93496 - Politics and Ideology of Culture (LM)

Learning outcomes

The course reconstructs the political significance of certain ideological-cultural constellations that have established themselves globally in modern and contemporary times. They are investigated both as discursive effects and as a product of the tension between the material constitution of society and its political representation, highlighting their role in the reproduction of society. At the end of the course the student: mastered the methodologies of the history of political and social concepts and constitutional history knows in depth the political meaning of ideological-cultural constellations; knows how to analyze the political effects of ideological discourse; knows how to apply the acquired knowledge to the processes of reproduction of society; is able to analyze political action in relation to the ideologies and culture that legitimize it.

Course contents

This year the course aims to reconstruct the existence of a conservative tradition within political modernity. By investigating the political semantics of conservation and tradition, continuity and variation, it is intended to show how the conservative tradition is a constant presence within a historical time that is self-representing through progress, rationalization and revolution. The policies of tradition - such as ordoliberalism, US neoconservatism and neoliberalism - are not limited to opposing changes in the social order, or avoiding its radical transformation, but are proposed as a specific way of governing the social order and its variations.

The main themes of the meetings will be:

1. Introduction. Ideologies of political time: tradition, conservation and variation
2. Past and future as political problems. Progress, revolution and conservative continuity
3. Patriarchy as modern tradition
4. Semantics of the Present. François Hartog and Presentism
5. Edmund Burke and the birth of modern conservatism
6. Revolution and Reaction
7. Friedrich Nietzsche: History, Genealogy and Heroes
8. The Conservative Revolution
9. Karl Mannheim and the concept of conservatism
10. Hannah Arendt: tradition and the modern age
11. Ordoliberalism and the Politics of Tradition
12. Neoliberalism and the Restoration of the Social
13. Thatcherism as Ideology
14. U.S. Neoconservatism and the Polics of Freedom
15. Social Tradition and Political Order

Readings/Bibliography

Reference bibliography for the individual points of the programme:

1. R. Koselleck, «Spazio di esperienza» e «orizzonti di aspettativa»: due categorie storiche, in Futuro passato. Per una semantica dei tempi storici, Bologna, CLUEB, 2007, pp. 300-322. Harmut Rosa, Accelerazione e alienazione. Per una teoria critica del tempo nella tarda modernità, Torino, Einaudi, 2015.
2. Alain Touraine, In difesa della modernità, Milano, Raffaello Cortina, 2019. Niklas Luhmann, Osservazioni sul moderno, Roma, Armando Editore, 2006.
3. Eleonora Cappuccilli – Roberta Ferrari, Il fermento femminile. Marx e la critica del patriarcato, in Global Marx. Storia e critica del movimento sociale nel mercato mondiale, Milano, Meltemi, 2020, pp. 95-114. Paola Rudan, Gayatri Spivak e il femminismo come critica globale, Marx nei Margini, Dal marxismo nero al femminismo postcoloniale, a cura di Miguel Mellino e Andrea Ruben Pomella, Roma, Alegre, 2020, pp. 115-133.
4. François Hartog, Regimi di storicità. Presentismo e esperienze del tempo, Palermo, Sellerio, 2007.
5. Edmund Burke, Riflessioni sulla Rivoluzione francese, Roma, Ideazione, 1999
6. Jean Starobinski, Azione e reazione. Vita e avventure di una coppia, Torino, Einaudi, 2001
7. Friedrich Nietzsche, Sull’utilità e il danno della storia per la vita, in Id., Considerazioni inattuali, Torino, Einaudi, 1981, pp.79-161 (o qualsiasi altra edizione).
8. Karl Mannheim, Conservatorismo. nascita e sviluppo del pensiero conservatore, Roma-Bari, Laterza, 1989.
9. Stefan Breuer, La rivoluzione conservatrice. Il pensiero di destra nella Germania di Weimar, Roma, Donzelli, 1995.
10. Hannah Arendt, Tra passato e futuro, Milano, Garzanti, 1991, pp. 25-129.
11. Maurizio Ricciardi, Tempo, ordine, potere. Su alcuni presupposti concettuali del programma neoliberale, in «Scienza e politica. Per una storia delle dottrine», 57, 2017, pp. 11-30. disponibile all’indirizzo: https://scienzaepolitica.unibo.it/article/view/7551/7257
12. Maurizio Ricciardi, L’eterna attualità dell’ideologia tra individuo, storia e società, in Storia d’Europa e del Mediterraneo, XIV: Culture, ideologie, religioni, a cura di G. Corni, Roma, Salerno Editrice, 2017, pp. 717-747.
13. Stuart Hall, Il rospo nel giardino: l’irruzione del thatcherismo nella teoria, in Id., Il soggetto e la differenza. Per un’archeologia degli studi culturali e postcoloniali, Roma, Meltemi, 2006, pp. 143-183.
14. La sezione monografia Il neoconservatorismo americano: ascesa e declino di un’idea, a cura di Raffaella Baritono in «Scienza & Politica. Per una storia delle dottrine», n. 61, 2019, disponibile all’indirizzo https://scienzaepolitica.unibo.it/issue/view/845 .
15. Albert O. Hirschman, Retoriche dell’intransigenza. Perversità, futilità, messa a repentaglio, Bologna, Il Mulino, 1991.

Teaching methods

Due to the restrictions imposed by the current health emergency, teaching will be carried out in a didactic manner:


Traditional: the teacher will always be present in the classroom designated for teaching, students will alternate in attendance according to a schedule of shifts being defined (more detailed information about the shift and how to access the lesson in attendance will be provided later). It will always be possible to connect remotely and follow live streaming of lessons in the classroom via TEAMS platform, lectures and seminar discussions.

Assessment methods

Given the seminar character of the laboratory, attendance is strongly recommended.

1) Attending students
Attending students can write a paper of at least 2500 words on a topic agreed with the teacher and based both on the references listed in the reading list and on further bibliographical references that emerged during the lessons. Students can discuss the topic of the paper with the teacher in class, during the office hours (via Teams or in presence) or via email.
2) Non-attending students

Students who do not attend can agree with the teacher during the office hours (via Teams or in presence) on a path within the thematic blocks indicated in the bibliography. They can then opt for the presentation of a paper of at least 3000 words.


All papers must be delivered at least one week before the institutional exam date.

Office hours

See the website of Maurizio Ricciardi