The Failure of Italian Nationhood: The Geopolitics of a Troubled Identity (Italian and Italian American Studies)

This book explains Italy's endless political instability and its historical, cultural and economic roots. It also illustrates why, even after the creation of the Italian state, Italy was never really unified. Piero Gobetti described fascism once as the "autobiography" of the Italian nation. This book explains why today it is possible to describe "berlusconism" - a cultural, political and social phenomenon in Italy- as the most recent version of this country's autobiography. Cover......Page 1 Contents......Page 6 Preface to the English Edition......Page 8 Introduction to the English Edition......Page 10 Introduction......Page 12 Foreword: The "Original Sin"......Page 24 Part I: The Original Characteristics......Page 36 1 How Premature Development Became a Factor of Backwardness......Page 38 2 The Phantom Nation......Page 46 3 The Northern Question......Page 54 4 Inventing Ancestors......Page 60 5 The Unhappy Consciousness of Italian Development......Page 66 6 A Culture without a Nation......Page 72 7 The Difficult Italianization of the Piedmont......Page 80 8 The Difficult Piedmontization of Italy......Page 86 9 The Moderate Social Bloc......Page 92 Part II: The Permanencies......Page 100 10 Transformism......Page 102 11 Internationalization Crises and Transformism......Page 110 12 Emerging Sectors and Transformism......Page 116 13 The Southern Question......Page 122 Part III: Identity and Sovereignty......Page 130 14 A Counter-Reformist Identity......Page 132 15 A Civil "Guelph" Religion......Page 140 16 The Quest for a Civil Italian Religion......Page 148 17 A Petit-Bourgeois Fatherland......Page 156 18 A Country of Limited Sovereignty......Page 164 19 Identity and Development......Page 172 20 The Failure of "Democratic Nationalization"......Page 178 21 Italian Metamorphoses......Page 188 22 Between Europe and the Mediterranean......Page 194 23 The Internationalization Crisis of the 1990s......Page 202 Conclusion......Page 210 Biographies......Page 214 Notes......Page 228 References......Page 260 Index......Page 270

This book provides a political, economic, sociological, and cultural history of Italy that looks at its difficulties with the task of nation-building. While Piero Gobetti once described fascism as the autobiography of the Italian nation, Manlio Graziano explains why today it is possible to describe Berlusconi-ism as the most recent version of this country's autobiography. It also illustrates why, even after the creation of the Italian state, Italy was never truly unified. In clear prose, Graziano offers to non-Italians provocative insights into modern Italian politics.

This book explains Italy s endless political instability and its historical, cultural and economic roots. It also illustrates why, even after the creation of the Italian state, Italy was never really unified. Piero Gobetti described fascism once as the'autobiography'of the Italian nation. This book explains why today it is possible to describe'berlusconism'- a cultural, political and social phenomenon in Italy- as the most recent version of this country s autobiography. This book explains Italy's endless political instability and its historical, cultural and economic roots. It also illustrates why, even after the creation of the Italian state, Italy was never really unified. It describes fascism once as the "autobiography" of the Italian nation. It explains why today it is possible to describe "berlusconism" -- a cultural, political and social phenomenon in Italy -- as the most recent version of this country's autobiography