Afterword: Citizenship and Subjecthood, Empire, and Nation

Abstract

The final chapter of this book reflects on its contributions to our understanding of important questions in world history: on the relationship of empires and nations, of colonizers and colonized, of citizens and subjects. The particularities of Italy's history – from its consolidation as a state in the 19th century through its imperial ventures in Africa and the Mediterranean region to the experience of fascist imperialism – call attention to basic questions about citizenship that should reflect back on how we think about citizenship in other imperial contexts. The chapters bring out long unresolved debates over just what rights citizenship entailed and the tension between Italians’ coming to see themselves as a nation and their acquisition of a colonial empire in which different peoples had different statuses and rights. They describe the efforts of people in regions colonized by Italy to resist, deflect, or adapt to the structures imposed on them.