Scholarship CU4.01: Diachronic Webfare and Transgenerationality. In memory of engineer Franco Tatò

Enel Foundation and the University of Turin launched a collaboration on the research topics of webfare and transgenerationality. In this framework, Enel Foundation funded a scholarship named in memory of Franco Tatò within the First Italy’s National PhD in Sustainable Development and Climate Change (PhD SDC). The scholarship is for students with a knowledge of philosophy, its history and concepts; they should possess the conceptual tools suitable for the development of independent, but above all interdisciplinary research; have good interpersonal skills; have the ability to work in a team, expounding one’s own point of view, but also adapting to teamwork (see the full description below).  

Scholarship CU4.01: Diachronic Webfare and Transgenerationality. In memory of engineer Franco Tatò

Deadline for Application: 13.00 (Italian time), 17^th July 2023 

Reference Person: Andina Tiziana (tiziana.andina@unito.it)

Host University: Università degli Studi di Torino / Filosofia e Scienze dell’Educazione

Research Keywords: Transgenerationality; Welfare System; Social Justice

Reference ERCs:

SH3_4 Social integration, exclusion, prosocial behaviour

SH5_10 Ethics and its applications; social philosophy

Reference SDGs:

GOAL 10: Reduced Inequality,

GOAL 11: Sustainable Cities and Communities,

GOAL 16: Peace and Justice Strong Institutions

Description of the research topic

Many social practices implemented through information technologies create value: documedia capital, i.e. the value of the data generated by processing and sharing the traces we produce on the web. It is increasingly exploited by digital platforms but rarely conceptualised for community’s or future generations’ benefit.

Particularly urgent problems highlight what Gramsci already pointed out: the exploitation of the south by the north was linked to the dynamics of industry and the production system and to the exploitation of the territory. They also make it clear that ‘the preservation of time’ is at least as urgent as that of space, hence the recent updates to the Italian Constitution with reference to future generations.

We invite proposals that address the crucial problems opened up by transgenerationality and the impact that new technologies have on environmental sustainability and welfare systems. They concern but are not limited to:

• the nature of transgenerational pact, and future and past generations;
• the emotions that strengthen transgenerational cooperation;
• the formulation of criteria for intra- and transgenerational justice;
• the ways in which these criteria can be transferred to the social, political, and economic spheres; the evolution that new technologies are bringing about in the way transgenerational relations and social and environmental sustainability are being managed;
• the narrative models that can enhance the organisation of transgenerational societies.

Research team and environment

The PhD Student will work together with Labont – Center for Ontology, an interdepartmental center of UniTo involving the Departments of Philosophy and Education, Psychology, Law, Management, and Culture, Politics and Society. It seeks to promote scientific research on topics that intersect different subject areas by focusing on ontology (understood as the philosophical discipline that aims at providing an inventory of what exists in a certain domain), and in particular on social ontology and ontology of social organizations, of art, of economics, of law, of gender, of biology, political ontology, ontology of architecture and design, ontology and cognitive science, and psychology.

Suggested skills for this research topic

The ideal candidate has a good knowledge of philosophy, its history and concepts; he or she possesses the conceptual tools suitable for the development of independent, but above all interdisciplinary research; has good interpersonal skills; has the ability to work in a team in a fruitful manner, expounding one’s own point of view, but also adapting to teamwork.

Source of fundings: Host University’s fundings.

Period of research abroad: For this scholarship it is mandatory a period of research abroad of 6 months.

Internship: For this scholarship it is not planned a period of intership.