Crisis In Italy Research Articles

Eco-justice Pedagogy All’Italiana: Radical Italian Art in the Italian-language Classroom

The climate crisis threatens our very existence in a myriad of urgent ways and thus merits imperative focus in pedagogic practices in general. This focus is achievable in Italian-language classrooms, where issues of global warming and climate crises are seldom mentioned, through artistic themes from Italy’s rich cultural heritage of the arts. The radical art movement of Arte Povera has the potential to bring ecological concerns to the forefront through a critical cultural lens of the country. By drawing upon images of the Arte Povera movement, concepts of eco-justice and eco-pedagogy can occur through paradigms of art-based education to not only discuss the impact of the climate crisis in Italy, but also achieve Italian-language acquisition critically.

Covid-19 crisis in Italy. Fundamental rights and freedoms: the price to pay for human health?

The results of the appearance of the novel coronavirus meant for many States, the application of restrictive measures of constitutionally protected rights and freedoms, with the aim -preliminarily- of protecting the health and integrity of people. Thus, a real “emergency legal framework” was created, with restrictions on interpersonal contact, and other daily situations in the life of any society.
 Italy stood out for being the first country where COVID-19 attacked with particular virulence. The first steps of the government at the end of January 2020 were aimed at preventing the entry of people from China, and soon after, put in place much more restrictive measures as the number of deceased patients increased. However, to some extent, all the imposed restrictions seemed to have been a price to be paid in order to protect human health.
 
 Los resultados de la aparición del novel coronavirus significó para muchos Estados, la aplicación de medidas restrictivas de derechos y libertades constitucionalmente tutelados, con el objeto -preliminarmente- de proteger la salud e integridad de las personas. Así, se dio paso a la creación de un verdadero “sistema jurídico de emergencia”, con restricciones al contacto interpersonal, situaciones por demás cotidianas en la vida de cualquier sociedad.
 Italia se destacó por ser el primer país donde el COVID-19 atacó con particular virulencia. Los primeros pasos del gobierno a finales de enero de 2020 tuvieron el objetivo de impedir el ingreso de personas provenientes de China, para poco después disponer medidas mucho más restrictivas a medida que el número de pacientes fallecidos aumentaba. Sin embargo, en algún punto, las restricciones impuestas se presentan como el precio que se debió pagar a cambio de la salud humana.

The distributive implications of welfare reform packages. The Italian case during and after the great crisis

ABSTRACT The paper analyses the pension reforms implemented during and after the Great Crisis in Italy (2011–2019), and evaluates whether a recalibration of the pension system and, more in general, of the Italian welfare state was involved. More specifically, through a multidimensional theoretical framework, the article assesses the distributive implications of the pension reforms not only within the pension realm but also by considering their interplay with those reforms that occurred in three specific sectors - namely, the labour market, the family, and anti-poverty policies. Pension reforms therefore are analysed in terms of welfare reform packages, where old and new policy instruments from different social policy fields are included. The work shows that recalibrating the Italian welfare state is still very difficult.

The Italian Response to the COVID-19 Crisis: Lessons Learned and Future Direction in Social Development

Against the backdrop of a continuously changing situation, the aim of this paper is to discuss the impact of COVID-19 crisis in Italy, the government response to cope with the crisis and the major lessons learned during its management. The analysis shows how Italy’s response has been characterised by some rapid measures to tackle the health crisis, but few plans in the mitigation stage and a lack of community involvement. This contribution stress the importance of a cultural shift, through the effort to apply in practice the principles already indicated in the main global policy frameworks to guide disaster management. A community social development approach can help to build concrete actions in this direction.

Coronavirus pandemic and colorectal surgery: practical advice based on the Italian experience.

The current COVID-19 pandemic is challenging healthcare systems at a global level. We provide a practical strategy to reorganize pathways of emergency and elective colorectal surgery during the COVID-19 pandemic. The authors, all from areas affected by the COVID-19 emergency, brainstormed remotely to define the key-points to be discussed. Tasks were assigned, concerning specific aspects of colorectal surgery during the pandemic, including the administrative management of the crisis in Italy. The recommendations (based on experience and on the limited evidence available) were collated and summarized. Little is known about the transmission of COVID-19, but it has shown a rapid spread. It is prudent to stop non-cancer procedures and prioritize urgent cancer treatment. Endoscopy and proctological procedures should be performed highly selectively. When dealing with colorectal emergencies, a conservative approach is advised. Specific procedures should be followed when operating on COVID-19-patients, using dedicated personal protective equipment and adhering to specific rules. Some policies are described, including minimally-invasive surgery. These policies outline the strict regulation of entry/ exit into theatres and operating building as well as advice on performing procedures safely to reduce risk of spreading the virus. It is likely that a reorganization of health system is required, both at central and local levels. A description of the strategy adopted in Italy is provided. Evidence on the management of patients needing surgery for colorectal conditions during the COVID-19 pandemic is currently lacking. Lessons learnt from healthcare professionals that have managed high volumes of surgical patients during the pandemic could be useful to mitigate some risks and reduce exposure to other patients, public and healthcare staff.

Celebrating a momentous milestone

A seismic event in neurointerventional history occurred on March 6, 1990. This was the day that the Guglielmi detachable coil (GDC) was first used in the treatment of a patient...

Palliative Care in the Time of COVID-19

After COVID-19 crisis in Italy, serious restrictions have been introduced for relatives, with limitations or prohibitions on hospital visits. To partially overcome these issues “WhatsApp” has been adopted to get family members to participate in clinical rounds. Family members of patients admitted to the acute palliative care unit and hospice were screened for a period of two weeks. Four formal questions were posed: 1) Are you happy to virtually attend the clinical round? 2) Are you happy with the information gained in this occasion? 3) Do you think that your loved one was happy to see you during the clinical rounds? 4) This technology may substitute your presence during the clinical rounds? The scores were 0 = no, 1 = a little bit, 2 = much, 3 = very much. Relatives were free to comment about these points. Sixteen of 25 screened family members were interviewed. Most family members had a good impression, providing scores of 2 or 3 for the first three items. However, the real presence bedside (forth question) was considered irreplaceable. They perceived that their loved one, when admitted to hospice, had to say good-bye before dying.

Blurred Shots: Investigating the Information Crisis Around Vaccination in Italy

This article aims at exploring a case of information crisis in Italy through the lens of vaccination-related topics. Such a controversial issue, dividing public opinion and political agendas, has received diverse information coverage and public policies over time in the Italian context, whose situation appears quite unique compared with other countries because of a strong media spectacularization and politicization of the topic. In particular, approval of the “Lorenzin Decree,” increasing the number of mandatory vaccinations from 4 to 10, generated a nationwide debate that divided public opinion and political parties, triggering a complex informative crisis and fostering the perception of a social emergency on social media. This resulted in negative stress on lay publics and on the public health system. The study adopted an interdisciplinary framework, including political science, public relations, and health communication studies, as well as a mixed-method approach, combining data mining techniques related to news media coverage and social media engagement, with in-depth interviews to key experts, selected among researchers, journalists, and communication managers. The article investigates reasons for the information crisis and identifies possible solutions and interventions to improve the effectiveness of public health communication and mitigate the social consequences of misinformation around vaccination.

Operating Room Management after 2008 Economic Crisis in Italy: A Literary Review

The 2008 financial crisis has changed administration methods of various activities and productive services, including health services. In fact in Italy it was necessary a deep reorganization of the healthcare system due to a strong reduction in the funds allocated to the health sector. Consequently the management of the hospital operative theaters like operating rooms (OR) has become a priority aspect in the health administration. In this context we performed a literary review about experiences or projects of operating room management (ORM) carried out in Italy between 2007 and nowadays. We searched Medline database and we found 12 articles meeting the inclusion criteria. Only one paper was submitted in 2007, the remain were drafted in the following years. The italian regions represented are mostly of the north center area. The topics discussed are heterogeneous: ORM reorganizations in clinical hospitals, simulations of models aimed to resolve OR slots assignment, surgical waiting lists management, OR process analysis and ORM literary review. Overall the results show that interest and competence for the ORM are quickly increasing in Italy. In fact, because OR are the most expansive and the most productive areas of every hospitals, it’s of paramount relief to implement strategies in order to optimize OR quality and minimize the non-productive and unnecessary costs, especially in the current period of austerity measures and continuous cuts to public funds.
 Keywords: hospitals, management, crisis, resources, surgery, healthcare, ORM

Paths toward the Same Form of Collective Action: Direct Social Action in Times of Crisis in Italy1,2

AbstractHeterogeneous collective actors often select the same form of action, but there is no academic investigation into how and when this happens. This article does so focusing on direct social action, that is, a form of collective action that does not primarily focus upon claiming something from the state but instead focuses upon directly transforming some specific aspects of society. Building on conceptual categories developed by social movements’ scholars (context, organization, and identity) and relying on rich qualitative and quantitative data from collective actors in Italy in a time of crisis, this article identifies four paths toward direct social actions (DSA): the social path, the political-social path, the social-political path, and the political path. In doing so, our analysis shifts from the search for causal factors to the reconstruction of the dynamic, patterned sequences of events by which collective actors progress in adopting a certain form of action. The implications of these findings extend beyond studies of DSA in times of crisis in Italy, to an analysis of collective action in general. Capturing these multiple paths also has important implications for understanding how the same form of action is differently implemented and received when it is adopted by different actors.

European Banking Union to the Rescue? How Supranational Institutions Influenced Crisis Management in Italy

ABSTRACTThis article examines the management of the recent banking crisis in Italy. In particular, we investigate the changing coalitional dynamics among Italian banks with a view to identifying the conditions under which banks are more likely to share the costs of crisis management. We argue that banks’ preferences are significantly shaped by the institutional context within which they operate. In particular, the establishment of Banking Union in the European Union (EU) significantly weakened the traditional coalitional dynamics among Italian banks by injecting uncertainty about the distributional effects of crisis management policy solutions.

Direct Social Action, Welfare Retrenchment and Political Identities. Coping with the Crisis and Pursuing Change in Italy

In the context of the economic crisis, research on collective action has increasingly focused direct social actions, that escape the traditional state-addressing repertoires of action and focus on a self-changing society: boycotts, solidarity action, political consumerism, alternative finance (e.g. crowdfunding, food banks), collective purchasing groups, occupations, self-management, free legal advice and medical services, to mention just a few. This article aims to address the issue of direct social action as a response to welfare retrenchment in the context of the economic crisis in Italy, focusing in particular on actors with a background in protest and social movement milieus. How do these actors keep protest and direct social action together? How do they justify the choice to engage in direct social action? How do they make sense of the contradiction between service-providing and claim-making? And what are the consequences of the choice of these forms of action on their identity? The article answers these questions through the analysis of 20 qualitative interviews to representatives of organisations engaging in direct social actions in Italy. The analysis shows that investigating the transition in the form of action as a political process, rooted in the decline of political participation, and aiming at reconstructing identity and politicisation, is helpful to understand how actors address the risk of substitution and to assess the outcomes of direct social action.

Italian doctorate holders in the political and social sciences: career options, job growth and salary

ABSTRACTWe develop a secondary analysis of the data by the Italian National Statistical Institute (ISTAT) by means of two surveys on large samples of PhD graduates who obtained their doctoral degrees from Italian universities in 2004 and 2006 (the first survey) and in 2008 and 2010 (the second survey). We focused on doctorate holders in the political and social sciences. After a descriptive social make-up of the four cohorts, we carried out an analysis to verify the mid-term occupational outcomes of these graduates during a period of academic reforms and economic crisis in Italy. Our analysis underlines relevant differences between the two cohorts of PhD holders that graduated before the economic crisis and the two cohorts that graduated after. The latter have higher chances of obtaining fixed-term contracts and get low salaries; PhDs who graduated in 2008 and 2010 more frequently experience risk of self-employed or non-academic researchers at all. The economic crisis fragmented the terms of contracts, in particular, increasing fixed-term contracts and unemployment and furthermore, polarizing salaries (very high salary or very low salary). Further studies are necessary to understand whether this new condition is a constraint or an opportunity for PhDs in the political and social sciences.

Why it’s still worth it: continuing to supervise trainee students in a period of crisis in Italy

ABSTRACT Today, social workers work in a context radically different from that of the past. Managerialism, reduced resources, and the expansion of procedures and standards have become structural components of social work. The article reports the results of a survey conducted on a sample of supervisors in Italy that analysed the consequences of this change on the decision to continue or stop being the supervisor of social work students. Research shows that the prolongation over time of unfavourable working conditions generates a significant ‘corrosive’ effect on the motivation of social workers to continue to perform the role of supervisor. The article also highlights the strategies that can be used by social workers to counteract the effort of supervising students in the new organisational and work climate and the importance of the problem for the future education of practitioners.

Thermo-vacuum treatment of poplar (Populusspp.) plywood

AbstractPoplar cultivation is enduring a long-lasting crisis in Italy, but it is still playing a relevant role in the Italian and European wood sectors. To improve its prospects, the manufacturers of poplar plywood have recently activated various strategies to make it a distinguished panel with specific performances. In this frame, thermo-treatment could open new applications and markets. The present study investigates the physico-mechanical properties of thermo-treated poplar plywood. For this purpose, panels were manufactured with urea-melamine-formaldehyde adhesive, both in a standard mixture and added with resorcinol. They were then treated by the Termovuoto®process at 170, 190 and 210°C for 2 h. Changes in density, bonding quality, bending strength, modulus of elasticity, color and durability related to the aforementioned temperatures were investigated. Overall, the bonding quality of treated panels complied with the requirements of EN 314-1 and 2; bending strength and modulus of elasticity decreased, color darkened and durability increased. The latter is particularly important, because poplar wood is not durable and this process makes it suitable for use in humid conditions, offering new prospects for poplar plywood applications.

Italy-2018: The Triumph of Populism and Prospects of Exit from the Political Crisis

Introduction. The article is devoted to the origins, grounds and possible consequences of the political crisis in modern Italy. The paper shows that the Italian crisis has acquired a scale that challenges the interests of political establishment of the country and the very principles of the EU existence. Methods and materials. The authors seek a combination of General theoretical and special methods, focusing on the historical, socio-cultural and political analysis. They are based on the analysis of periodicals, as well as using articles and materials of researchers on the problems of political development in Italy. Analysis. The source of the crisis is the protest of citizens against the state authority and strategies of the political class of Italy, which is accompanied by the requirement of institutional reforms and socio-economic policy for benefit of the majority, in order to establish new political rules and form a truly legitimate political mechanism. These demands came from various social groups and led to a number of political and legal transformations, culminating in the “populist government”, which came to power as a result of the parliamentary elections of 2018. The “Populist government” intended to revise many previous approaches in domestic and foreign policy. It is the Alliance of the right-wing and left-wing populists that was entrusted by Italian society with necessary reforms. Results. According to the authors, it is political populism as a possible platform for social and political transformations, along with a number of possible risks, that contains a positive potential associated with the possibility of overcoming ideological divisions, corporate selfishness of Italian politicians and parties, as well as alienation in the relations of the power and society. This approach to resolving issues by the “populist government” will contribute to the gradual resolution of the problems that have caused the long-term political crisis in Italy.

Access to Healthcare and the Global Financial Crisis in Italy: A Human Rights Perspective

Equitable access to healthcare is fundamental in preventing health inequities, and it is warranted by international and regional norms on socio-economic rights. However, during financial crisis, pro-cyclical fiscal austerity can shift the cost of healthcare from the public onto the individual, impinging on the right of everyone to access timely and affordable healthcare. This article analyses this process through the case study of Italy, where the 2008 Great Recession catalysed a series of draconian budget cuts in the health sector. Using disaggregated survey data on self-reported unmet needs for healthcare, it will be shown that increased user fees and downsized health staff and facilities, combined with reduced disposable income, was associated with a drastic rise in inequities in accessing healthcare in Italy.

On the Risk of a Sovereign Debt Crisis in Italy

The intention for the Italian government to stimulate business activity via large increases in government spending is not in line with the stabilisation of the public debt ratio. Instead, if such policy were implemented, the risk of a sovereign debt crisis would be high. In this article, we analyse the capacity of the Italian economy to shoulder sovereign debt under different scenarios. We conclude that focusing on growth enhancing structural reforms, would allow for moderate increases in public expenditure.

The role of human capital after the crisis in Italy: A regional analysis

In the years of the prolonged post-crisis recession, the well-known North-South divide in Italy has significantly worsened. Several structural weaknesses limit both post-crisis recovery and socioeconomic convergence. A greater understanding of the economic contribution of workers' human capital, which is not fully exploited in Italy, could address the two issues. We analyze the effects of human capital on local economic performance and productivity, along with other socioeconomic variables, controlling for the endogeneity problem. Workers with a better education can promote economic recovery through productivity enhancement in the South, while traditional aspects related to industrialization are significant in the “wealthy North”. However, structural aspects, such as the local financial systems, must be developed to start a path to convergence for the North and the South.

What influences teachers’ job satisfaction and how to improve, develop and reorganize the school activities associated with them

Job satisfaction is a positive emotional state resulting from a personal appreciation of a his/her own job or experience. The paper reports on a study that examined job satisfaction among secondary school teachers in the province of Naples. Low job satisfaction has recently been cited as a possible cause of the current teaching crisis in Italy. Moreover, it is positively correlated to work performance, and it is expected that a school having teachers with high levels of job satisfaction impart higher levels of education and turns out more successful students. The paper investigates the relationship between individual characteristics, factors and teacher job satisfaction. In particular, it focuses on three individual characteristics that are commonly linked to job satisfaction in the literature, gender, age and years of experience. For this paper, a short version of the questionnaire Common Assessment Framework and Education model shared by European Institute of Public Administration was administered to a sample of secondary school teachers. The use of descriptive analysis resulted in the identification of the following six major factors affecting teacher satisfaction: communication, involvement, leadership, school climate, structure and job satisfaction. We tested the influence of these factors on teacher job satisfaction. A Partial Least Square Path Modelling (PLS-PM) and external analysis in PLS-PM have been used to test the relationships involved in the research model.