Università Roma Tre

TEducation and liquid society: Zygmunt Bauman’s conversations on education

The course is divided into two parts: the first general part on an overview of issues on the sociology of education with reference to the construction of social identity, from modernity to the age of globalization, not forgetting the convergent and connected cultural processes. Focus will be on the primary, secondary and peer-related socialization processes, with particular reference to the evolution of sociological thinking as applied to education and to the most common cultural and communicative models.
The second part focuses on Zygmunt Bauman’s conversations On Education: what is the role of education in a world where we no longer have a clear vision of the future? What role should educators play in a world where young people find themselves faced with deep uncertainty about their future, where the prospects of securing a stable, long-term career seem increasingly remote and where intensified population movements have created more diverse communities in which different cultures find themselves living side by side? In this sense, Bauman reflects on the conditions of young individuals and sheds light on the role played by education and educators, in line with the relationship of culture, knowledge, values.
The class focuses on some relevant sociologist of education and, especially, on Bauman’s ideas in relation to the management and consumption of education, including topics such as student voice and individual identity; relationships and inclusive education. Identifying and discussing underpinning assumptions about Bauman’s work and its application to education, the course addresses the connection between his work and wider debates, providing a critical and clarifying re-examination of Bauman’s contribution to the role of education within liquid modernity.


Topics of the lessons

Unit 1 – Culture
What is culture? The role played by classical sociologists to the study of culture. The contemporary debate and future challenges.

Unit 2 – Education
The sociological relevance of educational topics. Education between family and school cultures. Education-culture-society. The sociological challenges for a fair and inclusive education.

Unit 3 – Communication
Communication, identity and social relationships. Face-to-face communication and mediated interactions. Identity and online social relationships. Research on children’s online practices.

Unit 4 – Consumption
The contribution of classical sociologists. The research on consumption: the practices of distinction. From Cultural Studies to liquid consumption.

Unit 5– Religion
Religion and secularization. The sociology of religion: the role played by classical sociologists and the contemporary debate. Current and future challenges.

Unit 6 – Families
The observation on families’ transformation. Relationships and conditions of life: the contemporary debate on families.

Unit 7 – Generations
The tenet of generation. The principles of sociological perspective. The conflicts among generations.

Unit 8 – Inequalities
The contributions of classical sociologists: from the beginning to modernity. The end of optimism and centrality of education. Current and future challenges.

Unit 9 – Play
The practice of play within the cultural and educational processes. The contribution of classical authors. Between game theory and mediatization of the (video)ludic experience. The culture of simulation and ludic dimension of culture.

Unit 10 – Learning environment
From functionalism to polycentric interdependence. Hybridization of learning environment and educational continuum. Ongoing and future challenges.

Unit 11 – Post-modernity
Bauman and the liquid society: conversations on education

Textbooks used

Andrea Casavecchia, Maurizio Merico (a cura di), Sociologia dei processi culturali e dell’educazione, Roma, Armando Editore, 2025.

Zygmunt Bauman, Conversazioni sull’educazione, Milano, Erikson, 2022.

For a 2CFUs or 3CFUs supplement:
Elena Besozzi, Educazione e società, new edition, Roma, Carocci, 2025.

For a 4 CFUs supplement:
Maddalena Colombo (a cura di), E come educazione. Autori e parole chiave della sociologia, Napoli, Liguori, 2007 (the above mentioned four thematic units, no. 1-4)


For a 4 CFUs supplement:
Maddalena Colombo (a cura di), E come educazione. Autori e parole chiave della sociologia, Napoli, Liguori, 2007 (the above mentioned four thematic units, no. 1-4)

The course is divided into two parts: a first general part dedicated to a review of topics pertaining to sociology of education with reference to the construction of social identity in multicultural context and to the processes of primary, secondary and peer socialization; a second monographic part, dedicated to an in-depth study of international migration dynamics and their impact on formal and informal educational processes from a comparative perspective.
Relevant issues in this area are, among others, the second generations of migrants, discrimination in education and work, intercultural competences, the role of transnational networks and migrant diasporas as educational and development agents, intergenerational dialogue and the impact of training / work dynamics on emigration processes. The importance of historical memory and the transmission of knowledge on migration through diversity education facilitate the fight against the problematization of migration and thus allow the initiation of citizenship and naturalization practices appropriate to the new multi-ethnic reality and hybrid identities of transnational migrants. To this end, case studies derived from empirical research on second-generation migrants, female migration from sub-Saharan Africa to Europe and from the analysis of old and new emigration flows from Italy will be proposed in a comparative perspective.

Lesson themes

Unit 1
Presentation of the course and the theme "Society and education"

Unit 2
Society and education: a theoretical and interpretative framework

Unit 3
Society and education: models of socialization

Unit 4
Identity in the multicultural society

Unit 5
Socialization, inequalities and migration

Unit 6
International migration: a theoretical and empirical framework

Unit 7
Memory and migration: transnational migration networks and diversity education

Unit 8
Interculturality, discrimination and educational processes: the second generations

Unit 9
Female migration from sub-Saharan Africa: gender and participatory paths

Unit 10
“Why are they leaving?”: Italian emigrations

Unit 11
Ethnographic path and course conclusions

Bibliographic references (attending and non-attending students)

Various teaching materials will be suggested by the lecturer during classes together with ad hoc readings. Others are available online.

General part:

Besozzi, E. (2017), Società, cultura, educazione. Teorie, contesti e processi, Roma: Carocci.

Monographic part:

Koser, K. (2009), Le migrazioni internazionali, Bologna: Il Mulino (Edizione originale: International Migration: A Very Short Introduction, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2007)

Another text to be chosen from:

Gehnyei, A. M. (2023), Il corpo nero, Roma: Fandango Libri.

Lapov, Z., Campani, G. (2017), Donne africane oltre le frontiere. Percorsi partecipativi in prospettiva di genere, Firenze: Nerbini.

Pugliese, E. (2018), Quelli che se ne vanno. La nuova emigrazione italiana, Bologna: Il Mulino.

Ruspini, P. (2024), Memoria e migrazioni. Percorsi di ricerca tra Svizzera e Italia in prospettiva transnazionale, Milano: Mimesis.