Myths and the political use of religion in Christian Democratic culture

Abstract

In this essay, the author will attempt to analyze the overall relationship established between the party of Christian Democracy (so named for its affiliation with a traditional religion) and the phenomena of the sacralization of politics that have so profoundly shaped the character of mass parties in the twentieth century. The quest for consensus led the Catholic party to adopt a new language, based on mythical thinking and profoundly indebted – in content and mode of communication – to the experiences of totalitarianism. The active rivalry with political religions marked, both in the phase of development and in the process of communication, the forms of mass political expression of Christian Democracy. De Gasperi's proposal concerning the definition of new identities and political affiliations, both on the national level and on the broader Western level (both in European and Atlantic terms) was the product of a unique ideological development in keeping with the requirements of modern mass politics.     

Confidence Factor?

Eurocode 8 Part 3 (EC8-3) is devoted to assessment and retrofitting of existing buildings. In order to take into account the uncertainty in the knowledge of structural properties, EC8-3 defines, analogously to the ordinary material partial factors, an adjustment factor, called “confidence factor (CF),” whose value depends on the level of knowledge (KL) of properties such as geometry, reinforcement layout and detailing, and materials. This solution is plausible from a logical point of view but it cannot yet profit from the experience of its use in practice, hence it needs to be substantiated by a higher level probabilistic analysis accounting for and propagating epistemic uncertainty (i.e., incomplete knowledge of a structure) throughout the seismic assessment procedure. This article investigates the soundness of the format proposed in EC8-3. The approach taken rests on the simulation of the entire assessment procedure and the evaluation of the distribution of the assessment results (distance from the limit state of interest) conditional on the acquired knowledge. Based on this distribution, a criterion is employed to calibrate the CF values. The obtained values are then critically examined and compared with code-specified ones. The results pinpoint a number of deficiencies that appear to somewhat invalidate the approach. The methodological significance of the work extends beyond the assessment procedure in EC8-3, since similar factors appear in other international guidelines (e.g., the knowledge factor of FEMA356).     

On the Design of Viscous Dampers for the Rehabilitation of Plan-Asymmetric Buildings

In this article, one of the procedures proposed in literature for the design of viscous dampers to be inserted in existing buildings is examined and extended to 3D eccentric buildings. The proposed procedure has been verified through a case study characterized by a six-story RC building. Both plan-symmetric and plan-asymmetric configurations have been considered for comparisons. The effect of considering the plan-asymmetry in the design has been studied. Moreover, also the importance of considering the higher modes has been investigated. The effectiveness of the design procedure has been then evaluated through the comparison with nonlinear dynamic analyses.     

Questioning Polycentric Development and its Effects. Issues of Definition and Measurement for the Italian NUTS-2 Regions

Polycentric development is a widely used term both in academic research and in the normative agenda. However, its theoretical foundations and economic implications are still unclear and the concept of polycentricity still does not have a shared definition or a shared measurement method. The aim of this study is two-fold. First, it defines and measures polycentricity at a NUTS-2 regional level, by comparing functional and morphological methods. Second, in the light of the role assigned to polycentric development in terms of policy, the study investigates the relationships between the degree of regional polycentricity and the key economic variables of performance, namely, competitiveness, social cohesion and environmental sustainability. Our main finding was that functional and morphological methods lead to similar results. In addition, we find a correlation between polycentricity and a more unequal income distribution and a higher level of productivity, especially when polycentricity was measured in functional terms. No stable correlations were found between polycentricity and measures of environmental sustainability, such as land consumption and greenhouse gas emissions.     

Sexual science and self-narrative: epistemology and narrative technologies of the self between Krafft-Ebing and Freud

The aim of this article is to understand an important passage in the history of the sciences of the psyche: starting from the psychiatric problematization - and the consequent emergence - of the concept and the object called "sexuality" in the second half of the 19th century, it attempts to show a series of continuities and discontinuities between this kind of reasoning and the birth of psychoanalysis in the first years of the 20th century. The particular focus is therefore directed on two texts: Krafft-Ebing's "Psychopathia Sexualis" and Freud's "Three Essays on the Theory of Sexuality." The argument runs along three intertwined axes: (1) an historico-epistemological analysis of the concepts and their transformations in the field of the science of sexuality; (2) an analysis of the power relationships between patients and physicians; and (3) an account of the psychiatric technologies of the self that have as an effect the emergence of new forms of "objective" knowledge of the subject. The broader goal is to trace a map of the simultaneous and correlate coming into being and transformations both of new forms of objects and of new forms of subjects through the mediation of scientific concepts and techniques.     

关于中华帝国晚期心态史的探索

Some elements of Puritanism in Chinese tradition are obviously different from the well-known intellectual phenomenon in the West; in the Neo-Confucian ambit the key question concerns “order-disorder,” “harmony-disharmony” in society and inside one’s personality, rather than “sin” and “purity” in personal morality. Yet we also find that chastity is involved in the contrast between the two concepts of purity and pollution and the idea of “obscene” (meaning “inauspicious,” “ill-omened,” “profane”) allows us to uncover a darker side to sexual representation. Death seems another source of active or passive pollution: this effect occurs after contaminational contact with human or animal remains. Thus death is the source of “desecration,” or of “contamination,” especially when it is the consequence of violence. This means that in Chinese culture, a sense of impurity seems to be driven by the horror of death and the fear of being overwhelmed by the passion of love; respectively, thanatos and eros. Other topics may also be associated, such as mental insanity referring to what is different, abnormal, strange, and socially subversive. The clean-unclean distinction originally responded to a basic visceral feeling—horror and repulsion/disgust—that is typically associated with hygienic worries and matter that is perceived as repugnant and inedible. But these basic ideas seem to have been symbolically extended to cope with the subconscious and metaphysical spheres: the horror of death and the fear of being overwhelmed by passion, the mysteries which lie behind these emotions, and the attempt to sublimate such fears into an impulse to transcend the red dust of our limited existence.     

Bearing capacity assessment of a 14th century arch bridge in Lecco (Italy)

The article presents the results of an experimental and numerical investigation on Azzone Visconti bridge, a 14th century arch bridge in Lecco (northern Italy). Starting from the historical data and from an extensive mechanical characterization of both the soil constituting the riverbed and of the masonry constituting the piers, the aim of the study is to investigate the bearing capacity of the bridge. A testing loading scheme defined according to the current Italian Code is adopted to check the structural behavior. A simplified finite element structural model was conceived and calibrated as a control tool to safely perform the experimental tests. Post-test nonlinear finite element analyses have allowed the prediction of the bridge bearing capacity and the definition of the bridge class according to the Italian regulations.