The course introduces the main models and themes related to the social economy and its relations with sustainable development, especially at the local level, addressing the topics from a theoretical, empirical and practical point of view.
Lesson 1. Introduction to the social economy: from mutualism to commons
Additional text: Laurie Mook et al, Understanding the Social Economy of the United States, University of Toronto Press, 2015.
Lesson 2. Insights and problematizations
Further texts: Ivana Pais and Giancarlo Provasi, “Sharing Economy: A Step towards the Re-Embeddedness of the Economy?”, 2015; Robert Sugden, “Awards, incentives and mutual benefit”, 2019.
Lesson 3. Introduction to the sustainable economy: from the steady state to a-growth
Additional text: Charles A.S. Hall & Kent Klitgaard, Energy and the Wealth of Nations. An Introduction to Biophysical Economics, Second Edition, Springer, 2018.
Lesson 4. Insights and problematizations
In-depth text: AA.VV., The myth of green growth, 2019 (original version in https://eeb.org/library/decoupling-debunked/).
Lesson 5. From the Anthropocene to the Urbanocene: a planet dominated by cities
Additional text: Ash Amin & Nigel Thrift, Seeing Like a City, Polity, 2017.
Lesson 6. Innovation and sustainability in local government
Further texts: OECD, Enhancing Innovation Capacity in City Government, 2019; Carolina Bandinelli, The best work in the world. The strange case of social entrepreneurship, 2020.
Lesson 7. The urban commons
Further texts: Stavros Stavrides, Common Space. The City as Commons, Zed Books, 2016; Daniel T. O’Brien, The Urban Commons, Harvard University Press, 2019.
Lesson 8. La cité and la ville: the story of a divorce?
Further texts: Richard Sennett, Building and living, Feltrinelli, 2018; David Sim, Soft City, Island Press, 2019.
Lesson 9. Cities and the economy of happiness
Additional text: Charles Montgomery, Happy City, Penguin, 2015.
Lesson 10. Cities and the pandemic (and complex emergencies)
Further texts: William Caferro, Petrarch's War. Florence and the Black Death in Context, Cambridge University Press, 2018; John Henderson, Florence under Siege. Surviving Plague in an Early Modern City, Yale University Press, 2019.
Lesson 11. Cities in the global economy
Further texts: Saskia Sassen, Cities in the global economy, Il Mulino, 2010; Simonetta Armondi & Stefano Di Vita (Eds.), Milan. Productions, Spatial Patterns and Urban Change, Routledge, 2018.
Lesson 12. Future cities
Further texts: Corinna Morandi, Andrea Rolando & Stefano Di Vita, From Smart City to Smart Region, Springer, 2016; Renata Paola Dameri, Smart City Implementation, Springer, 2017; AA.VV, The City as a Global Political Actor, Routledge, 2019.
Appointment 13. Student presentations
Appointment 14. Student presentations.
Lesson 15. Concepts and models: inclusive business, CSR, social enterprises, social business
Mair, J., & Marti, I. (2006). Social entrepreneurship research: A source of explanation, prediction, and delight. Journal of world business, 41(1), 36-44.
Mook, L., Whitman, J. R., Quarter, J., & Armstrong, A. (2015). Understanding the social economy of the United States. University of Toronto Press pp. 3-27
Borzaga, C., & Defourny, J. (Eds.). (2004). The emergence of social enterprise (Vol. 4). Psychology Press.
Defourny, J., & Nyssens, M. (2010). Conceptions of social enterprise and social entrepreneurship in Europe and the United States: Convergences and divergences. Journal of social entrepreneurship, 1(1), 32-53.
Sternberg, E. (2011). How Serious is CSR? A Critical Perspective. The Responsible Corporation in a Global Economy, 29.
Testi, E., Bellucci., M, Serena F., Biggeri, M. (2017) "Italian social enterprises at the crossroads: their role in the evolution of the welfare state" VOLUNTAS: International Journal of Voluntary and Nonprofit Organizations, 1-20.
Lesson 16. Case studies
Lesson 17. The Social Entrepreneur
Zahra, S. A., Gedajlovic, E., Neubaum, D. O., & Shulman, J. M. (2009). A typology of social entrepreneurs: Motives, search processes and ethical challenges. Journal of business venturing, 24(5), 519-532.
Dey, P., & Teasdale, S. (2016). The tactical mimicry of social enterprise strategies: Acting ‘as if’in the everyday life of third sector organizations. Organization, 23(4), 485-504.
Lesson 18. Testimony of a Social Entrepreneur
Lesson 19. Innovative tools to finance social enterprises and social entrepreneurship
McHugh, N., Sinclair, S., Roy, M., Huckfield, L., & Donaldson, C. (2013). Social impact bonds: a wolf in sheep's clothing?. Journal of Poverty and Social Justice, 21(3), 247-257.
Edmiston, D., & Nicholls, A. (2018). Social Impact Bonds: The role of private capital in outcome-based commissioning. Journal of Social Policy, 47(1), 57-76.
Lesson 20. Case studies on Social Impact Bond, Crowdfunding, Social Lending
Lesson 21. Measuring and communicating the impact of social enterprises.
Nicholls, J., Lawlor, E., Neitzert, E., & Goodspeed, T. (2009). A guide to social return on investment. Office of the Third Sector, Cabinet Office. Pp. 1-14
Lesson 22. Case study and exercise on Social Impact Evaluation
Lesson 23. Enabling Eco-systems
Biggeri, M, Testi, E., Ferrannini, A: (2018), A framework to understand enabling ecosystems for Social Enterprises. In: M. Biggeri, E. Testi, M. Bellucci, R. During, T. Persson. Social entrepreneurship and social innovation: ecosystems for inclusion in Europe, London: Routledge, ISBN:9780815375791
Biggeri, M., Testi, E., Bellucci, M., (2017) “Enabling ecosystems for social enterprises and social innovation: a capability approach perspective”, Journal of Human Development and Capabilities, 18(2), 299-306
Lesson 24. Exercise, how to build enabling ecosystems for the Social Economy
Lesson 25 and 26. Presentations of the assignments.
Learning Objectives
The objective of this course is to introduce the student to the analysis of issues relating to Social and Susteinable Economy from a theoretical and empirical perspective, with reference also to the local context.
Economic theory and quantitative and qualitative methods will be used to introduce students to empirical research, field research and case studies.
The course covers theories, objectives and instruments as well as the analysis of the economic and social effects of these themes.
Prerequisites
Basic notions of economics and history are useful as well as an average knowledge of english (B1-B2 level)
Teaching Methods
Dual teaching. Assignments to be presented in class, expert’s testimonies
Further information
Complementary texts, especially useful for traces of exercises, group work, presentations.
- On the links between local systems and the environment:
1) Kate Raworth, “Creare per rigenerare”, nel suo L’economia della ciambella, Edizioni Ambiente, 2017, capitolo 6.
2) Laura Cavalli, Giulia Lizzi & Sergio Vergalli, “Economia circolare: una sfida che parte dalle città”, Equilibri, 1/2019.
3) Ann Pettifor, “L’economia del Green New Deal”, nel suo Il Green New Deal, Fazi, 2020, pp.113-136.
4) Herbert Girardet, “Regenerative Cities”, in Stanislav Shmelev (ed.), Green Economy Reader, Springer, 2017, pp.183-204.
5) Nicolò Bellanca e Luca Pardi, “Per la critica della crescita illimitata e della crescita verde”, nel loro O la capra o i cavoli. Salvare il pianeta, migliorare il benessere e magari rilanciare la crescita? Non si può. E allora?, Firenze University Press, 2020, capitolo 4.
6) Stefano Bartolini, “Privatopoli e Collaborandia. Racconto di due città”, nel suo La grande decelerazione. Come vivere meglio e salvare il pianeta, Áboca, 2020.
7) Stefano Bartolini, “Riformare le città”, nel suo La grande decelerazione. Come vivere meglio e salvare il pianeta, Áboca, 2020.
- On local urban systems:
8) Michael Storper, “Robust Action: Society, Community, and Development”, nel suo Keys to the City. How Economics, Institutions, Social Interactions, and Politics Shape Development, Princeton University Press, 2013, pp.115-138.
9) Michael Storper, “Exit or Voice? Politics, Societies, and City-Systems”, nel suo Keys to the City. How Economics, Institutions, Social Interactions, and Politics Shape Development, Princeton University Press, 2013, pp.184-203.
10) Enrico Moretti, “La grande divergenza. Storia di due città”, nel suo La nuova geografia del lavoro, Mondadori, 2013, pp.77-123.
11) Enrico Moretti, “Trappole della povertà e città attraenti”, nel suo La nuova geografia del lavoro, Mondadori, 2013, pp.179-214.
12) Saskia Sassen, “La città globale”, nel suo Sociologia della globalizzazione, Einaudi, 2008, capitolo 4.
13) Richard Sennett, “La cité e la ville divorziano”, nel suo Costruire e abitare, Feltrinelli, 2018, capitolo 2.
14) Richard Sennett, “Cinque forme aperte”, nel suo Costruire e abitare, Feltrinelli, 2018, capitolo 7.
15) Giuliano Dall’Ò, “Smart city, l’evoluzione sostenibile delle città”, Equilibri, 1/2018.
16) Edward Glaeser, un capitolo a scelta dal suo Il trionfo della città. Come la nostra più grande invenzione ci ha reso più ricchi, intelligenti, ecologici, sani e felici, Bompiani, 2013.
17) Carlo Ratti, La città di domani, Einaudi, 2017, Parti II e III.
18) David Sim, “Building Blocks: Living Locally in an Urbanizing World”, nel suo Soft City, Island Press, 2019.
19) Ash Amin & Nigel Thrift, “The Matter of Economy”, nel loro Seeing Like a City, Polity, 2017, capitolo 4.
20) OECD, “Understanding innovation in cities”, in Enhancing Innovation Capacity in City Government, 2019, pp.15-36.
Type of Assessment
Evaluation of the laboratory activity and written exam or oral interview.
Course program
The course introduces the themes and problems of the social economy in its relations with sustainable development, paying particular attention to the local level and addressing the topics from a theoretical, empirical and practical point of view.
Lesson 1. Introduction to the social economy: from mutualism to commons
Lesson 2. Insights and problematizations
Lesson 3. Introduction to the sustainable economy: from the steady state to a-growth
Lesson 4. Insights and problematizations
Lesson 5. From the Anthropocene to the Urbanocene: a planet dominated by cities
Lesson 6. Innovation and sustainability in local government
Lesson 7. The urban commons
Lesson 8. La cité and la ville: the story of a divorce?
Lesson 9. Cities and the economy of happiness
Lesson 10. Cities and the pandemic (and complex emergencies)
Lesson 11. Cities in the global economy
Lesson 12. Future cities
Appointment 13. Student presentations
Appointment 14. Student presentations.
Lesson 15: Concepts and models: inclusive business, CSR, social enterprises, social business
Lesson 16: Case studies
Lesson 17: The Social Entrepreneur
Lesson 18: Testimony of a Social Entrepreneur
Lesson 19: Innovative tools to finance social enterprises and social entrepreneurship
Lesson 20: Case studies on Social Impact Bond, Crowdfunding, Social Lending
Lesson 21: Enabling Eco-systems
Lesson 22: Exercise, how to build enabling ecosystems for the Social Economy
Lesson 23: Measuring and communicating the impact of social enterprises.
Lesson 24: Case study and exercise on Social Impact Evaluation
Appointment 25 and 26: Presentations of the assignments.