a historical perspective, we will address various topics: consumption, standard of living, wealth distribution, poverty, colonial relations, theories on the origin of inequality and battles for social justice. The course will give references to the history of industrialization, globalization and institutions.

Two reference texts chosen from the following:

• Franco Ramella, Terra e telai. Sistemi di parentela e manifattura nel Biellese dell’Ottocento, Donzelli, Roma, 1983 (2022).
• Daron Acemoglu, James A. Robinson, Perché le nazioni falliscono. Alle origini di potenza, prosperità, e povertà, il Saggiatore, Milano, 2013.
• Isaiah Berlin, Karl Marx, Adelphi, Milano, 2021
• Bronisław Geremek, La pietà e la forca. Storia della miseria e della carità in Europa, Laterza, Bari, 1995 (2003).
• Gerhard A. Ritter, Storia dello stato sociale, Laterza, Roma-Bari, 2003 (2011)
• Joel Mokyr, Leggere la rivoluzione industriale, il Mulino, Bologna, 2002
• Giovanni Levi, L'eredità immateriale. Carriera di un esorcista nel Piemonte del Seicento, il Saggiatore, 2020
• Karl Polanyi, La grande trasformazione. Le origini economiche e politiche della nostra epoca, Einaudi, Torino, 2000.

The final exam is a written evaluation (same for attending and non-attending students) with 4 open questions on the two chosen textbooks. Attendance is recommended to better cope with the final exam.

written

Sufficient (18-22/30) is considered the exame in which the student is able to correctly summarize the course contents; good (22-26/30) is the exame in which the student shows a very good knowledge of the contents and contexts; excellent (27-30/30) the exame in which the student, in addition to thorough knowledge, demonstrates awareness of the interpretive aspects of historical research; excellent (30/30 cum laude), the evidence in which the student, in addition to knowledge of the interpretive and historiographical aspects, demonstrates critical thinking skills.

Lectures, collective readings of sources and discussions

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