LIBRI DI ANDREA M. 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”.

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.

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.