Piero Gobetti and the Liberal Revolution in Italy

Abstract

Piero Gobetti, who died at an early age in 1926 after a severe beating by Fascist squadristi, is one of the most remarkable figures in twentieth‐century Italian culture. A writer and thinker with deep political commitment, Gobetti launched the reviews and journals during the political crisis in Italy between 1918 and 1925 which provided a meeting point for the otherwise dispersed forces of the Italian Left. The republication of his essay ‘The Liberal Revolution. An Essay of the Political Struggle in Italy’ ‐ the fifth edition since it first appeared in 1924 — has reopened the debate on Gobetti and provides an opportunity to consider Gobetti's ideas outside the context of the often politically motivated interpretations that have been placed on them.     

New tech spaces for old tech places? Exploring the network of research and technology organizations across North Italian Regions

This paper explores the industrial affiliation and linkages of research and technology organizations (RTOs) in nine North Italian regions highly specialized in advanced manufacturing and introduces a methodology to assess the potential for a cross-regional technology platform. RTOs are supposed to operate in the development and application phases of innovation and are expected to provide access to key enabling technologies and R&D infrastructures. An original survey panel of 55 Italian RTOs is used and Social network analysis is introduced to assess the potential of RTOs to operate as a single cross-regional platform across key industrial and technology domains. Centrality measures are used to build an empirical model on the factors that drive the higher centrality of RTOs. Centrality is increased by convergence on few key technology priorities and is positively correlated with collaborative ventures, the number of contracts with firms and the presence of distinctive R&D infrastructures. Such a platform rests on specialized regional hubs, it operates with no gatekeepers and it only partially exploits geographical and technological proximity within the network. Future research avenues are discussed to improve the function of technology diffusion of RTOs in a cross-regional perspective.     

Modelling Uncertainties of Italian Code-Conforming Structures for the Purpose of Seismic Response Analysis

ABSTRACT

This paper describes the multivariate statistical model of the structure-related modelling uncertainty, developed with reference to reinforced concrete, masonry, steel, and seismically isolated buildings, within the framework of the RINTC project. The model describes the variability of material properties as well as the uncertainty associated with the adopted response models. Specific aspects of each structural typology are also discussed, with a focus on the statistical dependence of the random variables in the model. Finally, the paper describes also the efficient sampling procedure adopted. Effect of model uncertainty on response for each typology are discussed in the corresponding papers within this special issue dedicated to the RINTC project.     

Archeometric characterization of prehistoric grindstones from Milazzo Bronze Age settlement (Sicily,Italy)

The results of a petrographic and geochemical study carried out on archeological grindstones allow to provide new constraints on protohistoric commercial exchanges over the Mediterranean area. Eleven grindstones, discovered in an archeological site located in Milazzo (Messina, Sicily) and dated from the Early Bronze Age, have been investigated by geochemical and petrographic techniques. The raw materials are mainly volcanic rocks characterized by calc-alkaline and K-alkaline affinities with volcanic arc geochemical signature. Only one sample, made of basalt belonging to the Na-alkaline series, shows an intraplate signature. The comparison with the available literature data for similar rocks allowed constraining the volcanic origin of the exploited lavas. While the intraplate-type raw material came from Mt. Etna Volcano (Sicily), the arc-type volcanic rocks are mostly trachyandesites, basaltic andesites, and one rhyolite. Although most of them come from the Aeolian Arc, a provenance of some samples from the Aegean Arc cannot be excluded. This last region could represent the most probable provenance area for the rhyolite sample.     

Success of a flexible behavior. Considerations on the manufacture of Late Epigravettian lithic projectile implements according to experimental tests

It is generally recognized that the function and modality of hafting are the main factors influencing mental templates, and consequently, stone tool standardization. But what role do technical knowledge and traditions play? In this study, we investigate the interaction between mental templates and technological choices in the manufacture of Late Epigravettian projectile implements. The examined specimens come from different dwelling phases of the Dalmeri rock shelter (Italian Alps). Technological analyses suggest that lithic production systems gradually simplified their structure over time, implying a shift in technical investment from shaping on the core to a subsequent shaping on the derived flake blank. However, correlations between the dimensions and morphological features among the armatures from the different units suggest that mental templates remained unchanged throughout the Alleröd. Experimentation attests to the frequent combined application of different retouching techniques. Further, the variability in their arrangement denotes the absence of strict rules and the Epigravettian capability to recognize the most situationally suitable method. In the Dalmeri rock shelter, the standardization of lithic projectile implements is therefore a result of flexibility in retouching, framed in a production system characterized by a progressive simplification. A such rapidly produced and responsive technology must have been encouraged by Late Glacial climatic and environmental changes and the occupation of alpine territories previously inaccessible. Thus, the flexibility of technical behaviors turns out to be a key element in the transformation of Late Epigravettian societies during this period, enabling them to adapt and evolve in response to environmental, social, and economic changes.     

Book reviews—Comptes rendus

State‐building—Formation de l'Etat

P. LE ROUX, Romains d'Espagne. Cités et politique dans les provinces, Paris, Armand Colin, 1995,182 p., cartes, chronologies, glossaire, bibliographie, index.

Janice E. THOMSON, Mercenaries, Pirates and Sovereigns. State‐building and extraterritorial violence in early modern Europe, Princeton, Princeton University Press, 1994, xiii + 219 p., ISBN 0691086583.

Isser WOLOCH, The New Regime. Transformations of the French civic order, 1789–1820s, New York & London, W.W. Norton, 1994, 536 p. ISBN 0–393–03591–3.

Marie‐Anne MATARD‐BONUCCI, Histoire de la mafia, Bruxelles, Editions Complexe, 1994, 317 p. ISBN 2–87027–505–6.

Religious history—Histoire religieuse

C. Stephen JAEGER, The Envy of Angels: cathedral schools and social ideals in medieval Europe, 950–1200, Philadelphia, University of Pennsylvania Press, 1994, xvi + 515 p., ISBN 0–8122–3246–1.

Bodo NISCHAN, Prince, People and Confession. The Second Reformation in Brandenburg, Philadephia, University of Pennsylvania Press, 1994, 366 p., 21 black & white illustrations, ISBN 0–8122–3242–9.

Marriage and power—Manage et pouvoir

Martin AURELL, Les Noces du Comte. Mariage et pouvoir en Catalogne (785–1213), Paris, Publications de la Sorbonne, 1995, 623 p.

Carole LEVIN, The Heart and Stomach of a King. Elizabeth I and the politics of sex and power, Philadelphia, University of Pennsylvania Press, 1994, ISBN 0–8122–1533–8.

William G. WAGNER, Marriage, Property and Law in Late Imperial Russia, Oxford, Clarendon Press, 1994, xiv + 413 p., ISBN 0198204477.

Northern Europe—Europe du Nord

T. KJAERGAARD, The Danish Revolution, 1500‐I800. An ecohistorical interpretation, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 1994, xii + 314 p., ISBN 0521442672.

David KIRBY, The Baltic World 1772–1993: Europe's northern periphery in an age of change, London & New York, Longman, 1995, viii + 472 p., 4 maps, ISBN 0–582–00408‐X (hardback), 0–582–00409–8 (paperback).

Contemporary political history—Histoire politique de l'époque contemporaine

François DUCHENE, Jeen Monnet: the first statesman of interdependence, New York & London, W.W. Norton & Co., 1994, 478 p., ISBN 0393034976, 0393314901.

Romain YAKEMTCHOUK, L'adhésion de la Belgique à l'ONU 1944–1945. La contribution belge à la rédaction de la Charte de San Francisco, Bruxelles, Institut Royal des Relations Internationales, 1995, 207 p.

Kenneth MAXWELL, The Making of Portuguese Democracy, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 1995, 250 p., ISBN 0–521–46077–8.

Methodology—Méthodologie

Jean BOUTIER et Dominique JULIA (sous la dir. de), Passés recomposés. Champs et chantiers de l'histoire, Autrement, Série Mutations, no. 150–151, 349 p.     

Experimental explorations into the aceramic dry distillation of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Betula pubescens</Emphasis> (downy birch) bark tar

A range of experiments were conducted in an attempt to create tar from the bark of Betula pubescens (downy birch) using an aceramic dry distillation process. Fire structures based on small pits and small kiln-like mounds were explored with a focus on fire intensities and differing burn times under field-based conditions. Heat penetration presented itself as an all-important factor, and the depth of the construction of the structures and features was considered to directly correlate to the impact of the heat. Single variable experiments confirmed that the necessary reducing atmosphere was achievable despite friable soil, but that heat would not penetrate a 50- to 80-mm-deep layer of grass turf. The evolution of structures from pits towards a raised type resulted in kiln-like structures which proved more successful. Though the experiments did not successfully produce tar as a finished product, they did lead to a better understanding of the dry distillation process of the established technology of birch bark tar extraction in aceramic societies.     

GrenzWerte—55. Deutscher Geographentag in Trier

Unter dem Motto GrenzWerte wird der 55. Deutsche Geographentag vom 1. bis 8. Oktober 2005 in Trier stattfinden. Inmitten der Großregion SaarLorLux/Rheinland-Pfalz/Wallonien, die selbst von Grenzen unterschiedlichster Art durchzogen und umgeben ist, werden die Öffnung Europas nach Osten und weitere interessante Grenzaspekte Deutschlands thematisiert. Vielerorts wird diskutiert über Grenzen, die erreicht sind, beispielsweise im Verkehrswesen, beim Umweltschutz oder in Nachhaltigkeitsfragen. Das Motto GrenzWerte hat diesen Trend aufgegriffen und ließ neben der räumlichen auch eine inhaltliche Grenzdimension entstehen. Darüber, welche Anknüpfungspunkte sich daraus für die Angewandte Geographie ergeben, sprach der stellvertretende Vorsitzende des DVAG, DIPL.-GEOGR. KAI PARTALE , mit dem Vorsitzenden des Ortsausschusses für den Geographentag in Trier und Professor für Angewandte Geographie und Raumentwicklung an der Universität Trier, PROF. DR. HEINER MONHEIM.