Il Mezzogiorno Research Articles

«Произведение большого дыхания…»: М. Горький о романе «Жизнь Клима Самгина» в интервью итальянской прессе (1926–1928)

The complex creative history of M. Gorky’s novel “The Life of Klim Samgin” is characterized by the constant development of his original idea, which was the result of a writer’s deep artistic and philosophical understanding of the changing sociohistorical context. This process took place in parallel with Gorky’s work on the novel. During his stay in Sorrento, Gorky gave several interviews to the Italian press (in 1926, 1927 and 1928), which were devoted to the writer’s work on “The Life of Klim Samgin”. These are the following interviews: the interview “Maxim Gorky and his new novel “Researcherˮ for newspaper Il Mezzogiorno on March 23–24, 1926; the interview “Gorky’s new novel” — to Corriere della Sera on January 29, 1927, reprinted by Il Giornale d’Italia on January 30, 1927 under the title “Gorky writes a great historical novel in Sorrento”; the interview “At Maxim Gorky’s Sorrento asylum. A conversation with the writer about his new novel “Forty Yearsˮ — to the newspaper Il Messaggerо on June 5, 1927 (its summary was published by Corriere della Sera on June 6, 1927); the interview “Maxim Gorky’s sixtieth birthday” — to the newspaper Il Messaggero on March 30, 1928. During these three years, the writer created the first (winter 1924–1925 or spring 1925 — the end of June 1926) and the second (summer 1926 — the end of February 1928) parts of the “Life of Klim Samgin”. The writer’s interviews reflected the gradual clarification of the time, setting and the scope of the novel, its title, volume and structure, the psychological type and the occupation of the main character.

The survey of Italian springs by the National Hydrographic Service, a forgotten database. Structuring and analysis of a dataset of Campania springs (southern Italy)

The analysis of groundwater resources is a particularly significant aspect of the economic, social and environmental development of the national territory. This is particularly relevant for the Campania region which, although characterized by the most significant aquifer systems of southern Italy, suffers from critical issues related to the progressive increase in demand and climatic variability at different time scales. In this framework, the lack of data concerning the survey of springs, including the minor ones, and of historical discharge measurements represents the main limitation to a more comprehensive regional hydrogeological characterization. The only source of historical data regarding the systematic and comprehensive survey of springs and discharge measurement is the Publication No. 14 of the National Hydrographic Service of the Ministry of Public Works “The Italian springs. List and description” reporting measures made between the 1920s and 1940s which was published in distinct volumes for each compartment. Despite its potential relevance, this source has so far been little used in regional hydrogeological studies. In this paper, a comparative analysis among data of springs derived from the Publication No. 14 and from measurement campaigns made by the Cassa per il Mezzogiorno (Special Project 26), between the 1960s and 1980s for main springs, was carried out for the Campania region. The information available from each source was validated through a cross-check, by means of a comparison of coordinates and a statistical analysis of the characterizing parameters. The new dataset allowed to expand the hydrogeological regional characterization with a higher number of springs, including the minor ones. The results obtained recognize the Publication No. 14 of the National Hydrographic Service as an important source of data to not be overlooked, especially in a condition of historical data shortage, by which can be both carried out regional hydrogeological and temporal analyses as well as identified integrative groundwater resources.

The Shape of the Land Reform: Palermo 1960

The constitutional land reform in Italy, which took place in the 1950s, was accompanied by profound changes that affected not only the countryside, but cities as well. The reform was mainly addressed toward the south, il mezzogiorno, and Sicily in particular where the reform was intended to affect all cities in the region. On the one hand this was a social change dictated by the new constitutional principles, such as redistribution and employment increment in the agricultural sector. On the other hand, an economic boom complemented the redistribution, especially in the building sector. This combination was a main force in dictating the shape and the form of the cities during those years. Sicily’s main city, Palermo, experienced a major “restyling” during the twenty years that followed the reform. The depopulation of the historic city centre, due to the WWII bombings, provided an opportunity to think about new urban areas. Contrary to what was expected, a dark chapter in the history of Italian urbanization unfolded: the so-called Sacco di Palermo. The city was “ravaged” by property speculation, illegal constructions, and it was aesthetically deprived of its identity by the demolition of entire art nouveau districts and 18th century buildings which were later replaced with tower blocks. These real and concrete consequences are part of a network of connections through which law creates space, connections that this paper aims to study by shifting the perspective by asking: how does space create law? and how architecture regulates society? It takes Palermo as case study, in order to study spaces that the law creates intentionally and unintentionally. In giving a shape to the law, this paper aims to take into consideration urban spaces that will help to better understand how the idea and the definition of law relate to space, to cities and its main actors especially in terms of redistribution and property.

The Cassa per il Mezzogiorno experience and the relaunch program for Southern Italy during early Fifties

The Cassa per il Mezzogiorno experience and the relaunch program for Southern Italy during early Fifties

Role of the Cassa Per Il Mezzogiorno in the Italian economy during the second half of the 1900s


 The history of the Cassa per il Mezzogiorno and its role to counter the regional inequality in Italy during the second hal of 1900s has been the subject of numerous studies and in-depth studies. From a purely quantitative point of view, the overall analysis of the financial statements highlighted how the Cassa managed to allocate between 1950 and 1986 over € 104,180 million (at constant 2011 prices). The results of this important financial mass were variable and different were the tools and models of interpretation adopted by historiography. Particularly important is the question of territorial analysis of interventions and their regional and provincial distribution. The aim of the essay is to present a model of study of the role and strategies of the case of the Cassa per il Mezzogiorno between 1950 and 1992 on a territorial level based on the use of a new series of quantitative character developed through the reorganization of the Cassa electronic accounting sources recently deposited at the Central State Archive of Italy. The research thus makes it possible to deepen some aspects of the Cassa activity, its account management and to make a comparison with the main evidences demonstrated by the historiography on the intervention strategies adopted by it.

LA CONTINUITÀ NELLA PUBBLICA AMMINISTRAZIONE

"Continuità" e "pausa", sono le parole chiave dell'amministrazione italiana, la prima generalmente prevalente sulla seconda. Ma in più di 150 anni, nonostante la continuità, ci sono state numerose interruzioni. Il modello della Legge Cavour (1853) è stato subito frammentato dalla creazione di uffici speciali, nuove funzioni e servizi collaterali. Il ridotto numero di dipendenti crebbe notevolmente nel tempo. La conoscenza tecnica a volte accompagnava la cultura burocratica dominante. Nacquero le amministrazioni "di guerra"; poi, con il fascismo, il parastato, le corporazioni, la burocrazia del Partito crebbe. Le principali caratteristiche della pubblica amministrazione furono le seguenti: la continuità degli uomini nel passaggio dal regime alla democrazia, ma anche le rotture, come quelle della Cassa per il Mezzogiorno e dell'Ente nazionale idrocarburi (ENI); le innovazioni del centro-sinistra (rottura) contro la tradizione (continuità); i successivi tentativi di riforma contro la resistenza dell'apparato. La continuità vince? Tuttavia, l'Europa, la digitalizzazione e le trasformazioni strutturali degli Stati agiscono come nuove fratture.

LA FRATTURA NORD-SUD. L’ASIMMETRIA TERRITORIALE COME QUESTIONE DEMOCRATICA

Lo schema analitico delle fratture elaborato da Stein Rokkan e Seymour M. Lipset può essere utilmente applicato alla "questione meridionale", in quanto riguarda la doppia dimensione del processo politico, caratterizzato da conflitti culturale-territoriali ed economicofunzionali Passando da queste opzioni metodologiche, per quanto riguarda il "Mezzogiorno", è importante notare che le premesse costitutive prevedevano il superamento della frattura all'interno dei processi di democratizzazione dell'ordinamento giuridico guidati dai partiti politici e basati, in larga misura, sulla regionalizzazione; il ritardo nell'attuazione delle Regioni, tuttavia, ha portato immediatamente al carattere centralizzato e tecnocratico delle grandi riforme volte a incidere sulla condizione meridionale: la riforma agraria e l'intervento straordinario attraverso la "Cassa per il Mezzogiorno". E, una volta costituite, le Regioni non sono più quelle auspicate dall'assemblea costituente: da enti legislativi e pianificatori, diventano minuscoli organi amministrativi affollati di dipendenti, in sistemi ipertrofici. Diventano quindi il veicolo di infiltrazione dei partiti politici - lontani dall'idea costituzionale - che pervadono le agenzie che avrebbero dovuto occuparsi della frattura Nord-Sud. Le politiche - dopo un primo successo - si degradano e falliscono. Ma l'asimmetria territoriale rimane la questione principale. Senza risolverla, l'Italia sarà sempre meno adeguata ad affrontare la concorrenza nella dimensione europea e internazionale: al "ritardo" del "Mezzogiorno" si aggiunge ora quello dell'intero Paese. Per questo motivo, i nuovi impulsi per una "separazione del Nord", nell'illusione di creare piccole patrie economiche su scala regionale, sono particolarmente rischiosi.

Regionalism at all costs Nallo Mazzocchi Alemanni and the Bradano Valley Land Reclamation Project, 1955.

Between 1950 and 1956, one fifth of the Italian landscape was profoundly reshaped. According to the first ten-year plan issued by the Cassa per il Mezzogiorno, 51 aqueducts and around 3,000 km of roads would provide the necessary infrastructure to rehouse millions of farmers, while 139 new settlements and 46,450 isolated houses would result from the new subdivision of land. Besides the national funds, newly established local authorities were entrusted with the handling of all technical aspects concerning land reclamation and resettlement. Far from being the mere result of political agreements, such an impressive and multi-faceted reform process stood at the intersection of cultural debates, national ambitions and foreign ascendancies that sought substantial alternatives to modernization and urbanization. This paper highlights an off-radar case study, with the aim of presenting and understanding some of the aspects featuring in the Italian discourse on rural planning. It deals with the intervention of the Bradano Valley Land Reclamation Authority and its main consultant, Nallo Mazzocchi Alemanni, and frames their efforts in the larger and multifaceted postwar Lucanian experience. Inscribed in the contemporary debate on regionalism and planning, the technical stance of Mazzocchi Alemanni would provide the foundation upon which to unfold the interweaving of contradictory ideologies deployed by intellectuals and activists seeking to uplift the Italian Mezzogiorno.

HISTORICAL LEGACY AND POLICY EFFECTIVENESS: THE LONG‐TERM INFLUENCE OF PREUNIFICATION BORDERS IN ITALY

ABSTRACTThis paper investigates the interplay between cultural traditions and policy effectiveness. It explores the differential impact of a large development program (Cassa per il Mezzogiorno), implemented for four decades, starting in the 1950s, to stimulate convergence between Italy's south and the more developed north, on municipalities with different histories. Namely, we consider a sample of municipalities located on either side of the historical border of the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, whose legacy is considered, from Putnam onwards, to be a prime‐facie cause of Southern Italy's underdevelopment. Having been part of the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies is associated with a negative impact of development policies, but only when the allocation of development funds through the Cassa per il Mezzogiorno suffered from low quality of governance and was driven by political considerations rather than by efficiency ones.

State intervention and economic growth in Southern Italy: the rise and fall of the ‘Cassa per il Mezzogiorno’ (1950–1986)

In the second half of the twentieth century, the Italian government carried out a massive regional policy in southern Italy, through the State-owned agency ‘Cassa per il Mezzogiorno’ (1950–1986). The article reconstructs the activities of this agency, making use of its yearly reports and of national and local archives. The Cassa was effective in the first two decades, thanks to substantial technical autonomy and, in the 1960s, to a strong focus on industrial development; however, from the 1970s it progressively became an instrument of waste and misallocation. At the local level, we find significant differences between the southern regions, and correspondence between the quality of state intervention and the regional patterns of GDP and productivity.

The State and Southern Italy

In the Republican period, the new democratic State overturned the conditions of marginalization experienced by the South in the liberal age, and especially during the Fascist regime, which had increased the gap between the country's north and south. Associazione per lo sviluppo dell'industria nel Mezzogiorno (Svimez) and, above all, Cassa per il Mezzogiorno were very important tools in promoting and directing State intervention for the modernization of southern Italy, and, in this, joining the work played by Iri (Istituto per la ricostruzione industriale). The recent book La dinamica economica del Mezzogiorno. Dal secondo dopoguerra alla conclusione dell'intervento straordinario, published by Svimez itself (Bologna, il Mulino, 2016), confirms the role as driver of growth exercised by State intervention in the economy, which since 1950 has favoured the process of convergence between north and south. Similarly, since the second half of the 1970s, the crisis of that approach, favoured by tendencies of localism and clientelism, has created the conditions for the gap to widen once again.

Developmental Policies, Long-Term Land-Use Changes and the Way Towards Soil Degradation: Evidence from Southern Italy

ABSTRACTThis paper discusses the relationship between state-driven developmental policies, considered as potential drivers of land degradation, and post-war territorial transformations in southern Italy, a disadvantaged Mediterranean region. Since the early 1950s, state-driven development policies aimed at balancing the socio-economic disparities between coastal and inland areas in southern Italy have sometimes impacted negatively on the quality of land. Three national and one European Union post-war policies have been considered in this study: (i) the Agrarian Reform promoting the realignment of land ownership and a new agricultural organization, (ii) the Cassa per il Mezzogiorno intervention stimulating economic development and reducing territorial unbalances, (iii) the measures for industrial recovery and settlement reconstruction after the 1980 earthquake in Campania and Basilicata regions and (iv) the European Common Agricultural Policy. The impact of these policies on soil resource depletion and land degradation in ecologically fragile, arid areas has been discussed using three case studies: Basilicata region, Sele river plain and Fortore river valley (both located in Campania region). The paper illustrates the multiple links between post-war economic policy and the downward environmental spiral observed in southern Italy as a contribution to the Mediterranean strategy for combating soil degradation, drought and desertification. It raises valid concerns about the negative implications of national and international political policies for land degradation in Italy which share resonance with similar developments in other countries.

L'Italia tra mercato comune e disparità di sviluppo. Gli studi regionali della Cee negli anni sessanta

EEC Regional Studies in the Sixties This essay, which belongs to the field of research on the history of European regional policy, focuses on the regional studies launched by the EEC and the ECSC in the Sixties, with specific reference to certain Italian cases: the region of Umbria and its steel industry, the Piombino area, the touristic destination of Calabria and the Bari-Taranto-Brindisi development hub. In particular, it highlights Italy’s position, characterized by its «Southern question» and by its commitment to bringing this topic to the attention of the Community, in order to obtain additional support for its policy of extraordinary intervention, which was mainly implemented through the «Cassa per il Mezzogiorno». The participation of Italian experts and officials in Community studies was closely related to the debate on planning that began with the preparation of the Vanoni Plan and continued with the economic programs of the center-left governments. Issues and new development strategies, with particular reference to the theories of development hubs (growth poles) and integrated development, passed from the national to the European level, paving the way towards the drafting of an EU cohesion policy for the future.

Di Vittorio, the CGIL, and the Communist Party between Labour Plan and «Cassa per il Mezzogiorno»

This essay reconstructs the attitudes of CGIL leader Giuseppe Di Vittorio in favour of the institution and politics of the Cassa per il Mezzogiorno. In particular, it analyses Di Vittorio's support for the industrialisation plan for Southern Italy produced by Pasquale Saraceno and SVIMEZ in the Congress organized by the Cassa per il Mezzogiorno in late 1953. These statements by the CGIL leader were criticized and condemned by PCI leadership, and by Giorgio Amendola and Mario Alicata in particular. Giuseppe Di Vittorio was thus forced to issue dramatic self-criticism.

Italy and Development Policies from the Golden Age to the Current Crisis: The Role of the 'Nuovo Meridionalismo'

The first aim of this paper on “L’Italia e le politiche di sviluppo dalla golden age alla crisi attuale: il ruolo del “nuovo meridionalismo” (Italy and its development policies from the golden age to the current crisis: the role of “nuovo meridionalismo”)” is to examine the state of the art concerning the strategies for the development of southern Italy. These strategies have been severely weakened, not only because of national policy choices, but also because of the prevailing cultural bias against Southern issues; this culture took hold even amongst those people of Southern Italy committed to “abolish the South”. Only in recent years has the trend been inverted, as the gap between the regions of Southern Italy and those in the Center and Northern areas has grown wider and wider and the attention has been focused back, at the national level, on an “open problem” such as the backwardness of Southern Italy. In order to perform an effective historical evaluation, this paper will reconsider the starting moment of the “nuovo meridionalismo”, when the birth of the SVIMEZ and the efforts carried out to define the industrialization strategies of the less developed area of our country gave life to a complex of unvaluable reforms, beginning with the extraordinary intervention and with the establishment of the Cassa per il Mezzogiorno. The positive turn impresses by this innovative setup of industrial policy had its roots in those development theories which, from the mid-XX° Century, began to bring the issue of “depressed areas” and of those cornerstone choices necessary to effectively tackle global problems. From them on, all the strategies for productive growth had to contend with defining the gap issue and the dual dynamics of several economies, as it is the (paradigm) case with Southern Italy. Upon the 150th anniversary of Italian unity, to effectively sum up all the main points of this paper, if one wants to meaningfully take on the lesson of “nuovo meridionalismo”, without invoking abstract reasons of social cohesion, a path must be detected. This path should be made of reciprocal interests between two areas: a Northern one and a Southern one; the latter has vast unproductive areas, but also creativity, talents and singe innovative experiences. Within this new and difficult context, the solution to the issues of Southern Italy, if accompanied by a profound conviction and commitment towards the need to stand up to global competition and market choices, can retake its role as a fundamental theme of the national economic policy, in order to benefit the rest of the country as well.

Il Mezzogiorno d’ltalia e le Istituzioni Educative Salesiane. Richieste e Fondazioni (1879-1922). Fonti per lo studio (review)

Il Mezzogiorno d'Italia e le Istituzioni Educative Salesiane. Richieste e Fondazioni (1879-1922). Fonts per to studio. By Francesco Casella. [Istituto Storico Calesiano, Studs-15.] (Rome: LAS [Libreria Ateneo Salesiano]. 2000. Pp. 831. Lire 80.000 paperback.) Interest in the Salesian Society was spurred by Vatican Council II (19621965), which led to the formation of the Salesian Historical Institute and the calling of international conferences in Rome, in 1991, 1995, and 2000. The socio-economic context for the emergence of the Salesian movement was set by Liberal Italy's failure to cement political unification with the promotion of social cohesion, only attainable through a vast reform program encompassing every major facet of southern life. Absence of national initiative and concerted effort worsened the ill effects of diseases, droughts, earthquakes, emigration, illiteracy, unfair taxation system, inequities in land ownership, wars, technical backwardness, lack of capital and foreign investment, and problems of water supply, health care, and sanitation. With the confiscation of church properties and educational facilities, communities in the South were left without schools and seminaries. Apparently, the Risorgimento, climaxed by territorial unification in 1859, had no redeeming value worth mentioning, while the Church, its attitude and policies, does not merit criticism. Confronted by desperate conditions, prelates of every rank, laymen, private citizens, municipal authorities, a prefect or two, directed appeals for assistance to Don Giovanni Bosco in Turin, first capital of United Italy. Sanctioned by Pius IX in 1869, its constitution approved in 1874, the Salesian Society had its headquarters in Turin, with a General Chapter (Capitolo Generale) as the governing body, and a Chief Rector (Rettore Maggiore) serving for twelve years, the term renewable. The stated mission was evangelical, educational, and pastoral. Casella's study concentrates on the second proviso. The Bollettino Salesiano (Salesian Bulletin) was the official mouthpiece boasting of wide circulation in and out of Italy. Installed in 1876, Bosco, with his keen sense of history, mandated that all records, local, regional, national, and international, be meticulously kept, enabling future historians to pursue scholarly investigations into the work of the charitable association. Protocol required that all petitions be endorsed by the local bishop. Each establishment (fondazione) was to be personally examined by the Chief Rector or by a visitor of his designation. Inspectorates were eventually set up in Rome and Naples. Upon Bosco's death in 1888, he was succeeded by Don Michele Rua (two terms, 1888-1910), Don Paolo Albera (19101921), and Beato Filippo Rinaldi (1922-1931). By the end of the 1800's, the Society had expanded in France, Spain, Great Britain, and the Americas. Permanent and temporary personnel stood at 1,035 in 1888 and 3,816 in 1901. …

Giacomo Leopardi's Art and Science of Emotion in Memory and Anticipation

Emotion in memory and anticipation is a crux of Giacomo Leopardi's work, in two complementary ways: (i) It is a central subject of his art and science, notably several fine poems in the Canti' and many fascinating notebook entries in the Zibaldone di pensieri.2 (ii) It is a central element in his understanding of his art, for he considers it a necessary cause of artistic creativity: per l'invenzione [...] ci vuole [...] un influsso dell'entusiasmo passato o futuro o abituale, piuttosto che la sua presenza, e possiamo dire il suo crepuscolo, piuttosto che il mezzogiorno (Z 257-59, 3.X.1820). This article surveys Leopardi's representations of, and reflections upon, emotion in memory and anticipation, and offers an interpretation of Le ricordanze (C 435-60), where the intertemporal dimensions of emotion are most relentlessly explored.

Desalination plant program to solve shortage of water in the southern Italian islands (Sicily)

The paper describes an original form of contract worked out by “Cassa per il Mezzogiorno”, an Italian Public Agency, which provides a single call for tenders for installing six desalination plants in some small islands of Sicily and binds the contractor to the possible operation of all the plants concerned for an eleven-year period.

Desalination plant program to solve shortage of water in the southern Italian Islands (Sicily)

The paper describes an original form of contract worked out by “Cassa per il Mezzogiorno”, an Italian Public Agency, which provides a single call for tenders for installing six desalination plants in some small islands of Sicily and binds the contractor to the possible operation of all the plants concerned for an eleven-year period.

The Design of an Infrastructure for Technology Transfer in Southern Italy - Role of Regional Institutions

This paper coordinates and integrates the interventions of Proff.G. LO GIUDICE and A. ROMANO, included in the conference programme.It starts mainly from the socio-economical system of Southern Italy, and it consists in the following main points:-analysis of the system features to be interconnected for the development of an infrastructure for developing technological transfer;-ways of understanding the suitability of technologies for Southern Italy;-a proposal for a macro-organizational model for the development of an infrastructure aiming at the technological transfer;-pointing out the role of the”Regioni” and of the direct Government interventions in the innovative processes. (Intervento Straordinario).The contents of this report are the result of the authors’ experiences, achieved in different contexts: Prof. G. LO GIUDICE of Palermo University, is a Member of the Board of Directors CASSA PER IL MEZZOGIORNO (which is an operational organization for direct interventions, whose principal duty is to support any action aiming at Southern development); Prof. A. ROMANO from Bari University, President of C.S.A.T.A. (that is specialized in informatie technologies transfer) .The subjects and the proposals developed in this report take also into account the results of a recent study carried out by a group of researches by C.S.A.T.A. and FAST published by DE DONATO (Research and Transfer of Technologies in Europe) .