Postwar development in the Italian Mezzogiorno. Analyses and policies

Abstract

As Manlio Rossi-Doria wrote, in the early postwar years, the Southern Question was primarily an agrarian one. The debate and policies that addressed the Southern Question, however, did not remain confined solely to the agrarian dimension. The transformation of Southern agriculture was inextricably connected to two additional features of the Italian Mezzogiorno: first, the huge demographic expansion, and second, the lack of an industrial sector able to absorb the excessive agrarian population and to lead a process of economic diversification and internationalization. Above all, the solution to the Southern Question was interpreted as a truly national task. The development of the Mezzogiorno was at the basis of the collaboration between Italy and the World Bank throughout the 1950s. That experience became the subject of an intense debate over development policies that went beyond the Italian borders and embraced the question of postwar development worldwide. The Italian experience turned eventually out to be a failure. One feature of that experience remained vital, though, and has been underscored by contemporary scholars: the solution to the Southern Question is to be found at the national level, not just regionally.     

Global heritage: perspectives from the Northern Territory,Australia

This article examines the way in which selected cultural institutions, government and non‐government organisations and individuals in Australia’s Northern Territory have responded to globalising influences on the preservation, interpretation and public face of its history and heritage. It draws upon a number of interviews with local practitioners and professionals in the field to explore the multiple understandings of cultural heritage, history and identity in the Territory, to investigate how competing interests and expectations are managed at the state and local level, and to address issues of sovereignty in the context of global heritage. Respondents indicate that, despite a strong resurgence of local cultural identities, without people on the ground who care about their heritage, efforts by international bodies will have little effect. There has been increasing concern about the protection of local cultures in the face of globalisation, and research such as this is critical in providing feedback to international heritage organisations. Without strong local support for cultural heritage and identities, they can become increasingly vulnerable in a rapidly globalising world. In Australia’s Northern Territory, however, there seems little indication of this happening.     

Importance of Monitoring,Behavior Analysis,and Diagnostic Techniques for Preservation of Great Historical Structures

A synthetic overview is presented of the motivations, technological possibilities, and benefits of the practice of providing large structures with monitoring installation and interpretative activities. Starting from the large body of experience gained in the field of dam engineering, the gradual penetration of these techniques in the area of preservation of monumental building is surveyed. Particular attention is dedicated to the case of the Brunelleschi Cupola in the Florentine Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore. The more pressing needs for the next-future development of these studies and practices are then enunciated, with the auspice that the obstacle posed to their diffusion by the difficulty of collecting adequate financial funds may be overcome in the best interest of the conservation of a precious historical-cultural heritage.     

Parents of global youth: contesting debt and belonging

In the United States, recently arrived migrant youth encounter competing media and institutional discourses that cast them as dependents who have been rendered ‘left behind,’ ‘on their own,’ or ‘unaccompanied’ by their parents. A corresponding narrative emerges in which young migrants’ parents are framed as abusive, neglectful, and ignorant. Combined, these portrayals may garner specialized services and contribute to success in the legal realm. At the same time, however, they fail to recognize and even imperil the intimate intergenerational networks that facilitate transnational migration. In this article, we trace the homogenizing power of public discourses on young people and their families across two diverse ethnographic contexts, that of Chinese and Guatemalan migration. Focusing in particular on narratives of debt and belonging, we argue that the pervasive pathologization of migrant youths’ parents diminishes and contorts valued relationships over time. It correspondingly demands broader efforts to historicize and to contextualize youth mobility.     

Negotiating emotions,rethinking otherness in suburban Melbourne

I argue that research that tries to makes sense of emotion provides a better understanding of the politics and ethics of doing face-to-face research. Reflecting on in-depth interviews with people who live and/or work in Dandenong, an outer suburban area of Melbourne, I draw attention to the emotional dimensions of the research process. In particular I focus on moments when the exercise of white privilege made it difficult to negotiate emotions. These were moments when the intersection of my ethnicity with my position as a new settler in Dandenong made me feel excluded. The outcome was that I found it hard to value the voice of participants who were eager to help me with my research. A critical reflection of the emotions produced during such interpersonal encounters, however, has enabled me to rethink moments when the Self/Other binary unintentionally emerged. Critical self-reflexivity that is attentive to emotions gave me the opportunity to move closer to my goal of being an ethical researcher.     

Toward an understanding of the exchange in ancient scented oils through organic residue analysis of Bronze Age Near Eastern ceramic bottles by GC-MS

This paper presents a gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) organic residue analysis (ORA) of samples extracted from five Early Bronze Age ceramic bottles excavated at the archaeological site of Küllüoba in Anatolia (modern Turkey), and the first attempt at directly analysing the content of this category of products. Our results show that various types of liquid have been contained in different bottles and identify the presence of dicarboxylic and oleic acids with a large amount of palmitic acid in most samples, suggesting that they may have mostly contained a plant-based oil. The presence of diterpenoids further shows the addition of ingredients such as conifer resin and other plant-derived products. Overall, the analytical results presented here indicate the exchange of scented oils in Anatolia already during the late third millennium BCE. The different organic residue profiles contained in different samples also suggest a range of different recipes for these products.     

An archaeometric study of the Konya basin metallic ware through FTIR and XRD analysis with chemometrics: Central Anatolian Early Bronze Age ceramics

Fourier-transform infrared, X-ray diffraction and chemometrics were used to characterize the mineralogical composition and firing conditions of 59 Early Bronze Age ceramic sherds from the Konya Plain (Turkey). These include the Konya Basin Metallic Ware (KBMW) and a control group of contemporary local products. The analysis indicates significant differences in mineral inclusions and firing temperatures, with KBMW generally being fired above 800°C and characterized by standardized fabric recipes. Assessed together with other published evidence, these results indicate a high degree of specialization in the production of KBMW ceramic assemblages in central Anatolia during the third millennium BCE.