Il presente lavoro di ricerca si pone la finalità di approfondire l’approccio della participatory research dal punto di vista teorico e della sua applicazione pratica. La participatory research è un approccio di ricerca non convenzionale che consiste nel coinvolgere nel processo persone vicine al tema oggetto d’indagine in qualità di ricercatori, anche se non sono tali dal punto di vista professionale. La prima parte dell’elaborato è dedicata alla presentazione teorica della participatory research in cui vengono delineate le caratteristiche, le origini ed i principi. Sono poi analizzate le fasi di cui l’approccio di ricerca si compone e vengono esplorati gli aspetti ed i dilemmi etici cui il tema della partecipazione dà origine. La descrizione si basa sulla letteratura internazionale nel campo del Social Work, ambito in cui la participatory research si è particolarmente diffusa. Parallelamente è presentato il metodo Relazionale di Rete, un nuovo quadro epistemologico per il Social Work sviluppatisi in Italia in anni recenti. I suoi principi fondanti e le prassi operative da esso indicate risultano particolarmente affini e in sintonia con le caratteristiche della participatory research e possono dare suggerimenti e spunti di riflessione utili al ricercatore che voglia implementare tale approccio partecipativo. Nella seconda parte del lavoro è illustrata un’applicazione pratica dell’approccio della participatory research nell’ambito del fenomeno della povertà. Sono quindi descritte le fasi del percorso di ricerca implementato nella città di Reggio Emilia tra il 2015 e il 2017. Dato l’obiettivo dell’elaborato l’accento è posto sugli aspetti metodologici di tale sperimentazione al fine di descrivere il percorso di ricerca seguito mettendone in luce vantaggi e limiti. In conclusione è quindi data una descrizione delle potenzialità e del valore aggiunto che la participatory research può fornire al campo del Social Work e al futuro della ricerca in tale settore. / The purpose of this doctoral thesis is to present the participatory research approach from the theoretical point of view and to show a practical application. The participatory research is an unconventional research approach that involves as co-researchers in the conduction of the research and in the decision-making process those who are usually the object of the research itself. The first part of the thesis is devoted to the theoretical presentation of the participatory research, whose the characteristics, the origins and the principles are outlined. The phases of the research approach are then analyzed and the ethical aspects and dilemmas of the theme of participation are explored. The description starts from international literature in the field of social work, where participatory research is particularly widespread. At the same time, the Relational Social Work Method, a new epistemological framework for Social Work developed in Italy in recent years, is presented. Its founding principles and its operating practices have particular similarities with the characteristics of participatory research and may provide ideas and prompt reflections useful for the researchers who want to implement this approach. In the second part of the dissertation, there is a practical application of the participatory research approach in the field of poverty. The phases of this practical research path, implemented between 2015 and 2017 in the city of Reggio Emilia, are described. Given the purpose of the thesis, the emphasis is placed on the methodological aspects of such experimentation, by describing the research path followed and by highlighting the potentialities and limitations. In conclusion, a description of the usefulness and the added value that participatory research can provide to the field of Social Work and the future of research in this field is given.

Lo scopo di questa ricerca è quello di analizzare l'impatto della migrazione sulle relazioni familiari degli immigrati turchi in Italia e il modo in cui i legami con il paese d’origine possono influenzare le loro esperienze migratorie e i loro piani futuri. Questi aspetti sono stati analizzati in uno studio qualitativo ed esplorativo, attraverso 38 interviste a migranti turchi attualmente residenti nel Nord Italia e identificati con la tecnica del campionamento snowball. L'intervista semi-strutturata è stato il principale strumento di ricerca e, di conseguenza, ha rappresentato la principale fonte di dati primari di questa ricerca. Le relazioni familiari e le esperienze migratorie hanno costituito il focus delle interviste; le domande sono state delineate intorno ad alcuni argomenti ritenuti cruciali come la storia della famiglia, la loro scelta migratoria, il confronto tra "qui" e "là", l'esperienza migratoria e i cambiamenti che questa produce a livello di relazioni familiari, le difficoltà e le reti di comunità. Analizzando una comunità poca studiata in Italia come quella turca, in una prospettiva di relazioni familiari, questa ricerca vuole fornire un contributo originale sia allo studio della migrazione turca sia agli studi familiari in generale. / This research seeks to analyse the impact of migration on family relations of Turkish immigrants in Italy, and the way ties with the country of origin can affect their migration experiences and future plans. These aspects have been analysed in a qualitative study, exploratory in nature, through 38 interviews with Turkish migrants identified by snowballing who are currently residing in Northern Italy. The semi–structured interview is the main research instrument and consequently, it provides the main sources of primary data for this research. The main focus of the interviews was on family relations and the migration experiences; interview questions were outlined around a few major topics such as the history of the family, their migration choice, the comparison between ‘here’ and ‘there’, the migration experience, the changes that it produces at the level of family relations, the difficulties and community networks. By considering such an understudied community in Italy as the Turkish –within a perspective of family relations– this research seeks to provide an original contribution both to the study of the Turkish migration and to family studies in general.

Questo lavoro si propone di analizzare il sistema di scambio su scala locale Sardex.net, che è stato fondato in Sardegna nel 2010, è rivolto alle piccole e medie imprese e utilizza una moneta complementare che si affianca alla valuta ufficiale. Si adotterà una prospettiva prevalentemente sociologica, ma che si avvarrà anche dei contributi che altre discipline, quali l’antropologia, la filosofia e l’economia, possono fornire ai fini di una più ampia comprensione del fenomeno oggetto di studio. Saranno individuati, nei resoconti delle esperienze e delle aspettative dei soggetti coinvolti, aspetti legati allo scambio che mostrino come la pratica monetaria possa essere attuata in modalità differenti da quelle a cui ci ha abituato il sistema del mercato globale, e quali effetti queste differenze possano implicare su diversi piani, da quello economico a quello della coesione sociale e della sostenibilità ambientale. Inoltre si farà luce sui diversi generi di capitale che, oltre a quello finanziario, possono entrare in gioco in un sistema che opera all’interno di un territorio specifico come la Sardegna e si fonda su principi orientati al sostegno dell’economia locale. Saranno infine approfondite le relazioni che intercorrono tra questi diversi generi di capitale e le transazioni che tra loro possono occorrere. / This work is focused on the analysis of a local circuit of exchange addressed to PMI named Sardex.net, established in Sardinia in 2010 and based on a complementary currency. The adopted perspective is mainly sociological, with some contributions belonging to the anthropological, philosophical and economical theories in order to enhance a wider comprehension of the phenomenon. The insight on the experiences and expectations of the people involved aims to bring out issues linked to the exchange that show how the monetary practice can be interpreted in a different way in comparison to the global market’s widespread vision and how this differences affect economy, social cohesion and environmental sustainability. Moreover, different species of capital with social relevance that can play a role in a system of exchange operating in a specific territory such as Sardinia and based on the principle of the support of local economy will be highlighted, together with the relationships and possible transactions occurring between those different species of capital.

Monastic utopia integrates of necessity economic activities which it tries to deny because off it religious character. Monks spread then an arsenal of strategies of reorganization to reconcile economy and religious life. These tensions between work and prayer are essential of the monastic life, but modernity and secularization of society bring with them new data who require monks a more successful economy. The social background which defines the status of the monk depends on each country, and the European comparison between France, Italy, Germany and Belgium allows to determine the intrinsic characteristics of the monastic economy and those which are contingent, according to place and period in whom it takes place. The more the monks seem extraworldly, the more their products win in symbolic value, so building a charismatic economy. Although in theory outside the world, the monastery is not nevertheless hermetic to its outside environment. Even, we can observe offers and demands between society and monasteries, this last one answers to demands of tradition and natural which society is expecting. Role of monks in the religious modernity thus recomposes around a new charisma which is not only religious. Unlike to the institutional Church, monks keep more credibility thanks to the other canals of communications which they can develop with the world, in particular by economy.

In this work I seek to understand whether the migratory experience brings, in addition to economic benefits, social advantages for Italian internal migrants. The goal is to understand if geographical mobility corresponds to social mobility, if geographical mobility is a channel through which to ensure greater social mobility, and whether migration reduces inequalities both of distributive and of relational order. I use the social mobility approach based on occupation. I argue that occupational mobility is a broader and more complete social indicator than economic indicators, such as income and wage differentials, for measuring improving living conditions. Furthermore, I focus on intergenerational mobility, on changes in social class that occur from the parentsâ€TM to the childrenâ€TMs generation. The main hypotheses to test are the following: upward social mobility experienced by a) high-educated migrants, b) migrants who return to the place of origin after a period spent elsewhere and c) migrants who have moved to Northern Italy. For my analysis I use data from a panel survey, the ILFI (Indagine Longitudinale sulle Famiglie Italiane).

The thesis analyses dance as artistic profession and bodily work. The aim is to explore the social foundations of a performative, bodily and kin(aesth)etic doing, the purpose being to untie some of the knots that, in manifold ways, link together corporeal experience, (sense of) society, knowledge and identity. The considered dance, thus, is first of all a performative art, to be (re)presented on stage during particular social occasions. The work of dance professionals can be defined as artistic doing. In this sense, the thesis aims to contribute to arts sociology and creativity studies, through, first, the analysis of the process bringing from 'nothing' to the artwork, considering the choreographic creative process and the continuum improvisation-composition, the everyday collective work practices, and the collaboration and negotiation characterizing them. Secondly, I present an analysis of the relations between different entities – institutional, commercial, cultural, etc. – that inhabit Italian dance field. Finally, I propose an analysis of artistic, and particularly dancer's, identity. Focusing on a performative art also means to focus on the body, and the impermanence of its doing. Dance, indeed, is a profession based on corporeal practices and embodied knowledge; it's a bodily doing. From this point of view, the thesis represents a contribution to sociology of the body and embodiment, as well as to sociology of knowledge, as an analysis of a case of teaching/learning process of bodily and performative expertise. Such a case enlights some dimensions of teaching/learning-to-perform activity, and could be usefully compared with other practical (artistic or 'simply' human) activities. Finally, I focus on dance as a professional doing. In this sense, the thesis contributes to the sociology of prefessions and semiprofessions, because it analyses the processes of socialization to the culture, knowledge and knowhow of the considered occupational community; the training paths and trajectories undertaken in the field; the social organization of everyday work and the ways in which dance professionals coordinate with one each other as well as with other kind of professionals; the recruitment mechanisms; the master and alternative narratives that sustain and (re)produce the community, and that dancers exploit in their biographies and identies construction.

The thesis examines the process of transition from education to employment in comparative perspective. More specifically, it investigates how market and educational institutions influence the school-to-work transition processes in the European context. A comparative perspective is adopted, in order to disentangle theoretically – by means of examples – and parametrically – by means of statistical modelling – the institutional influence on the first stages of occupational careers of young school leavers. In order to provide a comprehensive view of the school-to-work transition, the thesis focuses on both the process of entry into the first employment and the occupational progression beyond that point, with a particular emphasis on the emergence of social inequalities in the early career stages.

The study of household wealth as a distinct dimension of social stratification is crucial to understand the main factors and mechanisms driving the intergenerational reproduction of inequalities in contemporary societies. This dissertation aims to contribute to the expanding literature on wealth inequalities by investigating the role played by parental wealth in shaping children’s educational opportunities. More specifically, the dissertation concentrates on three main research axes. First, it investigates the relevance of wealth gaps in education in Italy, a country that received little attention in the literature so far. In doing so, it evaluates wealth gaps in the attainment of upper secondary degrees, in the enrolment at university, and in the attainment of tertiary degrees. Second, it aims to clarify the various roles played by different levels and components of parental wealth in providing children with advantages in educational outcomes. In this regard, it provides a theoretical reflection linking potential wealth mechanisms to the combination of levels and components of wealth and it empirically evaluates their relevance in the transition to post-secondary education. Third, it explores whether and how wealth gaps in education vary across different national contexts. Broad international comparisons are still missing in the literature and single-country studies are hardly comparable. To this purpose, this dissertation aims at evaluating wealth gaps in the access to post-secondary education across 14 European countries while also accounting for the relative importance of different wealth components.

Educational credentials have a central role in contemporary societies. However, social origins continue to affect educational performances and transitions well before children enter compulsory school, thus threatening future outcomes and development. By interacting research streams from economics, psychology, and pedagogy, this dissertation locates within the literature on child development, early education, and social stratification, and it aims at further contributing to the sociological evidence on the mechanisms that lead to inequalities in skills. The core of this dissertation lies in the analysis of the characteristics of the early childhood educational system (ECE) and of the home learning environment (HLE), as growth-promoting or unfavourable contexts for the development of both cognitive and noncognitive skills. Adopting recent cross-national and longitudinal data, this dissertation asks (1) whether and how much ECE matters in the lives of children around Europe, leaving long-lasting traces on their achievements once adolescents; (2) whether and how much parental social position, beliefs, and other family and child characteristics play a role in the care selection process in Germany; and (3) whether and how much quality in HLE and ECE contributes at explaining differences in skills before entering primary school in Ireland.

The present thesis analyses the role of household in producing and reproducing inequality in contemporary societies. While individual and macro level factors influencing economic inequality have been widely investigated, meso level factors have received much less attention so far. This thesis, thus, investigates how the employment behaviour of individuals and their sorting into households, and their dynamics in time and space contribute to deepen inequality. Firstly, it contributes to the still open debate on the consequences of changes in households for economic inequality focusing on four European countries and the United States over two decades. Increases in single-headed households, in female labour market participation, and in the employment and earnings similarity of partners are changes of primary interests for economic inequality. In addition, the thesis investigates how market, state, and family produce and redistribute economic resources and shape the distribution of income and its stratification across household types. Secondly, the thesis moves then towards a dynamic perspective and merges three different lines of research: the life course research, stratification research, and comparative research. It does so studying how life course events affect income trajectories of different social groups in different countries/contexts. Specifically, this thesis investigates the consequences of job loss across different social strata. The idea is that social risks may strengthen or weaken social stratification if risks, and their consequences, are unevenly distributed across social groups. Finally, these aspects are investigated for two countries, Germany and the United States, characterized by relevant variations in those institutions – the market, family and welfare state – which have the capacity to affect the risk of experiencing job loss, and to buffer its economic consequences.