Papers by Pierpaolo Donati
1.1. The financial economy’s crisis that broke out in September 2008 has been interpreted in many... more 1.1. The financial economy’s crisis that broke out in September 2008 has been interpreted in many different ways, mostly from a strictly economic point of view. Basically, the crisis has been attributed to a ‘malfunctioning’ of financial markets, obviously widely resorting in the process to moral considerations concerning economic actors failing to behave ethically. Solutions have been looking to identify new rules capable of moralising markets. Politics has been assigned the task to find practical solutions, that is measures implemented by national States and formulated by international agreements among States. International monetary authorities have been called upon by governments to act as fire brigades (i.e. to bail out banks and financial agencies from bankruptcy). Governments have adopted measures to limit the crisis’ effects on unemployment as well as an increase in national poverty rates. We are still short of a sociological interpretation of the crisis per se, differing fro...
La domanda centrale che ci poniamo è: dobbiamo dire che è il volontariato a generare il capitale ... more La domanda centrale che ci poniamo è: dobbiamo dire che è il volontariato a generare il capitale sociale oppure è il capitale sociale che genera volontariato? Benché qualcuno potrebbe propendere per una risposta 'circolare' (volontariato e capitale sociale si alimentano a vicenda, interattivamente), le cose non stanno esattamente così. Le ricerche empiriche sinora condotte, che vengono qui esposte, specie con riferimento all'Italia, propendono per la seconda delle due alternative. In altri termini la risposta è: le comunità che dispongono di maggiore capitale sociale generano volontariato, mentre, laddove esiste, il volontariato - almeno per come si configura dal punto di vista culturale e organizzativo in Italia - genera scarso o nullo capitale sociale, anzi possiamo dire che consuma piuttosto che generare capitale sociale. Per comprendere questi risultati, e le loro implicazioni operative, è necessario inquadrare in maniera abbastanza complessa il fenomeno dei rappo...
From some years now, the social sciences have been highlighting the existence of a type of goods ... more From some years now, the social sciences have been highlighting the existence of a type of goods that are neither material things, nor ideas, nor functional performances but consist, instead, of social relations and, for this reason, are called relational goods. This contribution proposes to clarify this concept from the viewpoint of relational sociology, which avoids both methodological individualism and holism. Subsequently, it argues that such goods can be produced only by specific social subjects, which the author calls «relational subjects». Relying upon many theoretical and empirical researches, the paper explains in which sense and in which way relational subjects, and the goods they generate, can contribute to making civil society more robust: that is, no longer the typically capitalist society of the market, but an «associational» society able to sustain a mature democracy.
La crisis del Estado y el surgimiento del tercer sector. Hacia una nueva configuración de relaciones
Revista Mexicana de Sociología, 1997
ABSTRACT
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The paper deals with the issue of the development of Territorial Intelligence (TI) as influ-enced... more The paper deals with the issue of the development of Territorial Intelligence (TI) as influ-enced by the way in which individual and collective agents/actors understand and practice social networking (the ‘culture of social networks’). TI can be viewed basically as a re-sponse to the challenges of globalization, in so far as globalization redefines the territorial borders of all political-administrative systems and brings about the ‘reticularization’ of the whole society. Donati argues that we must elaborate a general framework which can allow us to analyze the TI as a networking system whose success or failure depends on how it works out the culture of social networks in terms of production and/or consumption of so-cial capital in its different forms (primary, secondary, generalized). The building of local welfare systems can provide more or less social cohesion depending on the fact that the cul-ture of social networking be able to produce common goods as relational goods stemming...
Revue du MAUSS, 2004
Distribution électronique Cairn.info pour La Découverte. © La Découverte. Tous droits réservés po... more Distribution électronique Cairn.info pour La Découverte. © La Découverte. Tous droits réservés pour tous pays. La reproduction ou représentation de cet article, notamment par photocopie, n'est autorisée que dans les limites des conditions générales d'utilisation du site ou, le cas échéant, des conditions générales de la licence souscrite par votre établissement. Toute autre reproduction ou représentation, en tout ou partie, sous quelque forme et de quelque manière que ce soit, est interdite sauf accord préalable et écrit de l'éditeur, en dehors des cas prévus par la législation en vigueur en France. Il est précisé que son stockage dans une base de données est également interdit.
Reis, 1997
La sociología se encuentra ante la urgente necesidad de definir qué es el Tercer Sector y qué son... more La sociología se encuentra ante la urgente necesidad de definir qué es el Tercer Sector y qué son las Organizaciones del Tercer Sector (OTS). La hipótesis de este artículo es que las OTS son actores de modernización. Dentro del marco de un cambio social más general, las OTS, en cuanto que «subjetividades sociales», están llamadas a dar vida a una sociedad diferente de la de la primera modernidad y sus suscesivos desarrollos en una dirección antihumanista. Estos sujetos son portadores de una cultura organizativa en la que los derechos de ciudadanía adoptan un carácter relacional. En resumen: el Tercer Sector debe analizarse como el producto de la diferenciación societal en condiciones de creciente complejidad social.
Reis, 1987
La solución a los problemas sociales incumbe a la Política Social. Es decir, existe un campo de e... more La solución a los problemas sociales incumbe a la Política Social. Es decir, existe un campo de estudio centrado exclusivamente en el estudio y resolución de los problemas sociales, y que procura utilizar los instrumentos de investigación y los hallazgos realizados por todas las ciencias sociales. Este campo de estudio por supuesto que buscará la colaboración-especialmente importante-de la Sociología, pero sin olvidar que otras disciplinas, como la Psicología, la Economía, el Derecho o la Historia, pueden hacer importantes aportaciones. También, en efecto, la solución de los problemas sociales en la sociedad moderna, tal y como se ha procurado definirlos en términos genéricos, hace referencia siempre a la política, como arte de gobierno en el que deciden fundamentalmente los administradores de la sociedad (Horton y Leslie, 1974: 4). En definitiva, se trata de la colaboración de todas las ciencias sociales en resolver unos problemas, en función de unos valores compartidos (Horton, 1978: 5; Lazarsfeld et al, 1971: 10). Sin embargo, hoy los científicos sociales muy a menudo parecen inclinados a un error tanto conceptual como práctico: deducir una crisis estructural de las políticas sociales de la crisis estructural que atraviesa el Estado del Bienestar (Welfare State). La tesis que se presenta aquí es que precisamente la crisis actual del Welfare State aclara cómo las políticas sociales en la sociedad postindustrial 37/87 pp. 57-68
Roma, Associazione Centro Elis, 2000
Communication & Society
En la sociología contemporánea se ha difundido en los últimos anos una opinión acerca de "lo... more En la sociología contemporánea se ha difundido en los últimos anos una opinión acerca de "lo que es", o constituye, la sociedad. La idea es que lo social se compone de comunicaciones y sólo de comunicaciones. Muchos estudiosos sostienen que los elementos (o partes) de la sociedad no son los seres humanos ni sus acciones concretas con sus productos, sino sólo comunicaciones. La perspectiva neo-sistémica ha desarrollado este punto de vista de una manera muy sofisticada. Este punto de vista es particularmente explícito en los postmodernos, aunque según diversas modalidades y asumido también de forma indirecta o escondida.
Estudios sobre Educación
The paper was given on 26 october 2001 at the international congress on “unprotected time of youn... more The paper was given on 26 october 2001 at the international congress on “unprotected time of young people in the EU”, held at the University of Bologna (Italy). It discusses the social problems connected to the time in which young people (10-15 years) are unprotected by the socialising agencies in everyday life. The policies designed so far in eu countries to combat these problems are analysed and evaluated. The author underlines the fact that time is not equal for all generations, because time undergoes very differing accelerations and decelerations depending on the position of each generation and therefore it acquires a very different value and meaning for each of them. For these reasons, to pose the problem of unprotected time for young people means entering into the problem of how the various generations live their own time and the time for relating with other generations. The paper ends by suggesting some proposals for EU educational policies.
The Journal of Markets and Morality, Sep 22, 2009
Estudios sobre Educación, 2002
The paper was given on 26 october 2001 at the international congress on "unprotected time of... more The paper was given on 26 october 2001 at the international congress on "unprotected time of young people in the EU", held at the University of Bologna (Italy). It discusses the social problems connected to the time in which young people (10-15 years) are unprotected by the socialising agencies in everyday life. The policies designed so far in eu countries to combat these problems are analysed and evaluated. The author underlines the fact that time is not equal for all generations, because time undergoes very differing accelerations and decelerations depending on the position of each generation and therefore it acquires a very different value and meaning for each of them. For these reasons, to pose the problem of unprotected time for young people means entering into the problem of how the various generations live their own time and the time for relating with other generations. The paper ends by suggesting some proposals for EU educational policies.
Recerca. Revista de pensament i anàlisi., 2018
Resumen Toda investigación empírica muestra que el capital social es un factor esencial para prod... more Resumen Toda investigación empírica muestra que el capital social es un factor esencial para producir y preservar los bienes públicos, pero las teorías difieren en cuanto al papel desempeñado por las relaciones sociales. Algunos piensan que los bienes públicos no necesitan redes sociales, mientras que otros argumentan que, sin redes sociales, el capital social no se crea y, por lo tanto, los bienes públicos no se valoran. El presente trabajo mantiene que la comparación entre estas teorías opuestas, o al menos divergentes, solo se puede resolver demostrando si, o no, y bajo qué condiciones, las redes de relaciones sociales producen el valor social añadido (VSA) que se traduce en el capital social necesario para apoyar bienes públicos. Adoptando la perspectiva de la sociología relacional podemos ver y medir el valor social añadido de las relaciones sociales en redes primarias y secundarias, conduciendo a la emergencia de los bienes públicos.
DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals), 2011
Love is a polysemic concept which can be declined in thousand names, since it refers to different... more Love is a polysemic concept which can be declined in thousand names, since it refers to different relationships. Love can be filial, fraternal, parental, spousal, simple friendship, social love, and so on. The diversity of its ways of being becomes clear and understandable, beyond the personal motivations of individuals, only if we observe the relational context and in particular the specific social relation that is at stake. Modern society has consigned love to the private spheres of intimate relationships (the couple and its surroundings), excluding it from 'the public spheres' such as the market and the state (considered 'neutral' in terms of the emotions and the morality pertaining to love). What we are witnessing today is the return of love in social spheres from which modernity has excluded it. The need for love seems to emerge in all spheres of human life, including the market and the political sphere. This sociological contribution highlights how in an aftermodern society new cultural and structural forms of social life are emerging that make possible to act for love in new ways that go beyond the modern dichotomies (private vs. public love, irrational vs. rational). These ways differ according to different social spheres. The novelty comes from the 'relational goods', which are stimulated by specific criteria of relational differentiation and of relational reflexivity of love. In this scenario one can see an epochal shift in the semantics of love, that from 'love as passion' (romantic love) to 'love as care of the human relationship'. The challenge is to understand how and where love can emerge as a new form of caring for relational goods.
Reis Revista Espanola De Investigaciones Sociologicas, 2002
La tesis del autor es que, con la crisis del Estado-Nación y del Estado social, en Europa, nos en... more La tesis del autor es que, con la crisis del Estado-Nación y del Estado social, en Europa, nos encontramos en la transición a una nueva formación histórico-social, aquí llamada «trans-moderna» para indicar discontinuidades fundamentales con la formación anterior, en la cual se afirma un nuevo principio de ciudadanía, llamado «societario», bien distinto de lo moderno (estatal). El artículo propone interpretar esta transición histórica como paso del código simbólico y regulador de la inclusión/exclusión al código relacional/no relacional, en el cual el principio de ciudadanía es contemplado de manera «societaria», es decir, construido a través de redes asociativas de asociaciones civiles.
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Papers by Pierpaolo Donati