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B5164 - Theories and Politics of the Age of Revolutions (1) (LM)

Academic Year 2025/2026

                
                        Docente:
                        Matilde Cazzola
                    
                        Credits:
                        6
                    
                        SSD:
                        SPS/02
                    
                        Language:
                        Italian
                    
                        Teaching Mode:
                        Traditional lectures
                        
                            Campus:
                            Bologna
                        
                            Corso:
                            Second cycle degree programme (LM) in
                            History and Oriental Studies (cod. 6813)

                                    Course Timetable
                                
from Feb 09, 2026 to Mar 17, 2026

Learning outcomes

At the end of the course, students will have mastered theoretical approaches and historical research methods of an interdisciplinary nature for the critical analysis of political concepts developed between the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Using the basic tools of the history of political thought and political theory, students will have acquired the ability to read the works of authors critically and to grasp both the specificity of each text and its respective theoretical and historical framework. They will be able to critically approach texts and data and evaluate their impact on historiographical discourse; they will be able to critically engage with the theories and concepts discussed, with an awareness of the value of communication between different disciplines and the specific contribution of the historical sciences. They will be encouraged to deepen their knowledge and research methods through opportunities for discussion and learning appropriate to their abilities and inclinations. Using the tools developed by the scientific community, including digital ones, they will be able to independently consult and critically rework sources and historiographical texts in Italian or in other original languages.

Course contents

The course aims to introduce students to the theoretical and conceptual discourses of the Age of Revolution (late 18th - early 19th century) by contextualizing them within its main political and institutional changes as well as social transformations.

The course will be divided into four parts. The first part (three classes) will introduce students to the history of the Age of Revolution and its historiographical interpretations; it will subsequently focus on ‘revolution’ as a conceptual constellation. The second part (three classes) will identify the theoretical background of the Age of Revolution in early modern political thought; students will learn some well-known versions of contract and liberal theory that would later influence the late 18th-century revolutionary age. The third part (three classes) will outline the theoretical contributions of the three Atlantic Revolutions of the late 18th century: the American, the French, and the Haitian Revolution. By focusing on the British context, the fourth and last part (six lessons) will guide students through some of the social and political debates that agitated imperial Britain during the years marked by the war against revolutionary and Napoleonic France. These political categories will here be presented and discussed by relying on the reading of classic authors, including Edmund Burke and Thomas Paine, and by analysing the language of social protest.

Readings/Bibliography

Bibliography for students who attend the course:

- Burke, E., select passages from Riflessioni sulla Rivoluzione in Francia [1790], ed. by M. Respinti, Roma, Ideazione, 1998; paragraphs 53-60 (pp. 56-62), 89-96 (pp. 81-85), 119-122 (pp. 99-102), 145, 149-150 (pp. 115-121), 349-353 (pp. 238-242) (the reading material will be available in Virtuale);

- "Costituzione della colonia francese di Santo Domingo" [1801], "La Dichiarazione d’indipendenza di Haiti" [1804], and Dessalines, J.-J., "Proclama: Agli abitanti di Haiti" [1804], in L. Ravano (ed.), La Rivoluzione haitiana: Scritti politici e giuridici (1789-1805), Verona, ombrecorte, 2020;

- La Dichiarazione d’indipendenza degli Stati Uniti d’America [1776], ed. by T. Bonazzi, Venezia, Marsilio, 1999;

- Douglass, F., Il significato del Quattro di luglio per il popolo nero [1852], in R. Laudani (ed.), La libertà a ogni costo: Scritti abolizionisti afro-americani, Torino, La Rosa, 2007;

- Koselleck, R., "Historia magistra vitae: Sulla dissoluzione del topos nell’orizzonte di mobilità della storia moderna", and "Criteri storici del moderno concetto di rivoluzione", in Futuro passato: Per una semantica dei tempi storici [1979], Bologna, CLUEB, 2007;

- Marx, K., Sulla questione ebraica [1843], in B. Bauer and K. Marx, La questione ebraica, ed. by M. Tomba, Roma, Manifestolibri, 2004;

- Marx, K., Il 18 Brumaio di Luigi Bonaparte [1852], ed. by M. Prospero, Roma, Editori Riuniti, 2022, chapters 1 and 7;

- Paine, T., select passages from I diritti dell’uomo (Parts One and Two) [1791-1792], in I diritti dell’uomo e altri scritti politici, ed. by T. Magri, Roma, Editori Riuniti, 1978; Part One: pp. 119-124, 142-150, 215-219; Part Two: pp. 235-239, 268, 279-281, 286, 309-314 (the reading material will be available in Virtuale);

- Sieyès, E.-J., select passages from Che cos’è il Terzo stato? [1789], in E.-J. Sieyès, Opere e testimonianze politiche. Tomo I: Scritti editi, vol. 1, Milano, Giuffrè, 1993, pp. 209-216, 252-258, 275-283 (the reading material will be available in Virtuale);

- Sieyès, E.-J., Preliminari della Costituzione [1789], in E.-J. Sieyès, Opere e testimonianze politiche. Tomo I: Scritti editi, vol. 1, Milano, Giuffrè, 1993;

- Thompson, E.P., Tempo, disciplina del lavoro e capitalismo industriale [1967], in Società patrizia, cultura plebea: Otto saggi di antropologia storica sull’Inghilterra del Settecento, Torino, Einaudi, 1981.

Bibliography for students who do not attend the course:

- C.A. Bayly, "Rivoluzioni convergenti, 1780-1820", in La nascita del mondo moderno, 1780-1814 [2004], Torino, Einaudi, 2009;

- Buck-Morss, S., Hegel e Haiti: Schiavi, filosofi e piantagioni, Verona, ombrecorte, 2023 (this essay can also be found in: R. Cagliero and F. Ronzon (eds.), Spettri di Haiti: Dal colonialismo francese all’imperialismo americano, Verona, ombrecorte, 2002);

- Burke, E., Pensieri sulla scarsità [1795], ed. by A. Sezzi, Roma, Manifestolibri, 1997;

- Cazzola, M., and Laudani, R., Ascesa e declino della moltitudine inglese: Per una genealogia della mob, in «Filosofia politica», 3, 2020, pp. 425-442;

- La Dichiarazione d’indipendenza degli Stati Uniti d’America [1776], ed. by T. Bonazzi, Venezia, Marsilio, 1999 (students are expected to also read the Introduction by T. Bonazzi);

- Dickinson, H.T., "Radical Ideology in the 1790s", in Liberty and Property: Political Ideology in Eighteenth-Century Britain, Abingdon, Routledge, 1977;

- Douglass, F., Il significato del Quattro di luglio per il popolo nero [1852], in R. Laudani (ed.), La libertà a ogni costo: Scritti abolizionisti afro-americani, Torino, La Rosa, 2007 (students are expected to also read the Introduction by R. Laudani);

- Duso, G., "Fine del governo e nascita del potere", in La logica del potere: Storia concettuale come filosofia politica, Monza, Polimetrica, 2007;

- Furia, A., La cittadinanza durante la Rivoluzione francese (1789-1799), in «Scienza & Politica: Per una storia delle dottrine», 14, 27, 2002, pp. 31-49;

- Koselleck, R., "Historia magistra vitae: Sulla dissoluzione del topos nell’orizzonte di mobilità della storia moderna", "Criteri storici del moderno concetto di rivoluzione", and "Storia dei concetti e storia sociale", in Futuro passato: Per una semantica dei tempi storici [1979], Bologna, CLUEB, 2007;

- Laudani, R., Mare e terra: Sui fondamenti spaziali della sovranità moderna, in «Filosofia politica», 3, 2015, pp. 513-530;

- Linebaugh, P., and M. Rediker, "L’idra dalle molte teste" and "Robert Wedderburn e il giubileo atlantico", in I ribelli dell’Atlantico: La storia perduta di un’utopia libertaria, Milano, Feltrinelli, 2004;

- Marx, K., Sulla questione ebraica [1843], in B. Bauer and K. Marx, La questione ebraica, ed. by M. Tomba, Roma, Manifestolibri, 2004;

- Marx, K., Il 18 Brumaio di Luigi Bonaparte [1852], ed. by M. Prospero, Roma, Editori Riuniti, 2022, chapters 1 e 7;

- Paine, T., Giustizia agraria [1797], in I diritti dell’uomo e altri scritti politici, ed. by T. Magri, Roma, Editori Riuniti, 1978;

- Philp, M., “Revolution”, in I. McCalman (ed.), An Oxford Companion to the Romantic Age: British Culture, 1776-1832, Oxford, Oxford University Press, 1999;

- Ricciardi, M., Rivoluzione, Bologna, Il Mulino, 2001, chapters from 1 to 6 + chapter 8;

- Sieyès, E.-J., Preliminari della Costituzione [1789], in E.-J. Sieyès, Opere e testimonianze politiche. Tomo I: Scritti editi, vol. 1, Milano, Giuffrè, 1993;

Teaching methods

Frontal lectures and discussion in class.

Assessment methods

Students who attend at least 75% of classes are considered to be attending the course.

Students who attend the course regularly are expected to pass an oral examination by answering questions aimed at assessing their knowledge of all topics dealt with in class as well as the readings listed in the “attending students” bibliography section.

Students who do not attend the course and/or whose attendance is not regular are likewise expected to pass an oral examination by answering questions aimed at assessing their knowledge of all the readings listed in the “non-attending students” bibliography section.

Consistent with the learning objectives of the course, the oral examination is aimed to appraise the students' knowledge of the topics dealt with in class and/or the readings listed in the bibliography. The final assessment will take into consideration the following aspects: knowledge of topics and authors; quality of exposition and use of proper and scientific language; ability to correctly interpret and comment on sources; and ability to trace connections among different texts and topics in order to build a consistent argument and by showing critical thinking.

Examinations (one per month) will be held in the following months: June, July, October, November, and December (2026), and subsequently February, March, April, and May (2027). All examinations are open to all students (both those who attend and those who do not attend).

Teaching tools

During frontal lectures, the lecturer will occasionally make use of PowerPoint presentations.

Students with learning disorders and/or temporary or permanent disabilities: please, contact the responsible office (https://site.unibo.it/studenti-con-disabilita-e-dsa/en/for-students ) as soon as possible for them to suggest acceptable adjustments. The request for adaptation must be submitted in advance (at least 15 days prior to the exam date) to the lecturer, who will assess that adjustments are appropriate, taking into account the learning objectives of the course.

Office hours

See the website of Matilde Cazzola