Local Economic Development Sociology

The course provides the basic as well as advanced knowledge and analytical tools to understand the institutional, economic, and demographic factors that influence the development of local economies, with a specific reference to changes over time in local public policy as linked to global processes. The course further focuses on the analysis of the relationships between dynamics of the local labor market, poverty and welfare systems from the 1970s to today in Italy and in a comparative perspective.

- Describe the institutional, economic and demographic dynamics (e.g., welfare downsizing, the oil crisis, and migration flows respectively) that influence alternative paths of local development
- Illustrate the main themes and areas of action of local public policies against the background of the relationship between local development and global dynamics
- Apply the conceptual schemes used to explain the interdependence between local and global processes during the course to case studies that focus on the relationship between the labor market, poverty, local welfare and social integration