00932 - Contemporary History (M-Z)

Learning outcomes

At the end of the course the student knows the specific characters of contemporary history and, in particular, the social transformations and cultural policies of the twentieth century. It can understand the main issues relating to the contemporary.

Course contents

The history of the contemporary age. A tool for understanding the present.

History is a tool for knowledge and critical understanding of the present. With this in mind, the course aims to focus on the main issues and most significant processes of change that characterise the contemporary era. To this end, the course will closely intertwine the present and the past, even moving backwards from today's world to that of yesterday. We will identify some events and issues in the world today and attempt to trace their origins, a journey that will restore historical perspective to the unresolved issues of our time. A number of fundamental themes will guide this journey: the forms of citizenship and the definition of a culture of rights (civil, political and social); the historical development of democratic regimes, the transformations of the state and the succession of different political and institutional systems; the Europeanisation of the world, colonialism and the processes of globalisation and integration/fragmentation; wars, violence and the formation of the system of international relations; the organisation and cultures of work; political cultures and forms of collective mobilisation.

The general objective of the course is to initiate the student into a knowledge of the basic features of contemporary history between the late 18th century and the end of the 20th century, up to the threshold of the present, according to a European and world history perspective, with a focus on long-term transnational dynamics, such as: the relationship between empires, nations and colonies; moments of competition between powers for world hegemony; the redrawing of borders and national spaces; the rise of systems of mass democracy and the extension of suffrage; the spread of fascist movements and regimes; world wars and responses to crises; the bipolar world rearrangement; decolonization and the Western "golden age" up to the 1970s. The proposed course thus aims to lay the basic elements of a critical awareness of the complex past/present relationship, developing elements of understanding the present world.

Readings/Bibliography

The examination will be based on the following texts:

A. General section

Raffaele Romanelli, Lezioni di storia contemporanea, Il Mulino:

vol. I. Ottocento; vol. II Novecento.

Romanelli's Volume II (Novecento) may possibly be replaced by:

A. Vittoria, Il Novecento, Carocci;

or

F. Bartolini, B. Bonomo, A. Gagliardi, L'Europa del Novecento. Una storia, Carocci.

[basic manual texts compulsory for all, only in special and well-justified cases substitutable with other texts]

 

B. Monographic section

One couple of texts to be chosen from the following:

[each couple has for its main theme a topic discussed in the lessons and fundamental to understanding the characteristic elements of the contemporary era]

1 - Daniel R. Headrick, Il predominio dell'Occidente. Tecnologia, ambiente, imperialismo, Il Mulino; Valeria Deplano e Alessandro Pes, Storia del colonialismo italiano, Carocci.

2 - Guido Formigoni, Storia della politica internazionale nell’età contemporanea, Il Mulino; Wilfried Loth, Tensioni globali. Una storia politica del mondo 1945-2020, Einaudi.

3 - Alessandro Colombo, La guerra ineguale Pace e violenza nel tramonto della società internazionale, Il Mulino; Alessandro Colombo, Il suicidio della pace. Perché l'ordine internazionale liberale ha fallito (1989-2024), Cortina.

4 - Enzo Traverso, A ferro e a fuoco. La guerra civile europea (1914-1945), Il Mulino; Mark Mazower, Le ombre dell'Europa. Democrazie e totalitarismi nel XX secolo, Garzanti.

5 - Wolfgang Reinhard, Storia dello stato moderno, Il Mulino; Chiara Giorgi e Ilaria Pavan, Storia dello Stato sociale in Italia, Il Mulino.

6 - Victoria De Grazia, L' impero irresistibile. La società dei consumi americana alla conquista del mondo, Einaudi; Frank Trentmann, L'impero delle cose. Come siamo diventati consumatori. Dal XV al XXI secolo, Einaudi.

7 - Luca Baldissara, Italia 1943. La guerra continua, Il Mulino; Guido Crainz, Storia della Repubblica. L’Italia dalla Liberazione ad oggi, Donzelli.

8 - Mark Duffield, Guerre postmoderne. L'aiuto umanitario come tecnica politica di controllo, Il Ponte editrice; Luca Scuccimarra, Proteggere l'umanità. Sovranità e diritti umani dell'epoca globale, Il Mulino.

9 - Salvatore Lupo, Il fascismo. La politica in un regime totalitario, Feltrinelli; Il fascismo italiano. Storia e interpretazioni, a cura di Giulia Albanese, Carocci.

10 - Raffaele Romanelli, Nelle mani del popolo. Le fragili fondamenta della politica moderna, Donzelli; Emanuele Felice, La conquista dei diritti. Un’idea della storia, Il Mulino.

11 - Axel Honneth, Il lavoratore sovrano. Lavoro e cittadinanza democratica, Il Mulino; Stefano Gallo e Fabrizio Loreto, Storia del lavoro nell'Italia contemporanea, Il Mulino.

12 - Ruperth Smith, L'arte della guerra nel mondo contemporaneo, Il Mulino; Gianluca Sadun Bordoni, Guerra e natura umana Le radici del disordine mondiale, Il Mulino.

13 - Alfio Mastropaolo, Fare la guerra con altri mezzi. Sociologia storica del governo democratico, Il Mulino; Stefano Petrucciani, Democrazia, Einaudi.

The pairs of texts can be reworked and reassembled upon agreement with the professor.

Any ad hoc bibliographies—for example, in the case of students who already have a solid basic historical background—can be agreed upon based on justified needs and specific individual interests.

 

Non-attending students

Recommended reading of:

Tommaso Detti e Giovanni Gozzini, L'età del disordine. Storia del mondo attuale 1968-2017, Laterza.

Teaching methods

The course will be conducted in the form of "face-to-face" lectures, with the possible use of images and useful materials to explore specific themes and clarify the contours of historical issues as they are discussed.

Assessment methods

The examination is conducted in the form of an oral interview.

The questions posed will aim to verify the ability to frame a broad theme in its spatial-temporal context, articulating the exposure in clear and effective terms; to measure the mastery of well-defined contents and the ability to make connections of relationship and causality; to deepen more specific knowledge, at the same time making generalizations and conceptualizations of the most relevant historical issues.

In particular, the oral interview is intended to test the acquisition critical skills in identifying the problematic and interpretative issues of historical discourse. The student will be able to develop the capacity to identify and locate in time and space the historical roots of the main questions concerning the contemporary world, to reconstruct a coherent and synchronic framework of the main factual elements of European history, to outline its aspects in the different national contexts, but also in a transnational and extra-European perspective.

Exams: will be held approximately once a month (January, February, April, May, June, July, September).

 

Students with disabilities and Specific Learning Disorders (SLD)

Students with SLDs or temporary or permanent disabilities: it is recommended that you contact the relevant university office (https://site.unibo.it/studenti-con-disabilita-e-dsa/it) in good time: it will be their responsibility to propose any adjustments to the students concerned, which must in any case be submitted 15 days in advance for approval by the teacher, who will assess their appropriateness in relation to the educational objectives of the course.

Teaching tools

From time to time, power point projections and images may be used, as well as the reading and illustration of historical texts and documentary sources.

Office hours

See the website of Luca Baldissara