RISULTATI RICERCA

The Italian University after the Reform: where is it headed? This paper analyses the key role currently played in Italy by the university as an institution devoted to the production, accumulation and redistribution of knowledge and the radical changes that it has undergone in the last few years. It is this knowledge that constitutes the wealth of a society and the basis of its competitive advantage. Ministerial decree no. 509/99, setting the new regulatory framework for universities in Italy, leaves many questions unanswered. Should the Italian universities at the crossroads between innovation and continuity produce technicians or intellectuals? Should they focus on the requirements of the Italian economy or could they act in their own interest? Does the reform contribute to the improvement of the Italian education system? The aim of the article is to discuss these crucial factors affecting the transition process and its possible outcome.

China and Italy: reflexions on the new fashion’s culture A recently consumer research in China on the field of textile and garment shows some new element in the global fashion’s culture. China is non more a simple producer of Italian collections, nor a simple and enormous new market open and eager of italians products. China introduces a specific cultural attitude to copy or imitate. This evolve the relationship among China and Italy towards a total contamination where the original brand must compete with a partial or a good brand imitation; naturally of the same quality.

Time and hyperspace. A research on the time perception in shopping centers Relationship between consumption behaviors and consumption places generates important analyses and reflections. The new consumptions places produce a fragmentation of time linear flow and a peculiar kind of experience. A qualitative research on time perception in shopping centers shows that one looses external referring and so continue to spend time in shopping center. Furthermore: obliged and reassuring paths, security systems and agents, building maintenance that gives an aura of perpetual youth, air, temperature and humidity control, together with colorful goods abundance let consumer fancy that he is living in a real utopia where time is suspended.

Uncertain liturgy: constraints and self determination in consumer spaces The religious metaphor applied to shopping centers, suggested by Ritzer on behalf of C. Wright Mills, flats the shopping center complexity that is, instead, able to produce meanings and social behaviors even against the shopping center itself. This weak liturgy has been tested by a IULM research showing that for a consistent number of young frequent shopping center goers, the aim is not to buy or purchase but a non-functional adaptation to the commercial space. The hypothesis is that there are structural elements that support this kind of nonfunctional behavior.

Contemporary standard package: an explorative research The research wants to know if the Riesman’s standard package concept is still true and working in the third millennium society. The normal individual life has been divided, in order to comprehend which goods they need or wish in different ages. The house as a larger and protective representation of the individual ego has been the place where the new standard package still works even in an hyper segmented society.

Forms of seduction. Communicative models in female garments ads The vogue is imitation and differentiation even in the style of communication. The vogue advertising is without headline and bodycopy in order to free the interpretative cooperation of the reader. But some critic says that without any conceptualization and following only the evocative power of the image the communication is not impressive and unable to be reminded. The IULM research in late spring 2002 showed that the scenario is implausible because all the emphasis is focused on the garment as pure expression.

Consumption research in IULM University Italian sociology used to suffer both methodological and ethical critics. But this discipline has recently developed alliances with semiotics, anthropology, semantics, useful for gaining new methodological strengths and credibility One of the most important consequences is the growing importance of sociosemiotics that considers as not pertinent the distinction among social phenomena and textual phenomena. Therefore is possible to consider as a sort of text also the consumption. And this is important if one wish to put under an olistic view and on same level for example consumption behavior, lay outs, colors, lights, furniture of a shopping center. That is what is happening in IULM University as prove the following papers.

Cultural identity and consumption in the society of inclusive sovereignty Consumption is commonly thought to be a key factor in the global process of homogenization. Nevertheless, it is possible to consider it in a different way, by replacing the traditional model of homogenization with a new dialectic one. According to the principle of ‘inclusive sovereignty’ provided by Ulrich Beck, glocalism allows the simultaneous existence of global and local aspects, and economic globalization does not necessarily lead to cultural globalization. It follows that the concepts of transnationality and reinforcement, as well as those of cultural heterogeneity and flow, have to be taken into account. This is confirmed by the movements of goods, as global offer stimulates the awareness of local opportunities, both economically and culturally.

Consumption as experiential area An innovative and interdisciplinary reading of consumption is provided, with the specific aim of enriching both sociology and marketing. According to Niklas Luhmann’s theory of social systems, today’s society does not have a pyramidal structure anymore and is characterized by functional differentiation. In order to understand consumption, it is therefore necessary to focus on consumer processes and so-called ‘meeting points’. Contrary to economic and sociological traditions, great importance is then attached to consumption, defined as the main ‘experiential area’. In this perspective, today’s society corresponds to the society of consumption, where consumption has symbolic, relational, and ethical connotations.

Consumer society and new identities. The evolution of person at the beginning of the third millennium, between economic globalization and fragmentation of the self The social and cultural evolution influences the concept of personal identity. With the transition from modernity to post-modernity, identity loses the characteristics of unity, stability and coherence, as becomes multiple and fluid. The emergence of a new self is facilitated by consumer culture. This happens mainly though consumerism, which supports and is supported by post-modern processes, and makes such processes less reversible. It is therefore necessary to consider some critical issues, such as consumer pathologies, the loss of importance of social responsibilities, and the relationship between globalization of consumption and individualism. With regard to the future, whatever course identity takes, consumption will definitely play a decisive role in its definition.

Cultural expenses: production, consumption or private investments? In the current post-fordist age, characterized by new strategies on both sides of workers and firms, cultural expenses are increasing significantly. Beside production and consumption, the category of cultural investments appears: such category includes all those human activities whose main objective is to build and develop social and professional identities. This is particularly evident if you consider either knowledge workers or boundaryless careers. As a consequence, people themselves decide on their career opportunities and company investments tend to coincide with those made by individuals.

Towards the fiction economy We are moving towards a new form of modernity, where the two terms culture and economy are deeply entangled. That means that the culture and the information are a structural and not an over structural paradigm. As a consequence we have that consumption is no more the simple and destructive final step of production but on the contrary, an activity generating values. The economy enters in the world of the life thorough aesthetical processes. This leads to the emerging phenomena of fiction economy, where the imaginative media power becomes an economical power.

Consumption behaviors, identity and working experience in contemporary society: a complex relation Following the suggestions of Codeluppi we find in the postmodern society a major difficulty in people biography to build their identity. This identity crisis is not only an individual but a nation identity crisis. The postmodern society ties the identity question to that of consumption so that to purchase is in the same time to build pieces of identity. In spite of the increasing importance of consumptions in identity and social building, the author stress the work role as relevant mechanism both for production and consumption of identity. Therefore our society is focused on production and consumption. They live together, side by side, and it is important not polarize that two social forms.

Production and consumption: outlines for a research project The aim of this essay is to analyze both production and consumption as two aspect of the same economical process. Through an historical analysis of productions and consumptions processes, is possible to see the transformation of the work as social and relational category, for nowadays the new social identity is also defined by the time spent far from the productive activity and by what is called the social capital. This concept put together consumption and production.