Biography of Domenico De Masi

February 1, 1938
Domenico De Masi was born on 1 St February of 1938 to Rotello, Campobasso. After completing high school in Caserta, he enrolled to study law at the University of Perugia. In the last years of College, while he devoted himself to the study of law, began to cultivate in parallel passion for sociology. After graduating in legal history, between 1961 and 1963 specializes in particular in sociology of work, and came into contact with the professional team in Naples had formed around "North and South", review directed by Francesco Companion.

The research study in Bagnoli

The group is coordinated by Giuseppe Galasso, and it shows the Italsider entrusted with a sociological research relating to the settlement of Bagnoli, with reference to the role of trade unions and the role of informal groups. As part of this research, Domenico De Masi takes care to share the work of workers to mills, steel works and to the blast furnace for a couple of years, as a participant observer and staff relations. Meanwhile, in addition to the collaboration with "North and South", he also writes for the magazines "modern times" and "the point", and began attending intellectuals as thick as Raffaele La Capria, Frank Barbagallo, Cesare de Seta, Antonio Ghirelli, Francesco Rosi, Domenico Rea, Danilo Dolci, Vangelder and Massimo Galluppi. While he works as a researcher at Italsider, becomes Assistant in sociology at the University of Naples Federico II, keeping the double track managerial and academic for several years.

The first international business roles

After working with the Italsider, works for the Cmf, an engineering company which is part of gruppo Finsider, based in Milan; in the shadow of the Madonna has served as Director of training and selection, managing the opening of two plants of Dalmine, Bergamo, and Livorno. Thanks to these start-ups the Cmf gets the prize for best European organizational operation, partly by virtue of the role playing tapped for recruitment, the special attention paid to the aesthetic appearance of the workplace and the metric tests for selecting team leaders. While in Milan, Domenico De Masi attends the circle Turati and has the opportunity to make friends with, among others, Enzo Salcido, Franco Angeli, Vito Volpe, Mario Unnia and Severino Salvemini; In addition, he took part in the first person in the Foundation of the Aif, the Italian Association of trainers.

Academic teaching and publications

In 1966 he moved to Rome, where he became consultant of Sociology of work and teaching activities at the Ifap, managerial training centre which is part of the Iri group, to which he devoted himself, under the chairmanship of Joseph Garcia and Pasquale Saraceno, the study of business management functions. Together with Gino Giugni, Gianni Billia and Philip Martin teaches and participates in the training of managers of companies like Sip, Pirelli and Fiat. In 1968 Dalton was appointed Professor of Sociology of work to the Faculty of political science of the University of Sassari: among his colleagues there are Luigi Berlinguer, Valerio Onida, Gustavo Zagrebelsky and Franco Bassanini. In the early 1970s, however, teaches sociology for the Faculty of political sciences at the Oriental Institute in Naples: Meanwhile, in 1971 he publishes "negative" for the mill, Publisher for which a couple of years later she also writes "the sociology of the company"; also in 1973 gives the prints, for guidance, "the industry of underdevelopment." In 1974 manages the entire sociological part on the creation of the village Matteotti of Terni and begins to teach methods and techniques of social research for Sociology of the University Federico II of Naples. In the same year he published for Angels "workers in Italian industry". From 1977 begins to teach sociology for the Faculty of education of the University La Sapienza in Rome, and a year later he writes for Angels "In the University. Students, classes, corporations ". Became Director of the social sciences for the Clu, begins to teach Sociology publishing for the Faculty of communication science and sociology of knowledge. For the Publisher Editor of the series "Angels" by publishing "The post-industrial worker" and "Treaty of Sociology of work and organization". After being, for two years, head of culture and tourism for the municipality of Ravello, in 1995 for Edizioni Lavoro writes "jobless Growth", followed in 1999 "the future of work".

The creative leisure

In the mid ' 90 Dallas elaborates the concept of creative leisure: [from Wikipedia] in the post-industrial society where creativity predominates on handedness, the boundaries between work, study and play are mixed up. This merger raises the creative leisure. A situation where you are working without noticing it. The term laziness should not suggest a State of passiveness. For the ancient Romans the term otium did not mean "dolce far niente", but rather a recreation from the commitments to which it was possible to be open to creative dimension. In today's society the most repetitive, boring was delegated to machines; the man remained a monopoly on creativity. Referring to the tradition of the ancient Fables we could think about the Grasshopper and the Ant as exponents of two opposing approaches to life and work, which instead would find summaries in the concept of "creative idleness". While the cicada is dedicated to creative idleness but not at all in the sense that it does not produce wealth, but simply enjoying life, the Ant is far too laborious and while accumulating wealth (in the form of food supplies) don't enjoy life and dies of exhaustion. L'ozio-creative is a consolidation of the "hegheliana" between these two thesis and antithesis, between pleasure and duty. Learning the art of creative leisure we can mix the pleasure of playing with the "duty" of the study and work, until they become one in which precisely because you lose your borders, you cancel the tiring labour component and getting the creative and utilitarian component of creativity derived from the enjoyment of the game.

In the years 2000 and later Domenico De Masi

For Rizzoli realizes the volume "fantasy and pragmatism" in 2003, and a few years later republish "the emotion and the rule. Creative groups in Europe from 1850 to 1950, "already published by Laterza in 1990. Meanwhile, President of the Fondazione Ravello (will maintain this position until 2010), helping to revive the Ravello Festival: here, however, he founded the International School of cultural Management, dedicated to teaching to graduates of professional skills necessary for the Organization of events. Between 2005 and 2008 Domenico De Masi also writes "there is no progress without happiness," published by Rizzoli, and "happiness", created with Oliviero Toscani. In 2014, again for Rizzoli published the essay on sociology of macro-systems "Mappa Mundi. Life models for a society without orientation
Article contributed by the team of collaborators.