Università Roma Tre

Master’s degree course – HISTORY OF CONTEMPORARY ITALY

Italy: from the birth of the democratic republic to today

This course is organised on different levels. The basic level will focus on the following topics: the Economic Miracle and the “Great Transformation” (with changes in society and mores) and the long-standing roots of anti-politics and populism, from the Movimento dell’Uomo Qualunque (the Common Man’s Movement) up to the recent ascent of populist movements like the League and the Five Star Movement.

This part of the course lays the foundation for both Module 1 and 2. Each module will then provide a more in-depth look at some topics.

In Module I, the following topics will be analysed: The Republic, the “Movimento dell’Uomo Qualunque” (The Common Man’s Movement), The mass-parties, the large-scale transformations during the sixties and the change in mores, the important changes in women’s conditions, the 1968 protest, the hot autumn of 1969, civil rights movements, the Piazza Fontana bombing and the “Strategy of Tension”, the political-economic crisis, armed struggle and political violence, the Movement of 1977, the “Historic Compromise”, the Case of Aldo Moro, changes in collective ethos, the advent of commercial TV, the emergence of the politics of spectacle, the foundations and development of the eighties. T34he crisis of the so-called “First Republic”, the collapse of the party system with “Tangentopoli”, Berlusconi’s rise to power and “Berlusconism”, the choice to become part of the Eurozone, the reasons why “Berlusconism” was successful and then why it began to decline between Liberalism and Populism, the 2008-2009 financial crisis, the emergence of the Five Star Movement and the League.


Within this framework, students may choose to more closely examine one of the following topics: changes in the condition of women and the feminist movement, the strategy of tension and the parliamentary and extra-parliamentary right, the Red Brigades and the kidnapping of Aldo Moro.

Module 2 furthers the reflections already developed in Module 1 by picking up where they left off and expanding on them, placing them within the broader context of the events of recent years. Therefore, we will look more closely at the Movimento dell’Uomo Qualunque (the Common Man’s Movement) and “Berlusconismo”.


BASIC TEXTS for both Module 1 and Module 2:

Umberto Gentiloni, “Storia dell’Italia Contemporanea”, Il Mulino

Marco Tarchi, “L’Italia populista. Dal Qualunquismo a Beppe Grillo”, Il Mulino


This common foundation is then divided into 2 modules, each worth 6 university credits.

Students who need to earn 6 university credits must do Module 1, in addition to the shared foundation part of the course.
Students who need to earn 12 university credits must do both Module 1 and 2, in addition to the shared foundation part of the course.

MODULE 1 (6 university credits):

In Module 1, after the required reading, students may choose one of the following topics for further study:

a) The condition of women and the women’s movement
- Perry Wilson, Italiane. Biografia del Novecento, Laterza (from Chapter 7 to the end)
- Fiamma Lussana, Il Movimento femminista in Italia, Carocci (whole book)

b) The right and the strategy of tension
- Davide Conti, L’Anima nera della repubblica, Laterza

c) The Red Brigades and the case of Aldo Moro
- Agostino Giovagnoli, Il Caso Moro, Il Mulino


MODULE 2 (6 university credits)


In Module 2, after the required reading, students may choose one of the following for further study:

a) Maurizio Cocco, Qualunquismo. Una storia politica e culturale dell’Uomo Qualunque, Le Monnier.

b) Giovanni Orsina, Il Berlusconismo nella storia d’Italia, Marsilio.

BASIC TEXTS for both Module 1 and Module 2:

Umberto Gentiloni, “Storia dell’Italia Contemporanea”, Il Mulino

Marco Tarchi, “L’Italia populista. Dal Qualunquismo a Beppe Grillo”, Il Mulino


This common foundation is then divided into 2 modules, each worth 6 university credits.

Students who need to earn 6 university credits must do Module 1, in addition to the shared foundation part of the course.
Students who need to earn 12 university credits must do both Module 1 and 2, in addition to the shared foundation part of the course.

MODULE 1 (6 university credits):

In Module 1, after the required reading, students may choose one of the following topics for further study:

a) The condition of women and the women’s movement
- Perry Wilson, Italiane. Biografia del Novecento, Laterza (from Chapter 7 to the end)
- Fiamma Lussana, Il Movimento femminista in Italia, Carocci (whole book)

b) The right and the strategy of tension
- Davide Conti, L’Anima nera della repubblica, Laterza

c) The Red Brigades and the case of Aldo Moro
- Agostino Giovagnoli, Il Caso Moro, Il Mulino


MODULE 2 (6 university credits)


In Module 2, after the required reading, students may choose one of the following for further study:

a) Maurizio Cocco, Qualunquismo. Una storia politica e culturale dell’Uomo Qualunque, Le Monnier.

b) Giovanni Orsina, Il Berlusconismo nella storia d’Italia, Marsilio.