Teacher(s)
Mulayi Marie-Laure (compensates Paye Olivier); Paye Olivier;
Language
French
Prerequisites
The prerequisite(s) for this Teaching Unit (Unité d’enseignement – UE) for the programmes/courses that offer this Teaching Unit are specified at the end of this sheet.
Learning outcomes
At the end of this learning unit, the student is able to : | |
| 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. |
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Content
The general aim of this course is to give students a basic knowledge of the social protection mechanisms — their history and their regulatory logic — through which Belgium has come to address the risk of social exclusion or precariousness arising from a lack of independent means of subsistence among some individuals.
The topic is approached from the general perspective of political sociology, drawing on the scholarship that has addressed it in terms of the “social question”. That phrase carries a twofold analytical ambition: (a) to situate present-day problems of exclusion and social precariousness, linked to a lack of independent means of subsistence, within a historical perspective; and (b) to relate them to the central place given to occupational activity — employment — as a vector of social integration in contemporary Western societies.
The course material is contained both in lecture notes (a syllabus) and in a slide presentation shown during the lectures. These will be made available to students on the course website (Moodle page) and in printed form at the course materials office (Bureau des supports de cours).
The course is divided into three parts.
After a brief introduction to the analytical framework of the “social question”, the first part offers a snapshot of the present place of work in Belgian society, of the mechanisms of integration and exclusion attached to it, and of the modes of regulation established to address them. This first part introduces a number of concepts and basic knowledge that make the historical perspective of the following part easier to follow.
The second part makes the present situation intelligible by setting it in a historical perspective that begins with the “first social question”, the one raised in the nineteenth century by industrialisation. It examines the nature of the social problems of that period, their relation to work, the main ways in which it was proposed to resolve them, and the social, political and legal processes that led to their structural resolution through the institutionalisation of the welfare state in the aftermath of the Second World War, and then through its expansion during the “Trente Glorieuses”.
The third part turns to the resurgence, over the past fifty years, of work-related social problems displaying features partly similar to those that gave rise to the original social question. Having established the scale and the causes of these new work-related problems, it considers the measures taken in response by the public authorities, the new issues these problems raise, and the main types of solution currently envisaged and/or actually implemented to curb them.
The topic is approached from the general perspective of political sociology, drawing on the scholarship that has addressed it in terms of the “social question”. That phrase carries a twofold analytical ambition: (a) to situate present-day problems of exclusion and social precariousness, linked to a lack of independent means of subsistence, within a historical perspective; and (b) to relate them to the central place given to occupational activity — employment — as a vector of social integration in contemporary Western societies.
The course material is contained both in lecture notes (a syllabus) and in a slide presentation shown during the lectures. These will be made available to students on the course website (Moodle page) and in printed form at the course materials office (Bureau des supports de cours).
The course is divided into three parts.
After a brief introduction to the analytical framework of the “social question”, the first part offers a snapshot of the present place of work in Belgian society, of the mechanisms of integration and exclusion attached to it, and of the modes of regulation established to address them. This first part introduces a number of concepts and basic knowledge that make the historical perspective of the following part easier to follow.
The second part makes the present situation intelligible by setting it in a historical perspective that begins with the “first social question”, the one raised in the nineteenth century by industrialisation. It examines the nature of the social problems of that period, their relation to work, the main ways in which it was proposed to resolve them, and the social, political and legal processes that led to their structural resolution through the institutionalisation of the welfare state in the aftermath of the Second World War, and then through its expansion during the “Trente Glorieuses”.
The third part turns to the resurgence, over the past fifty years, of work-related social problems displaying features partly similar to those that gave rise to the original social question. Having established the scale and the causes of these new work-related problems, it considers the measures taken in response by the public authorities, the new issues these problems raise, and the main types of solution currently envisaged and/or actually implemented to curb them.
Teaching methods
The course includes lectures on the one hand and a self-teaching activity on the other hand.
Although the lectures are given ex cathedra, they are intended to be interactive and open to discussion. To make exchanges easier, the lecture notes and the slides shown in class will be made available to students on the course website (Moodle page) and in printed form at the course materials office (Bureau des supports de cours).
As a self-teaching activity, students read a portfolio of texts related to the lectures, made available in the same way.
Although the lectures are given ex cathedra, they are intended to be interactive and open to discussion. To make exchanges easier, the lecture notes and the slides shown in class will be made available to students on the course website (Moodle page) and in printed form at the course materials office (Bureau des supports de cours).
As a self-teaching activity, students read a portfolio of texts related to the lectures, made available in the same way.
Evaluation methods
Assessment consists solely of a written open-book examination: during the examination, students are free to consult any paper document they have brought with them at the start, including annotated documents.
The examination covers both the elements developed in the “course material” (those presented in the lecture notes, in the course slides and during the lectures) and those developed in the “self-teaching activity material” (the texts that make up the reading portfolio).
The examination lasts three hours and consists of two questions, each marked out of ten, requiring answers in a format — to be specified in the examination paper — of about one and a half pages. Examination papers from previous years may be consulted on the course website.
The same assessment procedures apply in the first and the second session, and would also apply if the lectures and examination sessions had to be held online.
The examination covers both the elements developed in the “course material” (those presented in the lecture notes, in the course slides and during the lectures) and those developed in the “self-teaching activity material” (the texts that make up the reading portfolio).
The examination lasts three hours and consists of two questions, each marked out of ten, requiring answers in a format — to be specified in the examination paper — of about one and a half pages. Examination papers from previous years may be consulted on the course website.
The same assessment procedures apply in the first and the second session, and would also apply if the lectures and examination sessions had to be held online.
Online resources
The course has a website on the Moodle platform, where students have access to the digital version of the lecture notes, of the reading portfolio and of the slides shown during the lectures — where relevant, together with additional slides presenting more recent material.
A document listing the bibliographic and web sources for the course material may also be made available there, as may other documents related to the course.
A document listing the bibliographic and web sources for the course material may also be made available there, as may other documents related to the course.
Bibliography
Le cadrage général du cours s’inspire principalement des travaux suivants :
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'État-providence, Paris, Seuil, 1995.
Un document reprenant les sources bibliographiques et webographiques de la matière du cours est consultable sur le site de cours.
En parallèle, le cours s'appuie aussi, pour ses activités impliquantes, sur un portefeuille de lecture (voir rubriques précédentes).
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'État-providence, Paris, Seuil, 1995.
Un document reprenant les sources bibliographiques et webographiques de la matière du cours est consultable sur le site de cours.
En parallèle, le cours s'appuie aussi, pour ses activités impliquantes, sur un portefeuille de lecture (voir rubriques précédentes).
Teaching materials
- Notes de cours
- Diaporama du cours
- Portefeuille de lecture du cours
Faculty or entity
Programmes / formations proposant cette unité d'enseignement (UE)
Title of the programme
Sigle
Credits
Prerequisites
Learning outcomes
Bachelor in Information and Communication (French-Dutch-English)
Bachelor in Sociology and Anthropology (French-Dutch-English)