Sociology in Italy

Abstract

T HE development of sociology in Italy has been marked by illustrious achievements and notable disappointments. A proper evaluation of both is essential to a valid appraisal and is of critical importance to an appreciation of the place of Italian sociology within the compass of international Italian scholars have made significant contributions to the development of sociology as a serious Long before Comte had coined the term, Italy had contributed a number of her illustrious sons to the ranks of those who prepared Western science for the advent of systematic sociology. As early as Niccolo Machiavelli we have, in Italy, the lines cast for a nomothetic discipline which concerned itself with the laws of society. Similarly, the Scienza nuova of Giambattista Vico is unequivocally a treatise in historical sociology.' In more recent time the names of Cesare Lombroso, Vilfredo Pareto, Gaetano Mosca, and Roberto Michels immediately come to mind. Many others could be added to their number. Any such enumeration would necessarily be arbitrary-but it would certainly include such notables as Scipio Sighele, Achille Loria, Luigi Sturzo, and Alfredo Niceforo.2 The disappointments which have attended the evolution of sociology in Italy have been a consequence of the fact that its growth has been sporadic rather than constant. The development of sociology in Italy lacks the continuity so necessary for the maturation of a science. This disability, undoubtedly, arises from the fact that