Abstract
The project "Inequality and generations in Italy (1914-2008)". (acronym: INGENI) aims at analysing evolution of inequality in its effects on the different stages of life (youth, adulthood, old age) from the First World War to the economic crisis of 2008. In recent decades, the issue of inequality has returned to the centre of attention of researchers following the widening of the income gap since the mid-1980s. The attention of historical research has focused mainly on the re-emergence of social marginality. INGENI project intends to analyse the historical evolution of inequality through an innovative approach. The project examines how the evolution of inequality has affected the three different age groups (youth, adulthood, old age). Starting from the awareness that the age stratification is influenced by the generational factor in the sense that different generations perceive age boundaries differently, the first step of the project will be to define the boundaries of the three ages and their variation over time in relation to social and cultural changes. After having conceptualised the three age groups in a historical perspective, the first objective of the project will be to verify the evolution of inequality both in terms of the change in the income gap and in terms of the change in opportunities in the three age groups. The second objective of the project will be to analyse the generation impact of welfare policies which, through the action of state transfers and/or income made available by the provision of services, contribute to the variation of inequality understood not only as a level of income but also as opportunities and the construction of identity. The third objective will be to examine the role of consumerism in the analysis of inequality in order to highlight how the spread and the quality of consumption influences the perception of inequality. The fourth objective of the project aims to analyse how migration flows have had an impact on the issue of inequality. As far as sources are concerned, INGENI will refer to existing economic data and indices and will analyse a wide range of primary sources (correspondence, political and popular press) supplementing them for the most recent period by administering questionnaires to a sample of people. A final conference is planned at the end of the project, as well as a multi-level publication strategy that will consist in the publication of an open access volume and the submission of two special issues proposals to international journals as well as a non academic dissemination of the results.
Project details
Unibo Team Leader: Stefano Cavazza
Unibo involved Department/s:
Dipartimento delle Arti
Coordinator:
ALMA MATER STUDIORUM - Università di Bologna(Italy)
Total Eu Contribution: Euro (EUR) 184.601,00
Total Unibo Contribution: Euro (EUR) 72.894,00
Project Duration in months: 24
Start Date:
28/09/2023
End Date:
28/02/2026
