85105 - Italian Political Thought (1) (LM)

Learning outcomes

At the end of the course, students will have the tools for gaining a basic understanding of the theoretical and practical issues debated in the history of Italian political thought in the modern and contemporary ages. By directly analysing the sources, students will define the theoretical specificities of the main authors of the history of Italian political thought and relate these to one another, communicating them in an effective, coherent way.

Course contents

The course will introduce students to the work of some of the most important authors in the history of Italian political thought from the sixteenth century to the present day, with particular emphasis on their understanding of historical crises, conflicts, and transformations. In doing so, the course will also address some important specificities of modern Italian history, society and culture.

 

After a short methodological and theoretical introduction, which will provide some basic elements and concepts to frame the overall topic in a broader historical and conceptual perspective (classes 1 and 2), the course will explore the following moments:

- The early modern age, with a specific focus on Niccolò Machiavelli’s theorization of a republican political framework and its potential crisis and Giambattista Vico’s reflection on history and the ever-present possibility of a return to barbarity.

- The age of the Risorgimento, that will be addressed through the discussion of a number of literary works dating to that moment (such as Leopardi and Manzoni), but above all through works dealing with that moment of the Italian history (such as Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa’s novel, The Leopard).

- The first decades of the 20th century, with a focus on Antonio Gramsci’s Notebooks and his understanding of organic crises and passive revolutions.

- The second half of the 20th century and the beginning of the 21st century, with a focus on Mario Tronti’s heterodox interpretation of the dynamics of capitalistic development and its possible crisis, Carla Lonzi’s radical feminism and Ernesto De Martino’s reflection on cultural apocalypses.

Readings/Bibliography

Regular attendance and interaction in class is an integral part of the learning activity. For this reason, the program for attending students is different from that for non-attending students.

 

Program for students attending at least 75% of the course

A reading list with excerpts from the works of the aforementioned authors that will be read and commented on in class will be made available on the platform Virtuale (accessible by Unibo students via the "Teaching Materials" link on this page) during the course and, together with the passages included in the slides, will constitute the basic bibliography for the final exam for students who have attended at least 75% of the course.

 

Program for student who cannot attend the course with regularity

The bibliography for non-attending students will be based on the following groups of texts (including sources, but also at least one critical essay that can serve as a guide). In order to pass the final exam, students will have to choose two of these groups to study.

 

Group A:

N. Machiavelli, Discourses on Livy, Translated by H. C. Mansfield and Nathan Tarcov (Book I, chapters 1-13, 16-20, 37, 55, 58; Book II, chapters 1-2, 17-18, 20, 29; Book III, chapter 1, 8-9).

N. Machiavelli, The Prince, translated and with an Introduction by H. C. Mansfield Jr., 2. ed, Chicago-London, The University of Chicago Press, 1998.

F. Del Lucchese, The Political Philosophy of Niccolò Machiavelli, Edinburgh, Edinburgh University Press, 2015 (pp. 1-113).

 

Group B:

G.B. Vico, The New Science, translated and edited by J. Taylor and R. Miner, with an Introduction of G. Mazzotta, New Haven and London, Yale University Press, 2020 (Book One: On the Elements; On The Principles; On Methods: pp. 74-122, Book Two: On Poetic Metaphysic; On Poetic Morals; On Poetic Politics: pp. 132-144; 193-202; 236-289, Book Five and conclusion).

V. Hösle, Vico's New science of the intersubjective world, Notre Dame, Indiana University of Notre Dame Press, 2016 (introduction, and chapter 1, 2 and 3).

 

Group C:

A. Gramsci, Selections from the Prison Notebooks, ed. by Q. Hoare - G. Nowell Smith, New York, New York International Publisher, 2014 (pp. 1-276).

J. Schwarzmantel, The Routledge Guidebook to Gramsci’s Prison Notebooks, London-New York, Routledge, 2015 (pp. 1-212).

 

Group D:

E. De Martino, The End of the World. Cultural Apocalypse and Transcendence, translated by D. L. Zinn, Chicago, University of Chicago Press, 2019 (Overture, chapter 1, chapter 2, chapter 4 and chapter 5).

F. A. Geisshuesler, The Life and Work of Ernesto De Martino : Italian Perspectives on Apocalypse and Rebirth in the Modern Study of Religion, Leiden, Brill, 2021.

 

Group E:

M. Tronti, Workers and Capital, New York, Verso Books, 2019 (Introduction; Factory and Society; The Plan of Capital; A New Type of Political Experiment: Lenin in England; The Strategy of Refusal).

C. Lonzi, Let's spit on Hegel, in Feminist Interpretations of Hegel, ed. by P. Jagentowicz Mills, Pennsylvania, The Pennsylvania State University Press, 1996.

S. Wright, Storming Heaven. Class Composition and Struggle in Italian Autonomist Marxism, London, Pluto Press, 2002.

P. Rudan, Woman: History and Critique of a Polemical Concept, Leiden, Brill, 2023 (chapter 3).

Teaching methods

The course will essentially be structured as a series of frontal lectures aimed at introducing the different authors, their context and their main arguments to students who may not have a specific background on them, and at directly reading and discussing their texts.
Students are encouraged to participate actively in class and to interact with the teacher by asking questions and making appropriate comments, both during the lectures and in the moments devoted to more open discussions.

The teacher will also be available during office hours for further explanations and clarifications of the topics discussed in class.

Assessment methods

Attending students may choose either to take a full oral exam based on all the materials presented in class (PowerPoint slides, passages read during the lectures, and the texts indicated in the final reading list) and aimed at evaluating their ability to read the sources, illustrate and connect their arguments, or to submit a paper on a specific topic previously agreed upon with the teacher and discuss it as part of the oral exam, during which it will be necessary in any case to demonstrate a general understanding of the topics discussed during the lectures.

Students' papers must be sent by e-mail at least 5 days before the exam date.

 

Rules concerning the use of Artificial Intelligence

A limited, declared, and non-substantive use of artificial intelligence is permitted for support activities such as editing and proofreading. However, the substantive use of AI to produce any part of the assessed work is not permitted.

Accordingly, all the papers will be discussed with the professor at the exam and the final evaluation will take into account both the paper and the student's ability to discuss it and answer any questions or objections raised during the oral part.

Non-attending students must take an oral exam on at least two of the above text groups and will be asked questions directly about authors and primary texts. In any case, non-attending students are recommended to get in touch with the professor before the exam in order to get more detailed information and to communicate their choice about the groups of texts they choose to study.

 

Students who are able to attend only part of the classes can agree with the professor on a specific program according to their needs. In this case, some additional texts can be added to the program for attending students as a supplement for a better preparation.

 

Students with learning disorders and\or temporary or permanent disabilities should contact the office responsible (https://site.unibo.it/studenti-con-disabilita-e-dsa/en/for-students ) as soon as possible so that they can propose acceptable adjustments. The request for adaptation must be submitted in advance (15 days before the exam date) to the lecturer, who will assess the appropriateness of the adjustments, taking into account the teaching objectives.

 

Criteria of evaluation

The evaluation will consider both knowledge of the subject and the student's ability to summarize and present the various issues addressed in the texts with coherence and correct terminology.

- In order to obtain an excellent final grade, students should demonstrate their ability to correctly analyze the sources and to discuss them clearly and critically, using appropriate language and a confident understanding of the issues raised in class and in the course bibliography.

- Good or average grades will be given to students who show an acceptable knowledge of the texts, combined with a fair ability to explain their content and a general understanding of the issues discussed in class, albeit with some minor imperfections and a less than adequate lexicon.

- A basic and mnemonic knowledge of the texts and of the main points discussed in class will receive a lower or sufficient evaluation.

- An unclear or significantly inaccurate presentation of the texts and course content will be graded as insufficient to pass the exam.

 

Schedule of the exams

The first examination sessions for 2026/2027 will be held in the summer session (May, June and July), with further sessions to be scheduled in the autumn (September, October and at least one date between November and December) and winter (January, February and March).

Teaching tools

During the lectures, the teacher will use PowerPoint slides containing texts, summaries, and other materials (such as images or maps). The slides will be uploaded as PDFs on Virtuale immediately before or after each class (accessible from the "Teaching Materials" link on this page). This platform will also be used to provide additional materials, to suggest further and non-mandatory readings (also at the students' request), and to keep a dialogue between the teacher and the class.

Office hours

See the website of Antonio Del Vecchio