Face-to-face , second term, 30 hours of theory.

Second term
Thursday from 10:45 to 12:45

French

The general aim is to familiarize the students with a general approach of political sociology that focuses on a major social issue in the Western world: the inclusion/exclusion role of labour in society and the evolution of mechanisms of social protection set up by states in relation with employment.

This topic will be studied in the Belgian context through a general perspective of political sociology that has drawn on the scientific work, which has addressed this subject in terms of "social question". This expression marks a double analytical ambition: contextualize the current problems linked to labour, employment and social protection in a historical perspective, and relate their existence to the general processes of integration, especially through work, which are implemented in the modern Western societies in order to insure their cohesion.

At the end of the lectures, it will be hoped that students have acquired a global framework of analysis of the multiple current socio-economic issues in Belgium as well as in the Western countries. They would be able to own a specialized vocabulary appropriated to the specific political area they are studying as well as to have an accurate view of : the causes, content and magnitude of social problems related to labour and jobs; the terms of the historical and contemporary debates over them; the range of the main solutions which have been proposed to solve these problems.

For the Bachelor in Law :

For the Bachelor in Information and Communication :

For the Bachelor in Political Sciences: General :

For the Bachelor in Sociology and Anthropology :

For the Bachelor in Law :

Lectures are based on a course syllabus and PowerPoint presentations.

The course is divided into three parts.

In the first part, we will first introduce briefly to the analytical framework. Then we will give a general overview of the contemporary situation in Belgium in a sociological as well as in a legal perspective. Phenomena as employement/unemployment, incomes, poverty, social dialogue, social protection will be scrutinized.

In the second part, we will try to understand the contemporary situation in reference to the past. We will adopt an historical perspective focalized firstly on the first social question that has been addressed in the 19th century, during the industrialization. It is concerned with the nature of the then social problems, with their relation to work, with the main ways that have been proposed to solve them and with the social, political and legal processes that have lead to their structural resolution thanks to the institutionalization of the Welfare State, at the end of the Second World War and during its expansion during the « Trente Glorieuses ».

Finally, in the last part, we will focus on the resurgence of social problems related to work during the last fourty years. These show characteristics that are partially similar to those of the problems that aroused the original social question, and justify therefore the fact that some political sociologists call it « the new social question ». After having determined the importance and the origins of these new problems related to work in our society, we will discuss the measures that have been adopted against it by public power and the main solution mode that are currently taken into account and/or effectively implemented to curb these new problems.

Even if this course is a lecture, it is open to any debate and students' participation. To stimulate its, lecture notes and the ppt presentation will be at the disposal of students at the beginning of the course. Students are invited to read previously the pertinent sections of the lecture notes so that the interactions in the classroom can focus itself on their own specific questions and topics (= inverted classroom type of learning).

For the personal homework, students have to read a portfolio which contents a selection of texts related to a contemporary debate : for the 2020-21 academic year, the discussions about the opportunity to introduce into social protection systems a basic income.
At the exam, students have to be able to use texts ideas to analyze some discourses or legal initiatives related to the debate in question.

The final assessment is a written open-book exam that lasts three hours. It is made of two large scope questions, each one counting for ten points, the first one is dedicated to the course material and the second one, to the personal homework.

The two questions require an analysis of discourses, facts or current devices in relation with labour and social protection in the western countries. The students have to show their capability to use appropriately the general elements of knowledge that have been developed in this course, but also in other courses or contexts (personal general knowledge of the students). This analysis must be as rich as possible.

Each question should be answered on 2-3 pages maximum.

More details on the course website which offers for instance copies of previous years' exams and their correct answers.

Rules remains similar for the second session of examination.

Nonetheless if the first lectures were to take place online, as a result of measures related to the Covid-19 crisis, the exam will be replaced by the delivery of two brief analysis notes (each assessed on 10 points) at the beginning of the exam session. The first will consist of a historical framework, based on the elements presented in the course material, of a current public policy, while the second will consist of a reasoned position in the debate on which the reading portfolio is based. A more precise document explaining the content and form of these notes will be available on the Moodle course website.

No other reading than the lectures notes and the PowerPoint presentations is required.
For the students wishing to go further, the course syllabus contains a significative number of bibliographical suggestions.

The course's general approach is based on the following works :
Robert CASTEL, Les métamorphoses de la question sociale. Chronique du salariat, Paris, Gallimard (Folio. Essais 12, n°349), 1999.
Jacques COMMAILLE, Les nouveaux enjeux de la question sociale, Paris, Hachette, 1997.
Andrea REA, La société en miettes. Épreuves et enjeux de l'exclusion, Bruxelles, Labor (Quartier libre), 1997.
Pierre ROSANVALLON, La nouvelle question sociale. Repenser l'Etat-providence, Paris, Seuil, 1995.

The class has a Moodle webpage on which the students will find, amongst other things, the following documents: the up-to-date version of the Power Point slides' portfolio, copies of previous years' examinations, a set of guidelines for the exam and the homework. An online forum is also available for the students to ask any question, provide some answers to their co-students, and communicate with the professor.