European democracies have witnessed the progressive affirmation of populist parties in the last two decades. This thesis draws from the suggestions of the theoretical literature on populism to study why European citizens support populist parties. In doing so, the aim of this thesis is twofold: on the one hand, it applies the ideational approach to populism to investigate support for populism from a comparative perspective; on the other hand, it seeks to understand how demand-side and supply-side factors contribute to explaining the cross-country and temporal heterogeneity in their electoral performances. This thesis focuses on two demand-side factors (i.e., social marginalisation and sociotropic concerns about economy) and two factors of the supply-side (i.e., liberal institutional arrangements and party competition). The results show that, first, populist parties attract significant support from citizens perceiving socially marginalised, especially in wealthy and globalised contexts; whereas sociotropic concerns about economy do not lead to higher support for populism. Second, liberal institutional arrangements increase the anti-institutional appeal of populist parties; whereas party competition on a core element of the far-right populist ideology (nativism) does not affect support for far-right populism to a great extent. This thesis shows that an approach that integrates both demand and supply side perspectives is beneficial to understand the reasons underlying support for populism.

La tesi ha l'obiettivo di comprendere quale sistema di nuovi valori, aspirazioni e norme sociali, rispetto all'ideologia delle sfere separate, orienta l'agire di neogenitori in coppie dual precarious e con quali conseguenze dal punto di vista soggettivo, tanto nella quotidianità quanto lungo il corso biografico. Il lavoro di ricerca adotta un approccio sociologico di tipo interpretativo e si articola su tre fuochi di analisi specifici: gli assetti culturali e normativi influenti nei processi di sense-making tra famiglia e lavoro, le pratiche quotidiane di boundary-work fra gli ambiti di vita e i processi decisionali lungo le esperienze biografiche. La tesi fa luce su come i meccanismi, allo stesso tempo pratici e culturali, collocati in contesti familiari, strutturali e culturali specifici, concorrano, talvolta in modo conflittuale e talvolta attraverso taciti processi di adattamento, ad innovare e, per altri versi, a riprodurre i modelli egemoni di conciliazione famiglia-lavoro.

Design has the potential to disrupt the status quo, yet disruption inevitably introduces new conflicts. One of the challenges of Social Design is to navigate the social, political and material conflicts that define contemporary lives and find new ways to transform them into creative resources. In addressing that challenge this thesis investigates agonism, a multifaceted theory that explicates conflict and grounds the need for such an investigation in design activism. The political implications, practical considerations and design potentials of agonism are examined in detail, and three core principles of agonism are defined: Identities, Dialogues and Agonistic Space. These principles are elaborated through their relation to intersubjectivity as a fundamental aspect of human experience, its interactional role in identity formation and communication, and its influence on the production and performance of space. A Constructive Design Research methodology is employed that contributes to the understanding agonism through a series of research trajectories and interventions. Design strategies to enact agonism are proposed around game, play and interaction design: Identities can be investigated through Role-Playing, Dialogues can be initiated through Storytelling, and Agonistic Space can be manifested as a Third Place. These strategies are field tested to examine various communities and the conflicts within them. A game intervention Mind the Gap confronts the endemic problem of the gender gap in academic and professional communities of ICT and STEM. A research intervention takes agonistic perspectives to elucidate conflicts of European migration and participatory urban planning in a neighbourhood community in the U.K. A digital intervention applies agonism towards engaging a platform community that has no material form, in the online project of commonfare.net. These interventions experiment with creative inquiry, game and play as design speculations, sketching and constructing playful inerventions that engage participants in agonism, to enact challenges to the status quo and illuminate potential solutions to complex societal issues. The utility and outcomes of the principles and strategies are evaluated with a focus on emergent intersubjectivity through Dialogic Syntax and Critical Discourse Analyses of gameplay, narratives and design artifacts. The main contributions of this thesis are its shift from empathic perspectives to intersubjectivity in design research, and its operationalization of the theory of agonism for Social Design. Secondary contributions include the elaboration of game and play as design speculation that includes critical reflections on their real-world practices, and the artifact Mind the Gap which has evolved from prototype to a co-created, community driven experience that continues to engage people in meaningful dialogues that challenge the status quo of the gender gap.

La tesi affronta il tema del rapporto tra Carl Schmitt e gli Stati Uniti. Il primo capitolo, dedicato all'America vista da Schmitt, ripercorre i riferimenti presenti nell'opera dell'autore – dall'interpretazione della tradizione politico-giuridica americana in opposizione a quella continentale, al ruolo determinante che ha il Nuovo Mondo nello sviluppo e nella decadenza dell'ordinamento internazionale moderno, fino alle suggestioni teologico-politiche legate alla figura del katéchon – giungendo alla conclusione che non si possa liquidare l'atteggiamento di Schmitt come una pura e semplice ostilità assoluta nei confronti dell'America e di ciò che rappresenta. Per rendere conto di questo rapporto in tutta la sua complessità, occorre tenere presente la costitutiva ambivalenza dell'ultimo concetto schmittiano di inimicizia, e il suo implicare la dimensione del riconoscimento. Il secondo capitolo tratta del rapporto fra Schmitt e il nutrito gruppo dei suoi ex-allievi ed ex-amici che lasciarono la Germania per gli Stati Uniti a partire dagli anni Trenta. Al di là delle curiosità storico-biografiche, la ricostruzione di queste relazioni scientifiche e professionali e del loro retaggio è determinante per comprendere la (mancata) ricezione dell'opera di Schmitt nel secondo dopoguerra, e permette di fare un bilancio critico dell'ipotesi che egli abbia esercitato un'influenza “sotterranea” sul conservatorismo americano (ipotesi che nella tesi viene decisamente respinta per carenza di basi filologiche). Il terzo capitolo indaga la ricezione del pensiero schmittiano da parte di Hannah Arendt, prendendo spunto dalle moltissime annotazioni manoscritte lasciate da quest'ultima in margine alla sua copia del Nomos della terra. Insieme ai diari degli anni Cinquanta, questi appunti sono la traccia di un confronto molto significativo, che coincide (cronologicamente e concettualmente) con l'elaborazione della teoria dell'agire politico che troverà espressione nelle opere successive (Vita activa, Sulla rivoluzione, e l'incompiuta Introduzione alla politica): sebbene in questi scritti non sia mai citato il nome di Schmitt, la sua presenza come interlocutore implicito è pressoché costante, e testimoniata da un gran numero di indizi testuali. Nel quarto capitolo, infine, con una rassegna della bibliografia in lingua inglese degli ultimi trent'anni, si ricostruisce il crescente interesse per l'opera di Schmitt con particolare attenzione per due casi: quello della rivista «Telos», che ne ha rielaborato il pensiero integrandolo (non senza forzature) in una prospettiva di radicalismo democratico, e quello della leggenda storiografica che ha fatto di Schmitt una sorta di ispiratore occulto del neoconservatorismo americano e dell'amministrazione Bush junior.

The thesis contributes to the explanation of two well-documented phenomena: the strong decline in fertility rates and the parallel increase in female labour market participation which occurred in the last decades in most OECD countries. The argument is studied by means of a European comparison and an in-depth analysis of the Italian case. An innovative aspect of the work is the combination of cultural and structural explanations. In fact, the main argument of the thesis is that cross-national differences and the puzzling Italian and Southern European pattern of low fertility and low female labour market participation should be understood as stemming from the interplay between different factors, related to a structural – Welfare Regimes and the Economic Theory of the Family – and a cultural theoretical framework – the Second Demographic Transition and the distinction between “strong” and “weak” family systems. In detail, the thesis shows empirically how both women’s opportunity-costs and households’ economic resources as well as family values and preferences are useful to understand fertility and female labour market participation behaviours. ILFI (Indagine Longitudinale sulle Famiglie Italiane, 1997-2005) data have been used to demonstrate how individual- and household-level mechanisms, connected with social stratification, underlying the transition to parenthood and female labour market participation around childbirths are coherent with the Italian familialistic institutional setting. Italy is an interesting case not least because of its strong regional heterogeneity, which concerns also the family formation process. Adopting an epidemiological approach, ILFI and IARD data on the condition of youth (2004) are exploited to show how the regional heterogeneity in family behaviours within Italy, such as the lower age at parenthood and the higher fertility rates in Southern regions in the selected cohorts, may be largely explained by differences in family values. This first hint suggesting the role of culture on demographic behaviours is developed further in a comparative setting using EVS (European Values Study, 1990-2008) data. The latter allowed to assess directly the importance of values and attitudes for women’s labour market participation and fertility decisions in 15 European countries. Finally, the comparison between the different paths followed by Italy and the Netherlands in the last thirty years is discussed as an example of how changes in the institutional settings in order to foster work-family reconciliation are deeply embedded within wider processes of social change. Based on the developed theoretical framework and the results of the mentioned empirical analyses, the author attempts to integrate different streams of the literature and presents an argumentation about the complex interplay between interests, ideas and institutions underlying fertility and female labour market participation trends and patterns.

This study has been conducted at Scania Engine Assembly, in particular in an production area that produces Marine Engines. Scania always strives for continuous improvement and the purpose of this study has been to create an overview of the production area Marine-completion, where the marine components are assembled. The goals were to create a current state analysis, propose a future state analysis and propose suggestions of solutions for improvement of Marine-completion. The research question was: How can the strategies for the current state analysis be chosen, used and analyzed in order to accomplish a successful current state analysis?. The research methodology in this study was conducted using qualitative and quantitative research strategies, where both primary and secondary data were collected. The theoretical framework was divided into four subsections: Production systems, project management, technical solutions of today and supporting literature for solutions. The main method of this study was collecting data. The data included layout of the production, assembly times, quality deviations, engine variant classifications, Value Stream Mapping, Safety, Health and Environment related deviations and costs. Based on the current state, a future state was developed. The results of the current state analysis was that there are a total of 20 main variants of marine engines which have different assembly times. The assembly time can vary from approximately 45 minutes to 3 hours and 35 minutes for straight engines and approximately 4 hours to 8 hours for V8 engines. The mean results from Value Stream Mapping concluded a distribution of 40 percentage Value Adding and 60 percentage Non-Value Adding, where the largest waste from Non-Value Adding activities was bringing parts. Most of the quality deviations were caused by the method, where the biggest problem was regarding "tool insufficiency". Safety, Health and Environment related deviations were identified, where the largest problems were "risk". The future state analysis ended up in three cases, which explains the possible savings and future states. The Failure Mode and Effects Analysis resulted in 7 failure modes, where "Engine-card missing tasks/parts" had the largest rating. The suggestion of solutions resulted in a new layout, new routines with the engine-cards with digital screens and some other smaller suggestions. This study concluded in three main suggestions of solutions about "Newlayout at Marine-completion ", "Digital screens at each station" and "Continuous update of enginecards", which resulted in three assignment directives that Scania can further work with in the future. / Detta arbete har utförts på ett produktionsområde i Scanias motormontering i Södertälje, Stockholm. Scania strävar alltid mot ständiga förbättringar och detta arbete uppfyller det genom syftet att skapa en kartläggning över produktionsområdet med fokus i förbättringar. Målen med detta arbete var att kartlägga nuläget i Marinkompletteringen samt skapa ett framtidsläge tillsammans med föreslagna förbättringsförslag. Den forskningsrelaterade frågeställningen för detta arbete var: Hur kan strategierna för nulägesanalysen väljas, användas och analyseras för att uppnå en lyckad nulägesanalys? Metoden för litteraturstudien som utförts för detta arbete använde kvalititativa och kvantitiva forskningsmetoder där både primär och sekundärdata samlades. Det teoretiska ramverket var uppdelat i fyra delkapitel: Produktionssystem, projektledning, tekniska lösningar idag och stödjande litteratur för lösningar. Huvudmetoden för detta arbete var datainsamlingen som inkluderade aspekter som layout på området, monteringstider, kvalitetsavvikelser, motorvarianternas klassificering, värdeflödesanalys, avvikelser kopplat till säkerhet, hälsa, miljö och kostnader. Utifrån nulägesanalysen utvecklades framtidsläget fram. Resultaten från nulägesanalysen påvisade en total mängd av 20 olika huvudvarianter på marinmotorerna som monteras i marinkompletteringen med olika monteringstider. Monteringstiderna kunde sträcka sig mellan 45 minuter till tre timmar och 35 minuter för raka motorer och ungefär fyra till åtta timmar när det gäller V8 motorer. Medelvärdet på resultatet av värdeflödesanalysen resulterade i en fördelning av 40 procent värdeskapande tid och 60 procent icke-värdeskapande tid där det största slöseriet tillkom vid upphämtning av artikel. De flesta kvalitetsbristerna orsakades av metodiska fel där det mest förekommande metodiska felet var framkomlighet för verktyg. Bristerna kring säkerhet, hälsa och miljö identifierades och den mest förekommande bristen var gällande risker på arbetsplatsen. Analysen av framtidsläget resulterade i tre scenarion som vardera förklarar möjliga kostnadsbesparingar vid utfasning av olika icke-värdeskapande aktiviteter. Failure Mode and Effects Analysis som utfördes resulterade i sju feltyper varav "brist på information i motorkort" hade högst risktal. Rekommenderade åtgärder för Failure Mode and Effects Analysis resulterade i förslag om ny layout, nya rutiner gällande motorkort med digitala lösningar samt ett flertal mindre lösningar. De föreslagna lösningar som gavs till Scania i detta arbete var tre konkreta huvudförslag angående "ny layout på marinkompletteringen", "digitala skärmar på vardera station" och "kontinuerlig uppdatering av motorkort" vilket i sin tur resulterade i tre uppdragsdirektiv som Scania fortsatt kan jobba med i framtiden.

The diffusion of episodes of terrorism and political violence around the world has heightened the need for states to design effective counterterrorist measures. Orthodox studies on terrorism hold that the frequency and intensity of terrorist attacks determine the levels of assertiveness maintained by counterterrorist measures. This research builds on this assumption by developing the link between terrorism and counterterrorism policy through two unit-level variables. Besides the frequency and intensity of terrorist attacks, this study examines the political orientation of states’ elites, and states’ integration in multilateral security frameworks. The research tests for these factors by studying counterterrorist authoritarian regimes, and questions the notion that their political orientation makes state terrorism a measure of choice. In empirical terms, this study investigates the making of China’s counterterrorism policy in Xinjiang from 1996 to 2017. The period is analysed by comparing three within-cases, bookended by pre identified critical junctures. China’s counterterrorist measures in Xinjiang have experienced a revival since President Xi came into power in 2013, and the country has been quick to adopt a counterterrorism policy that has come to resemble state terrorism. Yet, no substantial variation in the opposition to the country’s elite nor exceptionally violent terrorist attacks have been recorded in the region. This study relies upon qualitative data, such as political discourse and documents, news media and scholarly writings, and aggregated data is examined to complement the qualitative sources. Methodologically, this thesis supplements process tracing with qualitative content analysis. The evidence provides support for a theory of ‘multi-causal counterterrorism’, according to which counterterrorism policy depends on the combination of systemic and domestic factors. Other than the incidence of terrorist attacks, states choose their counterterrorism policy in the context of ever-changing power relationships at the international and domestic levels. It is concluded that these power relationships impose constraints on states’ decision-making abilities.

Questa dissertazione si propone di contribuire alla riflessione teorica sulle trasformazioni della città contemporanea, che discipline come la sociologia urbana e, nell’ultimo decennio, la sociologia della cultura, stanno portando avanti; vorrebbe, in particolare, costruire dei ponti tra queste e la produzione artistica per lo spazio pubblico che va sotto il nome di Public Art. Il mutato rapporto fra forma fisica della città, modelli produttivi e modalità di uso degli spazi pubblici ha contribuito a stimolare la formazione di nuovi ambiti di elaborazione dell’identità collettiva. Attraverso uno studio qualitativo realizzato in Italia e negli Stati Uniti, mostra come l'Arte Pubblica obblighi l’arte e gli artisti ad una ridefinizione del loro ruolo “pubblico”: la sperimentazione di nuove strategie di comunicazione simbolica nello spazio pubblico e la ricerca di un confronto con la dimensione locale del territorio fanno della Public Art un’innovativa formula di rappresentazione e rappresentatività del territorio. / This dissertation contributes to the ongoing debates about the transformations of contemporary cities, which has long invested urban sociology and, more recently, has become a concern in the sociology of culture. It also explores the possibility to build bridges between these disciplines and the production of art in public space known as Public Art. The transformed relationship between the city’s physical form, its production systems and the different ways in which public space is used nowadays creates new areas for the elaboration of social identities. Through a qualitative study carried out in Italy and the United States, it also shows how contemporary Public Art requires a redefinition of the “public” role of art and artists: as it tests new strategies of symbolic communication in public space and it tries to get in contact with the local dimension, Public Art becomes an innovative formula of representation of the territory.

Questa tesi presenta un’indagine sugli attivisti del Partito Democratico, condotta tra il 2009 e il 2010 nei circoli di quattro città italiane (Milano, Perugia, Roma e Napoli) attraverso etnografie e interviste biografiche. L’identità degli attivisti è studiata attraverso il metodo dello storytelling, ampiamente utilizzato negli studi dei fenomeni politici. Partendo dal presupposto teorico che ogni attivista possiede tante identità quanti sono i suoi flussi stabili di relazioni verso altri attori (individuali o collettivi), ne vengono individuati essenzialmente due: il primo verso l’interno dell’organizzazione e il secondo verso l’esterno. Nel primo caso, l’identità degli attivisti viene studiata attraverso le relazioni che essi intrattengono all’interno del partito (con leader, dirigenti e altri attivisti). Nel secondo caso, vengono analizzate le relazioni che gli attivisti intrattengono con elettori e realtà associative dei territori. Infine, si presenteranno gli aspetti dinamici delle identità degli attivisti, le scintille del mutamento che attraversano le loro storie. Il quadro generale che emerge dalla ricerca è un attivismo che viene definito, con una metafora informatica, “1.5”: un attivismo contemporaneo che sta esperendo un mutamento dalla militanza tradizionale dei partiti elettorali di massa, in una direzione che però è ancora per molti aspetti nebulosa. Un mutamento incompiuto: una rivoluzione “1.5”. / This work presents field research on the activists of the Italian Democratic Party, developed between 2009 and 2010 in four Italian cities (Milan, Perugia, Rome and Naples) through ethnographies and in-depth interviews. The identity of the activists is studied through the method of storytelling, widely used within the field of political studies. Starting from the theoretical assumption that social identities are stable steams of relations between actors, this work identifies two relevant steams for party activists: the first is toward the organization itself, and the second is toward the territory. In the first case, the identity of the activists is examined through the relationships with party leaders, managers and other activists. In the second case, it is analyzed the relation that activists maintain with the territory: voters, associations, and other political organizations. Finally, it is presented the dynamic aspect of the activists’ identities, the spark of change that run through their stories. The overall picture that emerges from the research is a “1.5 activism”: a contemporary form of activism that is experiencing a shift from traditional electoral mass parties, yet still remaining unfinished. A “1.5” revolution.

La tesi è uno studio sociologico dell'origine del marketing tra il 1890 e il 1930 negli Stati Uniti. Seguendo il metodo genealogico che Weber derivò da Nietzsche, presentò nel saggio sull'oggettività e utilizzò nella ricerca sull'etica protestante, ho considerato l'odierna centralità del marketing nel capitalismo di consumo, generalmente data per scontata come un fatto naturale, come il problema della ricerca e ho studiato le condizioni di possibilità del suo emergere. La ricerca mostra come gli strumenti di marketing dapprima si svilupparono autonomamente e, infine, s'integrarono formando la logica del marketing che risponde alle richieste sociali e, al contempo, stimola il desiderio. L'inquadramento teorico weberiano relativo alla dinamica di razionalizzazione e disincantamento spiega perché questa logica emerse come vittoriosa. Vi era un'affinità elettiva tra i fini del consumatore come il tipo d'uomo emergente e la logica del marketing. L'incessante desiderio - effetto del disincantamento del mondo - di esperienze e di sperimentazione sull'identità, attraverso gli stili di vita, del consumatore stava in un rapporto di causazione reciproca con la promozione, da parte del marketing, del consumo come strumento adeguato ad appagare tale desiderio in continuo cambiamento. Sin dall'origine, il marketing produce forme di reincantamento estetico-emozionale per mezzo della razionalizzazione. / The thesis is a sociological study of the birth of marketing between 1890 and 1930 in the United States. Following the Nietzsche-inspired genealogical method Weber presented in the 'Objectivity' essay and used in his work on the Protestant ethic, I considered the present-day relevance of marketing within consumer capitalism, usually taken for granted as an obvious fact, as the research problem and I delved into a study of its conditions of emergence. The analysis shows how marketing tools at first developed separately and were eventually joined in building the specific logic of marketing that both answers to social needs and stirs and spurs desire. The Weberian theoretical framework of rationalization and disenchantment explains why this logic could become victorious. There was an elective affinity between the aim of the consumer as the emerging type of man and the logic of marketing. The consumer's ongoing longing for experiences and for the play of the Self through lifestyles, resulting from the disenchantment of the world, was in a relation of reciprocity with the marketing promotion of consumption as the adequate means to satisfy the everchanging desire. Since its birth, marketing has been producing forms of aesthetic-affective re-enchantment by means of rationalization.