In-person and online conference as part of Roma Racconta… le professioni del patrimonio culturale.
Speakers:
Domenico De Masi – Sapienza University of Rome
Miriam Mirolla – Academy of Fine Arts in Rome
The history of work can be divided into three major phases:
• the first, which runs from Mesopotamia 5,000 years ago to mid-18th century England, was centred on agriculture and craftsmanship;
• the second, which coincides with industrial society and runs from the mid-18th century to the mid-20th century, was centred on the factory production of material goods such as refrigerators and cars;
• the third, which for convenience we call post-industrial, began after the Second World War and is centred on the production of intangible goods such as services, information, symbols, values and aesthetics. In each of these eras, work has had its protagonists, its methods, and its social effects.
Today, intangible production prevails over tangible production; intellectual jobs prevail over physical jobs; among intellectual jobs, creative jobs tend to prevail; an increasing number of tasks can be delegated to machines; workers with an analogue culture are gradually prevailing over those with a digital culture.
Despite technological development and artificial intelligence, workers will retain a monopoly on the activities necessary to meet human needs for creativity, affectivity, aesthetics, ethics, collaboration, critical thinking and problem solving. These will be the jobs of the future.
Domenico De Masi is Professor Emeritus of Sociology of Work at the “Sapienza” University of Rome, where he was Dean of the Faculty of Communication Sciences.
He is a member of the scientific committee of the journal Sociologia del lavoro and of the ethics committee of the Veronesi Foundation. He was president of In/Arch (Italian Institute of Architecture) and AIF (Italian Association of Trainers).
He is the author of numerous essays on urban sociology, development and macro-systems.
Among the numerous books dedicated to work and organisation, we mention the most recent Lavoro 2025 (Marsilio, 2017); Il lavoro nel XXI secolo (Einaudi, 2018); Lo Stato necessario. Lavoro e pubblico impiego nell’Italia post industriale (Rizzoli, 2020); Smart Working. The smart working revolution (Marsilio, 2020).
Among his books dedicated to creativity are: L’emozione e la regola. I gruppi creativi in Europa tra il 1850 e il 1950 (Laterza 1989 and Rizzoli 2015); La fantasia e la concretezza. Individual and group creativity (Rizzoli, 2003); L’ozio creativo (Rizzoli, 2018).
Miriam Mirolla teaches Art Psychology and Theory of Perception and Psychology of Form at the Academy of Fine Arts in Rome.
Since 1986, she has been carrying out research activities at the Jartrakor Centre for Experimental Studies in Rome, publishing scientific articles in the Rivista di Psicologia dell’Arte and starting her activity as an Eventualist artist.
In 1991, she worked at the PS1 Institute of Contemporary Art in New York.
She has published books and essays; among the most recent are: L’Arte che anticipa il Futuro (LAP Ed. 2017); Specchio Tachistoscopico con Stimolazione a sognare. Scritti e Ricerche (LAP Ed. 2020); Underground Eventualista. La ricerca estetica in Italia dal 1979 al 2019 (LAP Ed. 2022).
As an experimental artist, he has held numerous exhibitions: “The Tour of the House”, Jartrakor Rome, “The Self-Cube and other experiments”, 798 Art District, Beijing, “Autoritratti anti-espressivi”, Capitoline Museums, Rome, “Letture Interattive: la Costituzione italiana”, Museo Macro, Rome.
Since 2010, he has been Scientific Director of LAP – Laboratory of Art Psychology and President of the APEXperience Association, and since 2021 he has been President of the “Pensare Insieme” think tank.