DOCSLIB.ORG

A Social Justice Education Grounded Theory in Italian Compulsory Schools

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
A Social Justice Education Grounded Theory in Italian Compulsory Schools Education Right 1 EDUCATION RIGHT: A SOCIAL JUSTICE EDUCATION GROUNDED THEORY IN ITALIAN COMPULSORY SCHOOLS. Luca Ghirotto Ph.D. Candidate Department of Cognitive Science and Education University of Trento Education Right 2 CHAPTER 1 – FOREWORD The Guarantee of The Education Right Some years ago, I worked as substituting teacher within several Italian middle schools. There was in one of my classrooms, a pupil coming from the East-Europe. He was smart and bright. He has been arrived in Italy lately. He was used to raise the hands and make me pay attention to him anytime I would say words, whose meaning he did not know. He was used, also, to interrupt me many times during the flow of the speech. “But, teacher! What does this word mean?” After once I said out loud: “Stop, now! Stop interrupting me asking the meanings!” I have been thinking about what happened for long. I had the impression that something was not so right. I promised to my self to talk about it with the pupil. After several days, I was again in the same classroom. I pronounced a very difficult word, knowing that he would never heard it before. He did not raise the hand. Therefore, I asked him: “Do you know what it means?” He answered: “No, I don’t”. I replied: “I know that I told you to not interrupt me. However, you know what I tell you this time? Raise your hand and always ask the meaning of unfamiliar words. If not the risk is that you will never learn them. Moreover, do it with me, even if Education Right 3 I am tired, or I look at you badly. Do not care about. Asking things you do not know or understand is your right.” I noticed that other children, among the Italians, did not know the meaning of certain words, but only the foreign student continued to ask their meaning. The foreign student in class has become a phenomenon that is increasingly back. 574,133 foreign students are enrolled in the school year 2007/2008. Represent 6.4% of the total, but in some provinces in central and northern Italy reaches record concentrations up to 14%. 191 nationalities are represented 1. The concentration is mostly in the regions of centre and north of Italy, some regions are evidently preferred: in Emilia Romagna, students with no Italian citizenship are 11.8% of the whole studentship, in Umbria are 11.4 %, in Lombardy and Veneto are more than 10%. There are classrooms with more than half of foreign students, as well as “illegal” students, i.e. children of illegal immigrants who have full right and duty to participate in the Italian school system, as was established by Italian law. Behind my nuisance, a feeling caused by continuous interrupting as well as what is going on underneath the modalities of acceptance and management of foreigners in the classroom lurks the danger that the education right of foreigners in Italy would be only a facade and not the substantial implementation of the law. The Italian Ministry of Education bureau, in fact, recognized as an alarming issue, the lack of regular school attendance among students with non-Italian citizenship. This is due both to difficulties related to the lack of knowledge of the Italian language and to problems of social integration. On average, 42.5% of foreign pupils are not 1 CENSIS 2008. Education Right 4 in good standing with their studies as the age increases their discomfort in attending school. The social education right is fully guaranteed whenever a student, regardless of nationality, language, culture, arrives, accomplishing the obligation school to the end of curricula. The students must have chosen their education without any external influence, such as economic needs, for example, or discrimination of any kind. The Italian Ministry of Education argues that the phenomenon of foreign pupils abandoning school is due to difficulties linked to the lack of knowledge of Italian as second language and problems of social integration. A question would arise: who teaches Italian to immigrants? The school, that is the place of the materialisation of the constitutional education right, is, at the same time, the institution, which teaches Italian and, because of lack of knowledge of Italian, encourages foreign students to choose the road of abandonment. The same could be said about the other cause denounced, the social inclusion. The current situation (while this chapter is written) is cause for great concern about the schools’ destiny in Italy, and about what the school, on the light of political and economic reforms to be implemented, would be no longer able to do for the weakest sectors of society. It is news of October 15 th 2008: The Chamber approved a law-proposal about Italian school system. La Lega especially, a right-wing party extremely critic about the presence of immigrants in the country, commits the government to “revise the system for access of foreign students to the school of any level, encouraging their application, after passing the test and assessment of specific evidence.” In practice, immigrants who do not pass the test for admission must Education Right 5 attend separate classes, called ‘bridging classes’, in order to learn Italian, before the real admission into the regular classes.” (Source: www.repubblica.it ). In the Chapter 2, I shall introduce the theme of social rights on the light of theoretical suggestions given by Social Justice Education (SJE). Social rights are the quality’s index of the policy of a country; they feed of the idea of justice and do not derive from the economical competitiveness. What is happening today in Italy with undermines with power never seen before any possibility to ensure to everyone, but especially to those who start from at the most disadvantaged conditions, the education right. Already last summer teachers were complaining about the cuts of staff, the inability of schools to have linguistic and cultural mediators who could teach Italian to the immigrant students in order to the better social integration possible. In Milan, for example, supporting teachers were not hired. In the city and province of Milan, there are only 94 language facilitators for 46 thousand students. Only 5 years ago, the facilitators were 200. The erosion of the public sphere is giving the school a face less and less comfortable and less emancipatorie for those who would need “something more” to keep up with others. Nevertheless, the majority proposed bridging classes. They could not say “separate classes” or “differential” because the Law No. 270 of 1982 and Law No. 517 of 1977, have abolished the differential classes provided by Articles 11 and 12 of Law No. 1859 of December 31 st 1962, with the choice to invest curricular teachers of the responsibility of all pupils, even if arrived during the year. They want to go back more than 40 years, fading the chance to see the education right fully guaranteed. The only solution is Education Right 6 using teachers for implementing educational projects aimed to carry foreign students to the other students’ level, with the help of public authorities, whose choices depend on the political climate. Moreover, not all political climates are to help foreigners. Another example: in Padua schools ethnically mixed classes are a reality, with peaks of 37-38% of foreign students in neighbourhoods ‘Arcella’ and ‘Forcellini’ - where there is a huge numbers of immigrant families. In particular, in middle school ‘Briosco’ the percentage of kids - Africans and Asians, especially - is among the highest ones. A percentage that in some sections ultimately raises the concerns and protests from Italian parents, sustained by the education regional authority, Elena Donazzan of An, in favour of “ethnic quotas” now advocated by the Lega in Parliament. (Source: La Repubblica of October 15 th ’08). In the Chapter 2, also I shall discuss the characteristics of SJE thanks to which all those involved in education may understand why the recent political reforms of the school, the Public administration and Social Services, will open a wound and a crisis that difficultly will be healed within a just democratic country. The SJE draws concepts and notions as social change, empowerment, acceptance of differences and guaranteeing the education right. From a theoretical point of view, I shall outline the contact between these concepts and the theory of justice, to propose a definition that gives broader space to education as a resource of a country to determine a fair development. It will be introduced the capabilities’ approach of Amartya Sen (1992, 1999) and Martha Nussbaum (1999; 2002, 2003a; 2003b), an approach Education Right 7 that gives reasons of the foundations of both the political and educational choices of a country. I will start from the concept of democracy and the relationship that exists between it and the education and social rights because it has always been one of my research interests and reflection. What is certain is that finding a place, a moment, event, or phenomenon useful to study that relationship was not so easy. I tried to make clear first to me what might mean democracy within the educational debate. Moreover, the SJE is the best suitable critical and theoretical frame for the theme. However, the theoretical chapter will change the SJE with some appropriate amends. While the “classical” SJE is within the critical theories in education (Dewey, 1916/2000, Freire, 2004, 2006; Gadotti, 1996; Macedo, 1995), my references include the political theory of Rawls (1971/2008, 1996, 2001), and the liberal outlook, including suggestions for the construction of the justice by Nussbaum. Education as A Research-Driven Science In chapter 3, I shall address issues concerning the methodology and the method of the empirical research whose results will be presented in the following chapter.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Cover Gler 22 N. 1-2018-ISSN 1722-4241.Ai
    Global & Local Vol. 22 No. 1 Economic Review Volume 22 No.1 2018 Zia Ur Rahman, Manzoor Ahmad, Umar Sultan, Cai Hongbo The determinants of exports between Pakistan and its major trading partners: applying the gravity model approach Flavio Felice The international dimension of the social market economy: Global & LocalGlobal Economic Review 2018 its reception in Italy and Sturzo’s interpretation Umer Shahzad, Suleman Sarwar, Waqas Amin, Qamar-uz-Zaman The relationships among economic growth, renewable energy consumption, co2 emissions and agriculture production: empirical evidence for China and India Muhammad Arif, Kashif Ur Rehman Determinants of the usage of financial services in Pakistan € 13,00 (i.i.) ISSN: 1722-4241 www.mheducation.it Education McGraw-Hill POLICY FOR THE SUBMISSION OF MANUSCRIPTS TO BE PUBLISHED IN THE GLOBAL & LOCAL ECONOMIC REVIEW 1. PRELIMINARY INSTRUCTIONS For a manuscript to be accepted for publication in the Review, authors are required to abide by the following publication rules. In particular, authors must state that: %the manuscript, or relevant parts of the manuscripts, was not previously published; %the manuscript is not simultaneously under review by any other journal; %the manuscript will be not submitted elsewhere before the final outcome of peer-reviewing process by the Scientific Board. 2. MANUSCRIPTS SUBMISSION Manuscripts must be sent to the Scientific Board by e-mail attachment to gler@ fondazionepescarabruzzo.it. Papers, which must be submitted in printable formats, should include the manuscript text, footnotes, a bibliography, an abstract not longer than 300 words and the JEL code (available on http://www.aeaweb.org/journal/elclasjn.html). It is the author's responsibility to ensure that papers are written in clear and comprehensible English, especially if they do not adhere to linguistic standards.
    [Show full text]
  • Political Crisis in Greece and Italy: a Comparative Analysis of SYRIZA and 5 Stars Movement
    Political Crisis in Greece and Italy: a comparative analysis of SYRIZA and 5 Stars Movement Raffaele Borreca PhD Candidate University of Peloponnese Department of Political Science and International Relations 1 Abstract The spaces opened by the economic and political crisis offered many rooms for manoeuvre to those opposition forces able to canalise in electoral terms the protest and translate its claims in specific demands or a coherent political narrative. Strong of their electoral results, the Greek SYRIZA and the Italian Five Stars Movement (M5S) assumed soon a pivotal role in their political systems. However, although the demands and the objectives of both SYRIZA and the M5S are, to a certain extent, similar, the two parties differ in terms of political background, ideology and internal organization. The success of the M5S trace its roots in the context of deep distrust against the political system reigning in Italy since the 1990s. In the M5S problematically coexist a grassroots direct democracy approach and the charismatic and substantially unchallenged leadership of the founder Beppe Grillo. The capability of the radical left SYRIZA to convey the anti–Memorandum contestation and its constitution in an unitarian party following the 2012 elections reaffirmed the centrality of the traditional mass party in the Greek democratic representation. However, its electoral drive towards the centre poses major ideological challenges. Finally, the scepticism towards the European governance of both parties cannot be mistaken for anti-europeism. SYRIZA and the M5S canalized the protest from the streets to the national Parliament giving democratic representation to the contestation and contributing in the politicisation of the European polity.
    [Show full text]
  • The European Union Between the Dream of Integration and the Specter of Dissolution
    Master’s Degree programme – Second Cycle (D.M. 270/2004) in International Relations Final Thesis The European Union between the dream of integration and the specter of dissolution Supervisor Ch. Prof. Francesca Coin Assistant Supervisor Ch. Prof. Duccio Basosi Graduand Carlo Geromel Matriculation Number 826761 Academic Year 2015 / 2016 Index Introduction.......................................................................................................................5 Abstract.............................................................................................................................7 1 The European integration process 1.1 The early post war period.................................................................................13 1.2 The Coal and Steel Community, the Euratom and EEC...................................19 1.3 The EEC Enlargement......................................................................................24 1.4 The slow road to the EMS and European Union..............................................28 1.5 The Europe of Maastricht.................................................................................32 2 The financial crisis and the age of austerity 2.1 Road to crisis....................................................................................................42 2.2 Europe caught in the grip of austerity and ordocracy......................................49 2.3 The role of Germany, the ECB and the euro....................................................60 2.4 A currency area without
    [Show full text]
  • O Liberalismo Social De Merquior: Um Contraste Com O Liberismo De F
    Dossiê O liberalismo social de Merquior: um contraste com o liberismo de F. A. Hayek para o contexto brasileiro Paz, Anderson Barbosa Resumo: O presente artigo objetiva discutir alguns aspectos Anderson Barbosa Paz da reflexão e contribuição de Merquior, especialmente, seu [email protected] liberalismo social, em contraste com o liberismo de F. A. Hayek. Universidade Federal da Paraíba (UFPB), Brasil A importância desse trabalho se dá em dois sentidos. Em primeiro lugar, o pensamento e obra de Merquior tem singular importância, já que, como um ativista e intelectual político brasileiro, refletiu sobre a tradição, premissas e propostas do liberalismo clássico Argumentos - Revista do Departamento de Ciências para o Estado brasileiro, historicamente marcado por um viés Sociais da Unimontes Universidade Estadual de Montes Claros, Brasil patrimonialista e estatizante. Seu cuidado e amplo conhecimento ISSN: 1806-5627 da história nacional o levou do liberismo de Von Mises e Hayek ISSN-e: 2527-2551 ao liberalismo social. Em segundo lugar, é possível afirmar que, no Periodicidade: Semestral vol. 16, núm. 2, 2019 Brasil, a produção intelectual de Merquior não é tão difundida [email protected] e estudada nas ciências sociais, possibilitando que esse texto contribua na divulgação do pensamento do sociólogo brasileiro. Recepção: 11 Maio 2019 Aprovação: 26 Agosto 2019 Em contraste, porém, estabelecer-se-á uma relação crítica entre o liberalismo social de Merquior com o liberismo de Hayek. À URL: http://portal.amelica.org/ameli/jatsRepo/363/3631541006/ década de 80, o autor brasileiro, assumidamente liberal, criticou index.html vários aspectos do pensamento do economista austríaco, devido a suas considerações sobre as implicações de um liberismo hayekiano ser aplicado no Brasil.
    [Show full text]
  • Wealth, Income Inequalities, and Demography the Long-Term Policy View Wealth, Income Inequalities, and Demography
    Luigi Paganetto Editor Wealth, Income Inequalities, and Demography The Long-Term Policy View Wealth, Income Inequalities, and Demography Luigi Paganetto Editor Wealth, Income Inequalities, and Demography The Long-Term Policy View 123 Editor Luigi Paganetto Tor Vergata Foundation for Economic Research Rome, Italy ISBN 978-3-319-05908-2 ISBN 978-3-319-05909-9 (eBook) DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-05909-9 Springer Cham Heidelberg New York Dordrecht London Library of Congress Control Number: 2014948211 © Springer International Publishing Switzerland 2014 This work is subject to copyright. All rights are reserved by the Publisher, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfilms or in any other physical way, and transmission or information storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilar methodology now known or hereafter developed. Exempted from this legal reservation are brief excerpts in connection with reviews or scholarly analysis or material supplied specifically for the purpose of being entered and executed on a computer system, for exclusive use by the purchaser of the work. Duplication of this publication or parts thereof is permitted only under the provisions of the Copyright Law of the Publisher’s location, in its current version, and permission for use must always be obtained from Springer. Permissions for use may be obtained through RightsLink at the Copyright Clearance Center. Violations are liable to prosecution under the respective Copyright Law. The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use.
    [Show full text]
  • Democracy and Capitalism: the Issue Joined from Within
    Western Michigan University ScholarWorks at WMU Master's Theses Graduate College 12-1991 Democracy and Capitalism: The Issue Joined from Within Christopher E. Bischoff Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.wmich.edu/masters_theses Part of the Economics Commons, and the Political Science Commons Recommended Citation Bischoff, Christopher E., "Democracy and Capitalism: The Issue Joined from Within" (1991). Master's Theses. 942. https://scholarworks.wmich.edu/masters_theses/942 This Masters Thesis-Open Access is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate College at ScholarWorks at WMU. It has been accepted for inclusion in Master's Theses by an authorized administrator of ScholarWorks at WMU. For more information, please contact [email protected]. DEMOCRACY AND CAPITALISM: THE ISSUE JOINED FROM WITHIN by Christopher E. Bischoff A Thesis Submitted to the Faculty of The Graduate College in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts Department of Political Science Western Michigan University Kalamazoo, Michigan December 1991 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. DEMOCRACY AND CAPITALISM: THE ISSUE JOINED FROM WITHIN Christopher E. Bischoff, M.A. Western Michigan University, 1991 This study utilizes contemporary and classical literature to illuminate the complexities of Western democracy. Of specific focus is American democracy and the effects that capitalism has had upon demo­ cracy in America. The achievement of democracy on the scale of the modern nation-state appears problematic even without the adversarial burdens posed by a capitalist economic consort. It emerges that Ameri­ can democracy is particularly compromised by its roots in liberal tradition.
    [Show full text]
  • Europeinthebrexit&Trump
    Policy Brief – March 2, 2017 EUROPE IN THE BREXIT & TRUMP ERA: DIS-INTEGRATION AND RE-GROUPING Brunello Rosa & Lucio Caracciolo KEY TAKEAWAYS Global Geopolitical Trends Affecting Europe Europe borders with Chaosland, a part of the world overwhelmed by great instability factors; war, terrorism, widespread poverty, environmental turmoil caused by climate change, mass migration, failing States. From an environmental perspective, Chaosland is mostly set in the tropical crisis belt, where the impact of rising temperatures is more marked. According to some scenarios, climate change could lead millions of people (already affected by poverty and war) to abandon their homes. Many of them, will aim for Europe. Failing states surrounding Europe, and demographic decline compared to a widespread rise in the world’s population, with the tendency to gather in megalopolises, make Europe unfit to fight in the coming decades. On the eastern front, Europe is up against two unstable, intrinsically revisionist powers: Russia and Turkey. Brunello Rosa is CEO and Chief Economist at MacroGeo. Before co-founding MacroGeo, he was co-Head of Research and Managing Director for Developed Markets, G10 Rates and Currencies at Roubini Global Economics. Brunello joined RGE from the Bank of England and maintains a number of ties with academia: he is a practitioner lecturer in finance at the London School of Economics and a research fellow at City University's Political Economy Research Centre. Lucio Caracciolo is Head of Geopolitics at Macrogeo. He has been editor-in-chief of Limes, the Italian Review of Geopolitics, since 1993 and of Heartland, the Eurasian Geopolitical Review, since 2000.
    [Show full text]
  • LIBERALISM: a SHORT HISTORY a SHORT LIBERALISM: MONOGRAPHS on WESTERN CIVILISATION Liberalism: a Short History
    Allsop - Liberalism COVER-NEW.pdf 1 10/04/2014 6:19:01 PM LIBERALISM: A SHORT HISTORY MONOGRAPHS ON WESTERN CIVILISATION Liberalism: A short history Western Civilisation owes the word 'liberal' to the Spanish War of Independence (1808-14) where the liberales, who wanted individual rights and an end to feudal privilege, were faced against the serviles, who supported the monarchy and aristocracy. As Richard Allsop points out in this engrossing and comprehensive short history, when it arrived in England, ‘liberal’ was rst used as a term of abuse. Liberalism has remained one of the most contested political philosophies. Richard Allsop Richard Richard Allsop traces the rise of liberalism with John Locke and the Levellers, C its fall in the early twentieth century against progressivism and Fabian socialism, M and its re-emergence with Friedrich Hayek and politicians such as Margaret Y atcher. CM is book is a powerful retelling of Western Civilisation’s greatest story: the MY emergence, decline, and revival of the philosophy of liberty and individual rights. CY CMY K e essential features of our free society—civil society, liberal democracy, the rule of law, individual rights, and personal responsibility—are the inheritance of centuries of Western Civilisation. e Foundations of Western Civilisation Program seeks to defend and extend Australians’ understanding of that inheritance. e Foundations of Western Civilisation Program is a program of the Institute of Public Aairs. Liberalism: A Short History ISBN 978-0-909536-77-0 Inst itute of Richard Allsop Public Aairs 9 780909 536770 > IPA www.ipa.org.au MONOGRAPHS ON WESTERN CIVILISATION NO.
    [Show full text]
  • Merquior, Um Liberista? Uma Comparação Entre O Pensamento Liberal De José Guilherme Merquior E O De Friedrich Von Hayek
    MISES: Revista Interdisciplinar de Filosofia, Direito e Economia ISSN 2318-0811 Volume III, Número 1 (Edição 5) Janeiro-Junho 2015: 215-228 Merquior, um Liberista? Uma Comparação entre o Pensamento Liberal de José Guilherme Merquior e o de Friedrich von Hayek Kaio Felipe* Resumo: Neste ensaio, busco esclarecer a posição ideológica de José Guilherme Mer- quior: seria ele um liberista (isto é, um liberal com ênfase na liberdade econômica) ou um social-liberal (ou seja, mais preocupado com a participação cívica e com o auto-aperfeiçoamento)? Além disso, pretendo analisar como Merquior se coloca em relação às formulações teóricas e políticas de Friedrich August von Hayek, na medi- da em que este é um dos autores liberais mais citados e discutidos em suas obras da década de 1980. Palavras-Chave: Liberdade, Liberalismo, Liberismo, Democracia, Filosofia Política. Merquior, a Liberist? A Comparison of the Liberal Thought of José Guilherme Merquior and Friedrich von Hayek Abstract: In this essay I seek to clarify the ideological viewpoint of José Guilherme Merquior: was he a liberist (i.e., a liberal which emphasizes the economic freedom) or a social-liberal (i.e., more concerned with civic participation and self-improvement)? In addition, I intend to analyze how Merquior stands in relation to theoretical and political formulations of Friedrich August von Hayek, considering that this is one of the liberal authors most cited and discussed in his works of the 1980s. Keywords: Freedom, Liberalism, Liberism, Democracy, Political Philosophy. Classificação JEL: Y80 * Kaio Felipe é doutorando em Sociologia no Instituto de Estudos Sociais e Políticos da Universidade do Estado do Rio de Janeiro (IESP-UERJ) e em História Social da Cultura na Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio de Janeiro (PUC-Rio).
    [Show full text]
  • Workin Working Paper Series Paper Series
    Martiis” Torino (Italy) Workin g Paper Series 33 /15 DISPUTED (DISCIPLINARY) BOUNDARIES . PHILOSOPHY, ECONOMICS AND VALUE JUDGMENTS PAOLO SILVESTRI www.est.unito.it Department of Economics and Statistics “CognettiCampusLuigi Einaudi, Lungo Dora Siena 100/A, 10153 de The Department of Economics and Statistics “Cognetti de Martiis” publishes research papers authored by memmembers and guests of the Department and of its reseresearch centers. ISSN: 2039-4004 DISPUTED (DISCIPLINARY ) BOUNDARIES . PHILOSOPHY , ECONOMICS AND VALUE JUDGMENTS Paolo Silvestri 1 Abstract The paper aims to address the following two questions: what kind of discourse is that which attempt to found or defend the autonomy or the boundaries of a discipline? Why do such discourses tend to turn into normative, dogmatic-excommunicating discourses between disciplines, schools or scholars? I will argue that an adequate answer may be found if we conceive disciplines as dogmatics, where such discourses often take the form of a discourse on the foundation of a discipline, a foundation in the name of which the scholar speaks and with which he/she entertains an identity relationship. To this purpose I will re-examine the methodological discourses of (and debates between) Pareto, Croce and Einaudi on the demarcation issue between philosophy, economics and value-judgments as highly instructive to understand such issues. Keywords: philosophy, economics, value-judgments, realism, nominalism, economist’s discourse, dogmatics, disciplinary boundaries JEL Codes: A12, B31, B41, B59 September 2015 CESMEP Working Paper 4/2015 www.cesmep.unito.it 1 Research Fellow, Dipartimento di Economia e Statistica “Cognetti de Martiis”, Università di Torino (Campus Luigi Einaudi, Lungo Dora Siena 100/A, 10153 Torino), [email protected].
    [Show full text]
  • The Difference Between Liberalism and Democracy: a Forgotten Italian Tradition1 Franco Manni
    The Difference Between Liberalism and Democracy The Difference between Liberalism and Democracy: A Forgotten Italian Tradition1 Franco Manni Without Liberty you cannot fulfil any of your duties. Where Liberty is missing, Justice, Morality, Equality no longer have meaning — Giuseppe Mazzini This essay is a response to the return of the far right to government in Italy. Its central contention is that Italy has traditionally lacked a liberal culture, with Fascism and Marxist communism always having been the prevailing currents of thought. I will subsequently argue that the Italian political tradition must start anew from the minority of Italian liberal thinkers who have been fought against, marginalised, and eventually forgotten throughout its history: most notably, Benedetto Croce and Norberto Bobbio. Commonplaces Almost all laypeople, when — say on television — they hear the words ‘liberal’, ‘democratic’, ‘liberal democrat’, from politicians or journalists, cannot distinguish between them, or maybe even try, as if saying to themselves: ‘they are technical and cabbalistic terms, the usual abracadabra used by the Experts! And if journalists and politicians — even them! — use these words with such ease and arbitrariness, what should I do myself? Should I improvise as a political philosopher ?!’ And so almost everyone confuses these words and takes them resignedly for synonyms, so that confusion becomes the norm, the norm becomes unconscious, unawareness spreads through contagion, and here we have what is called a commonplace. Relying mainly
    [Show full text]
  • On the Economic Significance of the Catholic Social Doctrine 125 Years of Rerum Novarum the European Heritage in Economics and the Social Sciences
    The European Heritage in Economics and the Social Sciences Series Editors: Jürgen Georg Backhaus · Günther Chaloupek Hans A. Frambach Jürgen Backhaus Günther Chaloupek Hans A. Frambach Editors On the Economic Significance of the Catholic Social Doctrine 125 Years of Rerum Novarum The European Heritage in Economics and the Social Sciences Volume 19 Series editors Jürgen Georg Backhaus Krupp Chair in Public Finance and Fiscal Sociology University of Erfurt Erfurt, Germany Günther Chaloupek Chamber of Labour AK Wien Chamber of Labour Vienna, Austria Hans A. Frambach Microeconomics and the History of Economic Thought Schumpeter School of Business and Economics, Faculty of Management and Economics University of Wuppertal Wuppertal, Germany The European heritage in economics and the social sciences is largely locked in languages other than English. Witness such classics as Storch’s Cours d’Economie Politique, Wicksell’s Finanztheoretische Untersuchungen and Geld, Zins und Güt- erpreise or Pareto’s Trattato di Sociologia Generale. Since about 1937, partly caused by the forced exodus of many scholars from the German language countries and the international reactions to this event, English has become the undisputed primary language of economics and the social sciences. For about one generation, this lan- guage shift did not result in a loss of access to the European non-English sources. However, after foreign language requirements were dropped as entry pre-requisites for receiving the PhD at major research universities, the European heritage in eco- nomics and the social sciences has become largely inaccessible to the vast majority of practicing scholars. In this series, we hope to publish works that address this problem in a threefold manner.
    [Show full text]