The long and winding road. The ideological evolution of the Italian radical left in the Second Republic: the case of Partito della Rifondazione Comunista

Abstract

ABSTRACT This article analyses the ideological evolution of the Partito della Rifondazione Comunista (P.R.C.), the main representative of the radical left in Italy in the so-called Second Republic. The focus on the ideological nature of P.R.C. is justified because as a ‘purifying party’ the debates on the ideological nature of the party have played a crucial role in the process of defining party identity. In this sense, this article differentiates three main phases in the ideological evolution of the party. Finally, this analysis reinforces the notion that the ideological changes that the P.R.C. has undergone, in its constant redefinition of a neo-communist identity, are determined by its position vis-à-vis the political, historical, and cultural heritage of the Italian communist tradition embodied in the P.C.I.