The State of Fascism: On the Trail of the Formation of a Political Paradigm in the 1920s 

After Fascism’s seizure of power, an intense political debate took place, focusing on
constitutional reform and regime-building. Even outside the realm of legal specialism, these
discussions outlined the features of a composite but shared paradigm of statehood. This
article reconstructs some of the generative aspects of the paradigm, showing how it was
based on the hybridisation of elements of different origins. Long-standing factors, such
as the organicist conception of the nation as generational continuity, combined with the
consequences of the war experience, such as national syndicalism, in the common intention
to address the «most serious problem of contemporary life», namely the inclusion of organised
labour forces in the national sphere. In the late 1920s, a combination of heterogeneous
elements of political culture coalesced that considered the corporative state to be the main
instrument for «realistically» resolving the major issues of contemporary society.

Keywords: Fascism, Corporative state, Organicism, Trade Unions, Constitutional reforms.

Parole chiave: Fascismo, Stato corporativo, Organicismo, Sindacati, Riforme costituzionali.

The Fascism of Nationalists: Propaganda and Narratives of Fascism in Europe in the 1920s 

The article analyses the role of Alfredo Rocco and other exponents of Italian nationalism
in spreading and legitimising fascism abroad in the 1920s and early 1930s. In particular, it
highlights how Rocco’s 1925 text The Doctrine of Fascism represented the first systematic
theoretical exposition of fascism to gain wide international circulation, and how Rocco
and other former nationalists were key figures in presenting fascism to conservative
foreign elites, acting as cultural mediators between nationalism and fascism. This central
role of nationalists in presenting fascism outside Italy lasted at least until 1932, when the
publication of Mussolini’s The Doctrine of Fascism imposed a different version of the official
interpretation of fascism.

Keywords: Nationalism, Fascism, Transnational circulation, Alfredo Rocco.

Parole chiave: Nazionalismo, Fascismo, Circolazione transnazionale, Alfredo Rocco.

The Beginnings of Spanish Inquisitorial Agency at the Holy See (15th-16th Centuries) 

This paper examines the context and reasons for the development of a Spanish inquisitorial
agency at the Holy See, identifies its agents, and determines the main characteristics and
functions of this particular diplomacy, of a non-courtly and religious nature. The study
shows that the beginning of inquisitorial representation in Rome predates what has been
suggested thus so far: it shows that Spanish inquisitorial agency already existed in the late 15th
century, led by a regular diplomatic representative linked to the Holy Office. Inquisitorial
representation at the Holy See shows the Inquisition’s interest in having continuous and
direct communication with the papacy and a delegated presence in Rome in order to defend
its interests. In summary, this paper provides an overview of the underexplored inquisitorial
agency in the 15th and 16th centuries and outlines the figure of its main representative, the
so-called «procurator general of the Holy Office in Rome».

Palabras clave: Agencia, Inquisición española, Procurador, Conflictos jurisdiccionales, Papado.

Keywords: Agency, Spanish Inquisition, Agent, Jurisdictional conflicts, Papacy.

Parole chiave: Agenzia, Inquisizione spagnola, Procuratore, Conflitti di giurisdizione, Papato.

The Death of Giacomo Boni (July 10, 1925) 

On July 10, 1925, Giacomo Boni, a renowned archaeologist and prominent figure in
European culture at the turn of the 20th century, died in Rome. Born in Venice in 1859,
he had intertwined his profession – which he lived as an existential mission – above all
with the promotion of ancient Rome. He served as director of the excavations of the
Roman Forum and the Palatine, and was also a tireless reviver of Roman heritage. His
death provoked mourning that transcended the boundaries of archaeology and geography,
resonating internationally and across disciplines in an uncommon way. Political authorities,
intellectuals, and ordinary citizens attended his funeral, which unfolded over two days in
a public liturgy that drew widespread attention. The exceptional decision by Mussolini’s
government – taken just hours after Boni’s death – to bury him on the Palatine, in the heart
of both ancient and contemporary Rome, marked an indelible moment in the relationship
between archaeologists and political power.

Keywords: Giacomo Boni, Archaeology, Fascism, Public liturgies, Funeral ceremonies.

Parole chiave: Giacomo Boni, Archeologia, Fascismo, Liturgie pubbliche, Cerimonie funebri.

Theatre, Italian Communist Party, and Southern Italy: The Early Formative Years of Giorgio
Napolitano (1945-48) 

In 1942, Giorgio Napolitano evacuated with his family to Padua, where he attended his final
year of secondary school and he began writing about theatre for the Guf (Fascist University
Groups) magazines. In November 1945, as a twenty-year-old student at the law faculty of
Naples, he made the decision to join the Italian Communist Party. In the following two years,
his political commitment turned towards the problems of Southern Italy («meridionalismo»).
This essay reconstructs that crucial moment of Napolitano’s biography, using his writings
(initially theatre reviews, later on other topics) published in «La Voce» – the newspaper of
the Neapolitan communists and socialists, to which he began to contribute in March 1945
invited by Mario Alicata – and some unpublished documents stored in his Personal Archive.
These sources allow us to focus on his approach to politics from a new perspective compared
to the one offered by his memoirs and autobiographical writings.

Keywords: Giorgio Napolitano, Italian Communist Party, «La Voce. Quotidiano dei
lavoratori del Mezzogiorno», Italy from Fascism to the Republic, Politics and culture.

Parole chiave: Giorgio Napolitano, Partito comunista italiano, «La Voce. Quotidiano dei
lavoratori del Mezzogiorno», L’Italia dal fascismo alla Repubblica, Politica e cultura.

Social Security and International Labour Migration: The Case of Italian Migrant Workers in
Western Europe and their Families (1945-51) 

This essay deals with an issue that has been scarcely explored in studies on the history of
social, citizenship and migration policies, namely the relationship between international
labour migration and the enjoyment of social security benefits in the immediate post-World
War II period. To this end, the text examines the case of Italian migrant workers and their
families, focusing on the actual possibility they had to benefit from certain social security
benefits in the Western European countries that were the main destination of the migratory
flows. Taking into consideration both national political choices and diplomatic negotiations,
the essay highlights how, even in the years marked by the spread of the social security
paradigm, the relationship between international labour migration and the enjoyment of
social benefits remained problematic in spite of the advances that were achieved.

Keywords: Social security, Migrant workers, Italian emigration, Social rights.

Parole chiave: Sicurezza sociale, Lavoratori migranti, Emigrazione italiana, Diritti sociali.

Whose Limits to Growth? Novelty
and Ambiguity of the 1972 Report to the Club of Rome 

This article, which originates from a conference held in Tokyo in 2022, reviews the
existing literature on the Limits to Growth report and on the organization, the Club of
Rome, that commissioned it. It then focuses on its short-lived (and never uncontested)
positive reception, especially in Western Europe, and on some of the long-lasting criticisms
immediately levelled against it. The concluding remarks highlight the ambivalent nature of
the report that secured its enduring legacy to this day. While it reflected the worldview of
Western elites and of transnational capitalist networks seeking non-revolutionary ways to
deal with the internal and international crisis of the late 1960s, at the same time its core
argument of «limits to growth» struck at the heart of the capitalist model and practice in
the 20th century, which was (and still is) predicated upon an endlessly increasing production
of goods and services, and upon bypassing the need to deal with the physical limits to the
exploitation of the Earth’s natural resources.

Keywords: Club of Rome, Degrowth, Limits to growth, Aurelio Peccei.

Parole chiave: Club di Roma, Decrescita, Limiti dello sviluppo, Aurelio Peccei.

The Alphabet of Women 

This article analyses the historical problem of female education, among both popular and
elite groups. The aim is to understand what opportunities women had to access books and
education, considering that in all social contexts their opportunities were lower and different
from their male peers. Different perspectives are adopted in the search for answers: cultural
and social history to grasp the demand for education from below; and political-religious
history to understand the type of schooling on offer, and the educational models imposed
from above. The geographical area under consideration is the changing and composite one
of the Ancient Italian States, though comparisons with other European countries are also
made. The chronology is deliberately extended from the 16th century to the early nineteenth:
not only to identify the underlying trends of the literacy process, but to capture through the
centuries inflections and caesuras, phases of innovation and retreats to the past.

Keywords: Women, Italy, Literacy, Reading.

Parole chiave: Donne, Italia, Alfabetizzazione, Lettura.

About Cancel Culture: The Clash Between Past and Present in the Age of Social Media 

The article reflects on the cancel culture debate in the United States and Italy, focusing on its
implications for the study of history and the amplifying role of social media. To this end, the
article presents an analysis of six books published in Italy that illustrate this phenomenon.

Keywords: Cancel culture, Social justice, Historical memory, Monuments, Social media.

Parole chiave: Cancel culture, Giustizia sociale, Memoria storica, Monumenti, Social media.