LIBRI DI ANDREA MACCARINI

La pandemia che ha colpito il mondo a partire dalla primavera del 2020 ha avuto un forte e complesso impatto sulle istituzioni educative. Un aspetto di esso è l’avere lanciato il tema della didattica a distanza e del ruolo della tecnologia nelle pratiche educative scolastiche. Questo volume affronta il tema specifico di come l’esperienza educativo-scolastica attuale influisca sullo sviluppo umano degli alunni, focalizzando l’attenzione sul nesso cruciale tra la loro “capacità di futuro”, la dimensione della socialità e delle emozioni e la riflessività personale

Il sociologo statunitense W.A. Corsaro pubblica in lingua italiana la quinta edizione del manuale di Sociologia dell’infanzia, che contiene gli elementi teorici, metodologici e i risultati empirici di quarant’anni di indagine con bambini e ragazzi di diversi Paesi. Un’opera per educatori, maestri e studiosi dell’infanzia che vogliano abbracciare uno sguardo critico sul mutare della vita dei bambini in famiglia, nei contesti urbani e nei servizi per l’infanzia, ma soprattutto che siano disponibili a “guardare il mondo con gli occhi dei bambini”.

Evidence of many studies shows how the occurrence of a disease has a negative impact on various aspects of the patient's life and his family. This study took into account the needs of family caregivers, and also tried to analyze the territorial resources made available by the welfare system in a health district placed in the North-Eastern region of Italy. The research involved 89 caregivers of patients took in charge by the oncology day hospital and the home palliative care service. The methods used were the following: socio-anagraphic questionnaire, Distress Thermometer and Carer Support Needs Assessment Tools, in order to measure the needs of the patients, their level of distress and to recognize the needs of the caregivers and the level of burden they were experimenting. The results highlight how the absence of the availability of social workers in wards or services other than home palliative care has negative effects on the family. A need for psychosocial support emerges, which can ease the burden on the family caregiver. The findings converge in stressing that the use of social workers in oncology departments should become systematic.

Le relazioni iniziali e conclusive al Convegno tenutosi a ottobre 2016 presso l’Università “Federico II” di Napoli, congiuntamente con la conferenza di metà mandato dalle Sezioni dell’Associazione Italiana di Sociologia “Processi e Istituzioni Culturali” e “Sociologia dell’Educazione”; una serie di riflessioni proprio sull’intreccio tra culture dell’educazione ed educazione alle culture altre, tematiche riguardanti in particolare i giovani e la loro formazione.

The essay deals with socialization processes in late modernity. First, it is argued that within the societal frame of "unbound morphogenesis" socialization theory is most adequately articulated into a realist-morphogenetic approach, which conceives of socialization as concern oriented, relational reflexivity. However, the so-called morphogenic society involves profound cultural change, also impinging upon the idea of the self. When such changes are integrated within socialization theory, it becomes clear that different identity building processes are co-existing, including ones which would bring about deep transformations of human reflexivity. The latter may be examined along the dimensions of personal ontology, time, and sociality. Finally, some conclusions are drawn concerning the possible developmental paths of human personhood depending on these dynamic factors.

This essay addresses the connection between the notion of social mechanism and a morphogenetic-relational approach to social theory, a connection which poses a fundamental puzzle. The principal thesis sustained is that "generativity" is the key concept through which it can be clarified. The focus is restricted to a specific aspect of the problem. The essay deals with some formal theoretical models of social mechanisms, to understand how they conceive of generativity and relationality. The main argument is that from the theory of counterfactuals through analytical sociology, to E-state structuralism, the concept of generativity gains momentum and ontological thickness. The remaining theoretical problems that make formal models poorly generative are then quickly outlined: (i) most SM theory is often still deterministic, since mechanisms are directly related to outcomes; (ii) social relationships are usually considered in a quite reductive way; (iii) the stratification of emergent mechanisms in the social realm is widely recognized, but seldom captured in systematic way; (iv) truly social (historical) time is also an enduring problem. The article concludes noting that different concepts of generativity correspond to different ways to conceive of social policy, and advocates the integration between formal models, historical and qualitative methods in sociological research.

La sociologia relazionale offre un originale contributo per comprendere i problemi che la società, la teoria e la ricerca sociale sono chiamate ad affrontare. Il volume rilegge in chiave relazionale alcuni temi fondamentali della sociologia: il concetto di relazione sociale; il ruolo della persona nell’emergenza delle soggettività sociali e quello della cultura nelle trasformazioni sociali; la morfogenesi della famiglia; l’analisi delle reti sociali.

Il volume presenta una recente ricerca empirica in cui il concetto di capitale sociale è impiegato per comprendere quali percorsi personali, attraverso le diverse agenzie ed esperienze socializzative, producano oggi un successo educativo in senso pieno. Si tenta così di spiegare in modo originale a quali condizioni i processi e le agenzie educative diventino capitale sociale per la società italiana, sostenendone la capacità di rigenerare la sua cultura civile.

This essay introduces readers to a fundamental issue: the culture of contemporary western societies in its mainstream generally assumes a "purely conventional", i.e. radically non foundational, approach to everything that is "universal". The author questions the idea that this cultural selection should be considered as an unproblematic result of late modernity. He first puts modern "universalism" in historical perspective, in order to show that construction and de-construction of universal and/or universalistic practices, institutions and normative orientations in western societies amounts to a continuous and non-linear morphogenetic process following complex socio-cultural "cycles". He then tries to identify examples of "universalizing" processes with regard to different social circles and sub-systems. Universalizing networks from this perspective can be divided in two general classes: those implying a purely rational-communicative approach, and those comprising a "multidimensional, local and historical" relationality. The author tries to provide a first and basic profile to the latter, and to discuss analogies and differences vis-à-vis the others.