Libri Online First - Studi di sociologia

The present article presents and discusses a creative method for researching subjectivities in social inquiry: making objects or models. It is a method used in organisational development, in supporting creative problem solving and, albeit marginally, in media studies...

The essay focuses on the media image of the stranger which, despite his omnipresence, has become progressively composite and even enigmatic, although it is possible to recognize some recurring themes that strengthen collective representations deeply ambivalent on the relationship between cultures...

Analysing young people’s involvement in an ultras group that has opened its own self-managed social centre in Bologna (Italy), the article explores the relationship between young people and the public sphere, focusing on the relationship between social marginalization and civic-political participation...

The proposal aims to highlight the self-representations of homeless – economic migrant who transform the personal project of a different life in Italy in an exercise of survival. This modifies the perception of the self through the subversion of specific categories of «presentified time» and space delimited by their skills of perceiving their immediate surrounding space as a branch of their own bodies...

The article shows the effect of the cultural dimension on participation. At first it describes democratic impasse caused by the disaffection of citizens, from political force. Two shortcuts are born: populism and plebiscitarism...

In order to analyze the representation of migrants in the Italian media, we focused on three months of the main Italian newspaper, Corriere della Sera, selecting all the articles with the keyword «migrants»...

The aim of the present paper is to discuss, from a critical perspective, the theme of online misinformation, and to investigate the heuristic validity of the post-truth concept by reflecting on the nature of the relationship existing between this concept and the disintermediated communication practices. Starting from Luhmann’s reflections, in the first part, the online discursive context is analyzed and described by means of an up-to-date version of the classic two-step flow of communication model. In the second part, the fake news’ phenomenon is discussed in the light of the broader debate of the algorithm studies. While rejecting a deterministic point of view, the undeniable role of algorithms is discussed in relation to the online relational dynamics in order to find the social roots behind the success of persistent biases. The present paper therefore suggests a new reading of the fake news’ phenomenon through an interpretative model that takes into account the social, communicative and technological forces which act simultaneously.

The aim of this paper is to give a portrait of the state of social relationships in Italy, focusing mainly on relationships among neighbors living in urban settings. After a general recognition on the status of social solidarity in the Italian contemporary society, particular attention will be given to the role and the efficacy of on-line platforms and social networks specifically designed to enhance collaboration among neighbors. Finally the paper will delve into the emerging phenomenon of Social Streets, giving a theoretical definition and a very accurate description drawing on the empirical data collected by the search «Vicini e connessi. Alla scoperta del vivere social», conducted by the Observatory on Social Street, founded and directed by the Author himself. This search, mainly based on the city of Milan, is a quali-quantitative project. The collection of empirical data was conducted by means of an on-line survey, more than 70 in-depth interviews with the foundators of the social streets of Milan, and ethnographical observation.