The Routledge Handbook of Contemporary Italy : History, Politics, Society

The Routledge Handbook of Contemporary Italy provides a comprehensive account of Italy and Italian politics in the 21st Century. Featuring contributions from many leading scholars in the field, this Handbook is comprised of 28 chapters which are organized to deliver unparalleled analysis of Italian society, politics and culture. A wide range of topics are covered, including: * Politics and economy, and their impact on Italian society * Parties and new politics * Regionalism and migrations * Public memories * Continuities and transformations in contemporary Italian society. This is an essential reference work for scholars and students of Italian and Western European society, politics, and history. Cover 1 Title 4 Copyright 5 CONTENTS 6 List of figures 9 List of tables 10 List of contributors 11 Introduction: notes on Italy in recent decades and the Handbook 14 PART I Old and new tensions in contemporary Italian society 24 1 The ‘Southern Question’ . . . again 26 2 Fratelli d’Italia: differences and similarities in social values between Italian macro-regions 36 3 From manpower to brain drain? Emigration and the Italian state, between past and present 50 4 Racism, immigration and new identities in Italy 62 5 Role and perceptions of women in contemporary Italy 77 6 New generation at a crossroads: decline or change? Young people in Italy and their transformation since the nineties 90 7 Mafias, Italy and beyond 102 PART II Democratic life and institutions 114 8 Institutions and the political system in Italy: a story of failure 116 9 The missing renewal of the ruling class 128 10 Media and democracy 140 11 No longer pro-European? Politicisation and contestation of Europe in Italy 149 12 Religion and the state 158 PART III Politics 168 13 Genius loci: the geography of Italian politics 170 14 The political right 182 15 From communism to centre-left: analysis of an unprecedented political trajectory 194 16 From the Democrazia Cristiana to the archipelago of Catholic and centrist parties 207 17 The fluctuating fortunes of the Lega Nord 217 18 Magistrates going into politics: Antonio Di Pietro and Italy of Values 228 19 Social movement campaigns from global justice activism to Movimento Cinque Stelle 238 PART IV Italian welfare and economy 250 20 Welfare, Italian style: from Bismarckian beginnings to crisis and reform 252 21 Clientelism 265 22 The impact of political calculus on the reform of institutions and growth: old and new examples 275 23 Italian firms 286 24 The banking system and savings allocation in Italy 298 PART V Memories 306 25 Cinema and public memory 308 26 The Risorgimento in contemporary Italy: history, politics and memory during the national jubilees (1911–1961–2011) 318 27 The ‘spaces’ of anti-Fascism in Italy today 329 28 Italy’s colonial past 340 Index 352 The Routledge Handbook of Contemporary Italy provides a comprehensive account of Italy and Italian politics in the 21st Century. Featuring contributions from many leading scholars in the field, this Handbook is comprised of 28 chapters which are organized to deliver unparalleled analysis of Italian society, politics and culture. This is an essential reference work for scholars and students of Italian and Western European society, politics, and history.--Amazon.com