Franca Alacevich

In the new millennium Italian university has undergone considerable changes, stressing Political Science and the Florentine Cesare Alfieri. The old 4-year courses are replaced by a system based on BA and MA. Faculties have been replaced by Schools with different tasks and organization – university system is now based on disciplinary-based Departments. The system of research evaluation has changed. A new process of recruiting is put in force, with the introduction of the National Scientific Qualification (ASN) . These reforms put a strain on C. Alfieri's ability to maintain its characteristic interdisciplinary profile and the high quality of its courses. Here we focus on the effects of these changes and on the policies put in place to keep the high profile of C. Alfieri and her qualifications.

The paper shows how the University of Florence interpreted the relative autonomy granted by the numerous reforms of the last 30 years, focusing on the three main functions of the university: teaching, research and public engagement. The continuous reforms weakened the processes of innovation introduced at the beginning of the 90s, with the experience of the Diploma, and forced the closure of many quality degree courses. The lack of financial and instrumental resources and the “autonomy without responsibility” limited the enhancement of the resources and knowledge present in the University, hindered the pursuit of strategic lines that reward structures and sectors of excellence and strengthen the weakest areas. The public engagement is still relatively marginal.

Will the new technological revolution inevitably destroy work? And will we have to get used to a society creating less and less employment opportunities? Shying away from apocalyptic as well as naively optimistic predictions, the Lecture offers some points for reflection on this question, constantly recurring in the media and the public, political and scientific debate. Based on what the past taught, the future depends on business and political strategies, and even on individual social actors.

The volumes on World War I which are published here are the result of a series of seminars held at the Department of Political and Social Sciences of the University of Florence between 2014 and 2015. Starting from the occasion of the war’s 100th anniversary, the authors wished to take stock of some specific aspects of the studies related to World War I. Historians, military analysts, political scientists and sociologists have also questioned the meaning of the fracture which inaugurated the 20th century and, consequently, the basic features of the new policy of the 'short century', in both an Italian and European perspective.

Firenze University Press - Università degli Studi di Firenze - Crisi, malessere, frammentazione sociale sono temi ricorrenti nelle rappresentazioni dei ceti medi. Il volume, basato sui risultati di un’indagine sulla professione forense realizzata con il contributo del Consiglio dell’Ordine degli Avvocati di Firenze, approfondisce la questione collocandosi in un filone di studi che ha ripreso vigore all’interno del dibattito sociologico italiano e internazionale. Toccando una pluralità di temi e avvalendosi di metodi d’indagine misti, la ricerca ha permesso di verificare come situazioni occupazionali diverse si traducano in una distribuzione diseguale delle chances di vita e in differenti atteggiamenti verso la professione, la politica e la vita sociale, consentendo altresì di esplorare il ruolo svolto dall’avvocatura nei processi di cambiamento.

Firenze University Press - Università degli Studi di Firenze - In un attualissimo studio frutto di analisi e comparazione, l'autrice - docente di Sociologia del Lavoro nell'Ateneo fiorentino - coglie gli effetti degli orientamenti della Comunità Europea nel favorire l'inclusione delle parti sociali nei processi decisionali e nella realizzazione delle politiche del lavoro. Nello stesso tempo individua i processi di scambio e confronto di esperienze che stanno portando al formarsi di un linguaggio sociale e del lavoro condiviso da un'ampia comunità di esperti dei governi e delle forze sociali.