(in Polish) The Italian political and juridical thought from fascism to national-populism - ZIP UW

general courses

History of Political Italian Theories from fascism to national-populism will examine the ideas of the major political Italian thinkers in in the twentieth century. It will start by exploring the renewal of post-positivist Italian political culture; nationalism and anarchism, fascism; Italian Marxism; liberal socialism and federalism. The focus of the course will be on the relationship between politics and culture and the modernization of the nation.

This course is offered within the University of Warsaw Integrated Development Programme, co-financed from the European Social Fund under the Operational Programme Knowledge Education Development 2014-2020, path 3.5.

The main aim of the course is to show how the political thought was shaped and developed in Italy, focusing on the major trends, such as: liberalism, fascism and national populism. These issues will be discussed with reference to the political concepts influencing the history of political culture in Italy in the 20th century, which include – the aforementioned – liberalism, fascism, social democracy, but also social Catholicism. These concepts involve some legal views regarding relations: between the individual and the State, between the laws of nature and the established law as well as international relations, first of all, referring to the relations between Italy and the EU. The thematic scope of the lectures will revolve around four historical periods: firstly, the crisis of the liberal State (1918-1922); secondly, fascism: from establishing dictatorship (1925) to the fall of the regime; thirdly, the origins (1948) and breakdown of the “Republic of political parties” (1992); and finally: the hegemony of media populism (1994) and the emergence of neo-nationalism (2015). Therefore, the thematic scope of this course will include doctrines and political ideas presented from a historical perspective, but is also embedded in the contemporary trends observed in Europe, which are gradually attracting interest among Europeans.

B.Croce, Politics and Morals;

G.Mosca, The Ruling Class;

Errico Malatesta, Anarchy;

R. De Felice, The interpretations of fascism;

A.Gramsci, Selections from the Prison Notebooks;

A.Spinelli, E.Rossi, Ventotene Manifesto;

M.Tronti, Workers and Capital;

N.Bobbio, The Age of Rights;

N.Bobbio, Liberalism and democracy;

M.Hardt, A.Negri, Empire

The participants will be able to define the sources and directions of the development of political ideas (such as: liberalism, fascism and national populism) in Italy and indicate the similarities and differences between the aforementioned trends, including the periods of their emergence. The participants will also be competent in analyzing the political trends with reference to the relations between: the State and the individual; the law of nature and the established law; international relations (Italy-EU). The participants will also be familiar with the sources of contemporary political trends in Italy.

Course credit granted on the basis of attendance, participation in discussions, preparation of a one-page essay on a given topic