The course intends to introduce a sociological reflection, starting from the origins of this new science, linked to the crisis of European society in the nineteenth century, a period in which the rural civilization, which from 10,000 years BC. had slowly shaped the world, is confronted with the progress of science and techniques, population growth and many other factors that build an increasingly dense world that explodes and blossoms in the Industrial (ca. 1750) and the French Revolution (1789), opening many questions disturbing the old social order and pushing towards a new one.

The first part of the course offers a critical reading of contemporaneity, based on the modernization process in various areas (economic, religious, technological, political, etc.) and in a horizon tending towards the interdependence of the entire planet. In particular, it will deal with the phenomenon of ‘functional differentiation’ (macro level), the birth of civil society, starting from mass organizations and the flourishing of associative life (meso level) and, finally, the individual (micro level) always more inserted in a process of individualization. In the second part, then, the course will focus on a concept, rediscovered as a central reading key to reinterpret classic themes of sociology and above all to understand more contemporary social dynamics: human relationships. They will be deepened through contributions present in various sociological theories, aimed at placing themselves between the two great traditions of thought: holism and methodological individualism, and analyzed in particular starting from the socio-anthropological perspective born from the observation of the phenomenon of gift and of the category of love, as well as suggestions coming from the Social Network Analysis.

Bibliographical references:

• Class handout.
• CALLEBAUT B., Chiara Lubich e la sua eredità nelle scienze sociali. Stimoli sociologici trentini, in «Sophia», V, (2013) 1, pp. 10-23
•  LAEYENDECKER L., Spiritualiteit en moderne cultuur, in J. BEUMER (ed.), Als de hemel de aarde raakt, Kok, Kampen 1990, pp. 9-24, [trad. B. Callebaut]
• DONATI P., Sociologia della relazione, Il Mulino, Bologna 2013, cap. 2-3-4-5-8.
• CAILLÉ A., Il Terzo Paradigma. Antropologia filosofica del dono, Bollati Boringhieri, Torino 1998, cap. I.
• GODBOUT J. T., Quello che circola tra noi. Dare, ricevere, ricambiare, V&P, Milano 2008, in particular Parte II and General conclusion.

One of the following:

• PAGLIONE M. L., Incontri di valore. I beni relazionali e la loro emergenza, Pacini Editore, Pisa 2018
• AA.VV., “Sociologia. Rivista Quadrimestrale di Scienze Storiche e sociali”, 3/11, entitled La dimensione sociale dell’agape e riflessione sociologica.