Andrea Rapini

There is broad consensus that Italian Fascism addressed the middle classes – through its rhetoric, privileged policies of social protection and trade union organization – with a view to consolidating a loyal area in society. On the contrary, what is less widely known is that appearance of the middle classes dates back to the period between the end of the nineteenth century and the Great war. To shed light on this “invention”, the chapter carries out a quantitative and qualitative analysis of the emergence of a discourse on the middle classes prior to the First World War. It then outlines the biography of Italy’s most intense propagandist for the middle classes, Vincenzo Magaldi, and describes the International Institute for the Study of the Middle Classes in which he operated. The next section focuses on the Commission for post-war problems established in 1918 that was the first to incorporate the middle classes into a proposal for “global” reform of social legislation. Finally, the article discusses the mobilization of the middle classes at the dawn of the Fascist era.

This article analyses the Algerian inquiries of Pierre Bourdieu. It begins by retracing the most pervasive, medium- and long-term interventions of French colonial power in Algerian society: the introduction of capitalism and the internment of civilians in the centres de regroupement. Next, it outlines the social subjects studied by the young agrégé of philosophy and his representation of labour. Subsequent sections deal with shifts in the public stance of Bourdieu regarding the revolutionary propensity of these people. On this tricky testing ground, Bourdieu engaged with and critically confronted the ideas of Germaine Tillion and Frantz Fanon. His position is reviewed from a historical-philological approach in order to set the texts in their temporal and spatial contexts, establish parallels and/or divergences, and verify the effects such comparisons produced. The conclusions emphasize the richness and originality of Bourdieu’s inquiries given the era in which they were made and highlight, in light of the recent global reorientation of labour history, some of the vital viewpoints expressed on the origins of capitalism in the colony.

Ce document propose une cartographie des enquêtes algériennes de Pierre Bourdieu. En suivant dans plusieurs sources les traces de cette experience fondatrice d’un approche original, une première carte croise la trajectoire de Bourdieu sur le sol algérien avec ses prises de position à propos de la « situation » et de la guerre coloniale. Une deuxième carte situe les differentes étapes de la recherche sur les travailleurs et les centres de regroupement dans les principaux événements de la guerre.

The article proposes the prosopographical analysis of the government Committee for the study of the social law and provident («Commissione Rava» 1918). Especially, this practice research restores historical depth to the Administrative Science which knowledge about the social reform; it shows the cooperation among different political cultures in the attempt to face the «social question»; it highlights a constellation of political and academics élites, of cultural reviews, of city and of institutions of the State that give consistence to a reforming space wrecked with relationships between the '80s of the ‘800 and the First Great War. In the conclusions, the article sustains that the «social question» qualifies as one among the deepest faults that swallow the liberal State.

Despite the symbolic capital and the global commercial success of the
Vespa scooter, there is no academic book dealing with its history, only
literature produced by the company itself or by scooter enthusiasts. The
origins of the Vespa are shrouded in mist, entrusted more to myth than
to historical truth. Based on lengthy research carried out in Piaggio’s
historical archives and on an interdisciplinary approach, this volume aims
to fill this gap. It shows how the Vespa took techniques from the most
advanced aeronautical industries in the world, adapting and hybridizing
them in an original way, and how the company disseminated its models
in the transnational social space.