Head of the Italian Foreign Policy programme at IAI. Editor of the IAI Commentaries series. Co-editor of Q1 IR journal The International Spectator. Historian. Address: https://www.iai.it/en/persone/leo-goretti
The thesis deals with the history of the youth organisations of the Italian Communist Party (PCI)... more The thesis deals with the history of the youth organisations of the Italian Communist Party (PCI) and the experiences of their militants in the period between the Antifascist Resistance (1943–1945) and the riots against the Tambroni government (1960). The first chapter is concerned with issues of a political-organisational nature, such as the relationship between the adult Party and its offshoot youth networks – most notably, the Fronte della Gioventù and the Federazione Giovanile Comunista Italiana. The policies and the activities implemented by the latter are extensively discussed. The second chapter analyses the educational thought of the most prominent Italian Communist leaders (Antonio Gramsci, Palmiro Togliatti, Enrico Berlinguer). It also examines the views, values and moral qualities that the Communist movement strove to pass on to its young cadres and activists, and the variety of educational means (namely, the Party schools and press) to which it resorted. The third chapter focuses on the policies and the organisations that were specifically geared to young women. In addition, it discusses the education regarding love and sex that was fostered within the Communist youth organisations, and the ideas of masculinity, femininity and morality that were inherent in it. The fourth and final chapter endeavours to outline the identities and mentality of the different generations of Communist militants who were politically socialised in the early post-war period. The thesis draws on a variety of sources, such as documents of the PCI and the Italian National Archives, a number of Communist magazines and pamphlets, sociological surveys, memoirs of, and interviews with, former militants.
Il 22 febbraio 1951 una colonna di carabinieri si presentò alla fattoria di Verrazzano, nei press... more Il 22 febbraio 1951 una colonna di carabinieri si presentò alla fattoria di Verrazzano, nei pressi di Greve in Chianti, per sfrattare una famiglia di mezzadri. La popolazione del paese non rimase a guardare. I campi vennero invasi da una folla pacifica di lavoratori, operai e mezzadri, decisi a manifestare la propria solidarietà agli sfrattati. Nonostante la massiccia mobilitazione di popolo, la famiglia alla fine venne allontanata dal proprio podere. Si trattava di una grave sconfitta per il movimento contadino di Greve, preludio ad un fenomeno di più ampia portata: la fuga dei mezzadri verso la città. Leo Goretti parte da questo episodio per ricostruire la parabola novecentesca della mezzadria chiantigiana, dall’ “età dell’oro” di inizio secolo alla grave crisi apertasi negli anni Venti con il crollo della produzione del vino Chianti, vero e proprio perno dell’economia locale. Combinando diverse tipologie di fonti (interviste con ex mezzadri, inchieste agrarie, periodici, documenti d’archivio), l’autore cerca di ricostruire la dinamica che portò - tra la fine degli anni Cinquanta e i primi anni Sessanta - al crollo e alla disgregazione della mezzadria. Scompariva così, per l’irresistibile richiamo della modernità, un mondo fatto di vincoli e valori, di miserie e solidarietà forse troppo in fretta dimenticati. Questo libro vuole essere, prima di tutto, un invito a riscoprirli, e a ripensarli.
La tesi di laurea, di cui il libro è una rielaborazione, ha vinto ex aequo il Premio Daniel Granger bandito dal Dipartimento di Studi Storici e Geografici dell'Università di Firenze per la miglior tesi di laurea specialistica in storia discussa tra l'autunno 2006 e quello 2008.
The International Journal of Sport and Society, 2025
The idea that sport is a separate domain that must be sheltered away not just from political inte... more The idea that sport is a separate domain that must be sheltered away not just from political interference but also from any kind of political issues, has almost become self-evident, to the point that sport's neutrality seems just natural to many-a founding pillar of Olympism since its inception. This article adopts the opposite assumption: that international sport has been an integral part of the international system since its origins. Analyzing international sport as an institution, it interrogates the process and rationale that have led to the emergence of neutrality as one of its underlying norms, focusing on how wider developments in the international system steered this process. Relatedly, it discusses the specific function that neutrality has played within the wider normative framework of international sport and makes some final considerations as to why this has become especially salient in recent years.
Rome, IAI, March 2024, 5 p. (IAI Commentaries ; 24|11), 2024
Italy inaugurated its year of G7 presidency with the Italy-Africa summit on 28-29 January in Rome... more Italy inaugurated its year of G7 presidency with the Italy-Africa summit on 28-29 January in Rome, an event representative of the current government’s ambitions. The long-awaited meeting was the first test for the strategy of “cooperation as equals” with African states that Giorgia Meloni has repeatedly proposed as central to her government's foreign policy. It was also the first occasion to test the real scope of the so-called Mattei Plan for Africa, the project with which the Italian government wants to substantiate this strategy but whose official strategic outline has yet to be announced.
Roma, IAI, gennaio 2024, 82 p., ISBN 978-88-9368-312-8, 2024
L’edizione 2023 del rapporto sulla politica estera italiana dell’Istituto Affari Internazionali s... more L’edizione 2023 del rapporto sulla politica estera italiana dell’Istituto Affari Internazionali si concentra sulle principali questioni affrontate nell’ambito internazionale da parte del governo di Giorgia Meloni – i rapporti con gli alleati e le istituzioni europee, la prosecuzione della guerra contro l’Ucraina, le politiche energetiche e climatiche, l’aumento della pressione migratoria, il conflitto israelo-palestinese – e le relative implicazioni per le principali direttrici della politica estera italiana – il pilastro europeo, la prospettiva mediterranea e l’alleanza transatlantica. Specifica attenzione viene dedicata al contributo al sistema di sicurezza europeo e atlantico, alla strategia verso l’area del Mediterraneo allargato, ai rapporti con la Cina dopo l’uscita dal memorandum d’intesa e al ruolo italiano nelle organizzazioni multilaterali e nella cooperazione allo sviluppo. Accanto a questi temi vengono approfonditi anche nuovi ambiti, come l’attenzione a tecnologie emergenti quali l’intelligenza artificiale, il crescente attivismo nei confronti dell’Indo-Pacifico e le iniziative verso il settore dell’aerospazio. Un focus specifico è dedicato ai grandi eventi internazionali e al nuovo rapporto con l’Africa, delineato ambiziosamente nel cosiddetto “Piano Mattei”. Il rapporto, come di consueto, è frutto del lavoro congiunto di un gruppo di ricercatori dell’Istituto coordinato dal Programma Politica estera dell’Italia, e mira a evidenziare i tratti salienti della politica estera del governo Meloni. Al secondo anno di legislatura è possibile individuare i primi elementi di continuità e discontinuità rispetto alle linee consuete dell’azione internazionale del nostro Paese.
Eracle - Journal of Sport and Social Sciences, 2023
The aim of this special issue is to address some of the most salient questions currently at the j... more The aim of this special issue is to address some of the most salient questions currently at the junction between international sport and politics. Co-guest edited with Valentina Fedele and Nicola Sbetti
story which is at the same time an autobiography of his life in Florence (and beyond); a selectiv... more story which is at the same time an autobiography of his life in Florence (and beyond); a selective tour guide (including his favourite restaurants and cafés, some of which still exist); and a summary of Florence’s history, organised by theme. Lewis writes of Florence and its river; its bridges, its floods; the mountains east of the city where the river’s sources rise. He describes how Florence was first planned in the twilight of the Middle Ages by Arnolfo di Cambio; how the city became Europe’s undisputed Renaissance capital under the Medicis; how Brunelleschi left an eternal mark on the city, building the Duomo and its spectacular Cupola, the one building which stands high above the roofs of Florence so that it can be seen from everywhere; and the ultimate shape which was imposed on the city when it was the capital of Italy between 1865 and 1870. Lewis also writes masterfully about what other famous scholars who had visited the city have recorded: the reader of The city of Florence meets all the city’s literary visitors (from Emerson to Hawthorne, from Mark Twain to Henry James), as well as all the main Italian historians of Florence. This book is not a travel guide, but it does include both an alphabetical general index of names and an index of Florentine place-names. The erudite visitor planning to see Florence could either read Lewis’s book in advance (to get a feel for the city and prepare him/herself for the visit) or take the book along and read it there. Even better, one could do both. Coming to Florence for the first time in 1869, Henry James listened to the Florentines describe ‘the change for the worse, the taint of the modern order, bitterly lamented by haunters, admirers, lovers’. As Lewis notes, ‘one of the persistent traditions among Florence lovers is the complaint that the city has deteriorated badly in the last ten, twenty, thirty years’. Like James, Lewis initially felt such complaints pointless, but he ultimately echoed Ruskin’s severe judgment (‘the city is now too ghastly and heartbreaking to any human soul who remembers the days of gold’). Traffic, which Ruskin had also lamented, drove Lewis from the city (‘the motorcycle traffic had finally, for us, become intolerable’). So, it is heartening to note that, at the end of 2009, Florence’s mayor Matteo Renzi gated the entire area surrounding the Duomo, forbidding even the city buses to negotiate it: a glimmer of hope for disaffected lovers of the city.
When the Paris Olympics will open on 26 July 2024, there may – and, in all likelihood, there will... more When the Paris Olympics will open on 26 July 2024, there may – and, in all likelihood, there will – be some Russian and Belarusian athletes attending it. Having postponed the decision on the matter several times in the last year, the Executive Board of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) eventually took its stance on 8 December 2023.[1] Under neutral flag, having met some eligibility conditions, only as individual competitors – and yet, some athletes from the country that has been waging a brutal war of aggression against Ukraine since February 2022 will be allowed entry in the most important event of international sport. Although Russian authorities immediately decried the IOC’s announcement as “unacceptable” and “discriminatory”,[2] the decision arguably represents a not unexpected yet worrying step forward toward the normalisation of Russia’s position within the international community. In light of the IOC decision, Ukrainian leaders should now carefully consider what the best line of action may be in the run-up to next summer’s Olympics.
Dedication to sport and physical prowess have been key elements in the construction of Vladimir P... more Dedication to sport and physical prowess have been key elements in the construction of Vladimir Putin's image since his rise to the Presidency of Russia. Domestically, the Kremlin has promoted a public representation of the President as a strong, energetic, decisive leader who is 'fit for the job'. Constant emphasis has been placed on how sports-especially judo and those harking back to the Soviet past, such as sambo-forged the manly qualities of Putin, turning him into the living paradigm of Russian hegemonic masculinity. At the international level, Putin's vigorous and masculine leadership has been turned into a proxy for Russia's restored status: in the early 2000s, to mark a neat break from the 'decadence' of the 1990s; subsequently, to suggest the return of Russia to its great-power status. Hostility against human-especially LGBT-rights in sport has become central to this discourse, not only because they are suggestive of alleged Western decadence, but also because they threaten the gender norms and public image on which Putin's leadership has been built.
Rome, IAI, February 2023, 9 p. (Documenti IAI ; 23|03), 2023
This document provides an English summary of the 2022 edition of IAI's annual report on Italian f... more This document provides an English summary of the 2022 edition of IAI's annual report on Italian foreign policy entitled: "L'Italia dal governo Draghi al governo Meloni", developed within the framework of the strategic partnership with the Fondazione Compagnia di San Paolo. The 2022 edition of the Report, featuring the contributions of a group of IAI researchers coordinated by the Italian Foreign Policy programme of the Institute, examines the main challenges that emerged during the year-the war against Ukraine and the energy crisis-and their implications for the traditional pillars of Italy's foreign policy-the European, Mediterranean and transatlantic dimensions. Specific attention is paid to the Italian contribution to the European and Atlantic security system, Italy's strategy towards Sub-Saharan Africa, the renewed attention to the issue of migration, Italy's relations with China and the Italian role in multilateral organisations and development cooperation. Underlying themes are the elements of continuity and rupture in the foreign policy of the governments led by Mario Draghi and Giorgia Meloni, as well as the possible scenarios and choices facing the Italian government in 2023.
Con quali minacce, priorità e sfide di politica estera dovrà misurarsi il nuovo governo, secondo ... more Con quali minacce, priorità e sfide di politica estera dovrà misurarsi il nuovo governo, secondo gli italiani? E come valutano la politica estera del governo Draghi, ad esempio di fronte alla guerra contro l’Ucraina e alla crisi energetica? Che opinione hanno i cittadini sull’ascesa della Cina e le possibili interferenze russe nella politica italiana? Come vedono i rapporti con l’Ue e quanti voterebbero, in caso di un ipotetico referendum, per un’uscita dall’Unione? Come si divide su questi temi l’elettorato delle diverse coalizioni e partiti? Sono queste le domande al centro dell’annuale indagine di opinione condotta dallo IAI – nell’ambito della partnership strategica con la Fondazione Compagnia di San Paolo – e dal Laboratorio Analisi Politiche e Sociali (LAPS) dell’Università di Siena. Il presente rapporto offre un’analisi dei principali risultati, fornendo anche un confronto con quelli delle indagini degli anni passati ed evidenziando quindi alcune linee di tendenza nell’evoluzione delle opinioni degli italiani in materia di politica estera.
Rome, IAI, May 2022, 29 p. (IAI Papers ; 22|09), ISBN 978-88-9368-247-3, 2022
In response to Russia’s aggression against Ukraine, the International Olympic Committee and inter... more In response to Russia’s aggression against Ukraine, the International Olympic Committee and international sports federations took a number of exceptional measures: among them, the exclusion of Russian and Belarusian athletes from most international sports competitions and a ban on organising events on Russian territory. These measures were officially framed not as sanctions, but rather as a way to defend the neutrality of the sporting domain. In reality, they were the result of pressures from Western governments, public opinions, sports organisations and athletes, and highlighted the constitutive entanglement between international sport and international politics at both the organisational and symbolic level. Setting an important precedent, the sanctions against Russia may carry significant implications for the governance of international sport in the future, potentially leading to greater attention to humanitarian and human rights considerations, but also to increased fragmentation.
- Focuses on the sport policies of the Italian Communist Party and the West German Social Democra... more - Focuses on the sport policies of the Italian Communist Party and the West German Social Democratic Party in the post-war period. Whereas the Pci leadership decided to build up a flanking sports association (the Unione Italiana Sport Popolare, established in 1948), the Spd abandoned the pre-Nazi tradition of the Arbeitersport (workers' sport). Based on a research undertaken in the archives of the two parties, the article analyses their sport policies in a comparative perspective. Particular attention is paid to the legacy of the Nazi and Fascist regimes and the different political contexts in the two countries after World War II.Keywords: Italian Communist Party, West German Social Democratic Party, Sport, Labour Movement, Leisure.Parole chiave: Partito comunista italiano, Partito socialdemocratico tedesco-occidentale, sport, movimento operaio, tempo libero.
This special issue offers a first overview of the new research on Communism and Youth, thereby re... more This special issue offers a first overview of the new research on Communism and Youth, thereby revealing the questions it addresses, the approaches it utilises, and the first tentative conclusions towards which it is leading. The contributions focus on a number of European countries in an attempt to highlight both similarities and differences between communist youth policies in various national contexts.
The thesis deals with the history of the youth organisations of the Italian Communist Party (PCI)... more The thesis deals with the history of the youth organisations of the Italian Communist Party (PCI) and the experiences of their militants in the period between the Antifascist Resistance (1943–1945) and the riots against the Tambroni government (1960). The first chapter is concerned with issues of a political-organisational nature, such as the relationship between the adult Party and its offshoot youth networks – most notably, the Fronte della Gioventù and the Federazione Giovanile Comunista Italiana. The policies and the activities implemented by the latter are extensively discussed. The second chapter analyses the educational thought of the most prominent Italian Communist leaders (Antonio Gramsci, Palmiro Togliatti, Enrico Berlinguer). It also examines the views, values and moral qualities that the Communist movement strove to pass on to its young cadres and activists, and the variety of educational means (namely, the Party schools and press) to which it resorted. The third chapter focuses on the policies and the organisations that were specifically geared to young women. In addition, it discusses the education regarding love and sex that was fostered within the Communist youth organisations, and the ideas of masculinity, femininity and morality that were inherent in it. The fourth and final chapter endeavours to outline the identities and mentality of the different generations of Communist militants who were politically socialised in the early post-war period. The thesis draws on a variety of sources, such as documents of the PCI and the Italian National Archives, a number of Communist magazines and pamphlets, sociological surveys, memoirs of, and interviews with, former militants.
Il 22 febbraio 1951 una colonna di carabinieri si presentò alla fattoria di Verrazzano, nei press... more Il 22 febbraio 1951 una colonna di carabinieri si presentò alla fattoria di Verrazzano, nei pressi di Greve in Chianti, per sfrattare una famiglia di mezzadri. La popolazione del paese non rimase a guardare. I campi vennero invasi da una folla pacifica di lavoratori, operai e mezzadri, decisi a manifestare la propria solidarietà agli sfrattati. Nonostante la massiccia mobilitazione di popolo, la famiglia alla fine venne allontanata dal proprio podere. Si trattava di una grave sconfitta per il movimento contadino di Greve, preludio ad un fenomeno di più ampia portata: la fuga dei mezzadri verso la città. Leo Goretti parte da questo episodio per ricostruire la parabola novecentesca della mezzadria chiantigiana, dall’ “età dell’oro” di inizio secolo alla grave crisi apertasi negli anni Venti con il crollo della produzione del vino Chianti, vero e proprio perno dell’economia locale. Combinando diverse tipologie di fonti (interviste con ex mezzadri, inchieste agrarie, periodici, documenti d’archivio), l’autore cerca di ricostruire la dinamica che portò - tra la fine degli anni Cinquanta e i primi anni Sessanta - al crollo e alla disgregazione della mezzadria. Scompariva così, per l’irresistibile richiamo della modernità, un mondo fatto di vincoli e valori, di miserie e solidarietà forse troppo in fretta dimenticati. Questo libro vuole essere, prima di tutto, un invito a riscoprirli, e a ripensarli.
La tesi di laurea, di cui il libro è una rielaborazione, ha vinto ex aequo il Premio Daniel Granger bandito dal Dipartimento di Studi Storici e Geografici dell'Università di Firenze per la miglior tesi di laurea specialistica in storia discussa tra l'autunno 2006 e quello 2008.
The International Journal of Sport and Society, 2025
The idea that sport is a separate domain that must be sheltered away not just from political inte... more The idea that sport is a separate domain that must be sheltered away not just from political interference but also from any kind of political issues, has almost become self-evident, to the point that sport's neutrality seems just natural to many-a founding pillar of Olympism since its inception. This article adopts the opposite assumption: that international sport has been an integral part of the international system since its origins. Analyzing international sport as an institution, it interrogates the process and rationale that have led to the emergence of neutrality as one of its underlying norms, focusing on how wider developments in the international system steered this process. Relatedly, it discusses the specific function that neutrality has played within the wider normative framework of international sport and makes some final considerations as to why this has become especially salient in recent years.
Rome, IAI, March 2024, 5 p. (IAI Commentaries ; 24|11), 2024
Italy inaugurated its year of G7 presidency with the Italy-Africa summit on 28-29 January in Rome... more Italy inaugurated its year of G7 presidency with the Italy-Africa summit on 28-29 January in Rome, an event representative of the current government’s ambitions. The long-awaited meeting was the first test for the strategy of “cooperation as equals” with African states that Giorgia Meloni has repeatedly proposed as central to her government's foreign policy. It was also the first occasion to test the real scope of the so-called Mattei Plan for Africa, the project with which the Italian government wants to substantiate this strategy but whose official strategic outline has yet to be announced.
Roma, IAI, gennaio 2024, 82 p., ISBN 978-88-9368-312-8, 2024
L’edizione 2023 del rapporto sulla politica estera italiana dell’Istituto Affari Internazionali s... more L’edizione 2023 del rapporto sulla politica estera italiana dell’Istituto Affari Internazionali si concentra sulle principali questioni affrontate nell’ambito internazionale da parte del governo di Giorgia Meloni – i rapporti con gli alleati e le istituzioni europee, la prosecuzione della guerra contro l’Ucraina, le politiche energetiche e climatiche, l’aumento della pressione migratoria, il conflitto israelo-palestinese – e le relative implicazioni per le principali direttrici della politica estera italiana – il pilastro europeo, la prospettiva mediterranea e l’alleanza transatlantica. Specifica attenzione viene dedicata al contributo al sistema di sicurezza europeo e atlantico, alla strategia verso l’area del Mediterraneo allargato, ai rapporti con la Cina dopo l’uscita dal memorandum d’intesa e al ruolo italiano nelle organizzazioni multilaterali e nella cooperazione allo sviluppo. Accanto a questi temi vengono approfonditi anche nuovi ambiti, come l’attenzione a tecnologie emergenti quali l’intelligenza artificiale, il crescente attivismo nei confronti dell’Indo-Pacifico e le iniziative verso il settore dell’aerospazio. Un focus specifico è dedicato ai grandi eventi internazionali e al nuovo rapporto con l’Africa, delineato ambiziosamente nel cosiddetto “Piano Mattei”. Il rapporto, come di consueto, è frutto del lavoro congiunto di un gruppo di ricercatori dell’Istituto coordinato dal Programma Politica estera dell’Italia, e mira a evidenziare i tratti salienti della politica estera del governo Meloni. Al secondo anno di legislatura è possibile individuare i primi elementi di continuità e discontinuità rispetto alle linee consuete dell’azione internazionale del nostro Paese.
Eracle - Journal of Sport and Social Sciences, 2023
The aim of this special issue is to address some of the most salient questions currently at the j... more The aim of this special issue is to address some of the most salient questions currently at the junction between international sport and politics. Co-guest edited with Valentina Fedele and Nicola Sbetti
story which is at the same time an autobiography of his life in Florence (and beyond); a selectiv... more story which is at the same time an autobiography of his life in Florence (and beyond); a selective tour guide (including his favourite restaurants and cafés, some of which still exist); and a summary of Florence’s history, organised by theme. Lewis writes of Florence and its river; its bridges, its floods; the mountains east of the city where the river’s sources rise. He describes how Florence was first planned in the twilight of the Middle Ages by Arnolfo di Cambio; how the city became Europe’s undisputed Renaissance capital under the Medicis; how Brunelleschi left an eternal mark on the city, building the Duomo and its spectacular Cupola, the one building which stands high above the roofs of Florence so that it can be seen from everywhere; and the ultimate shape which was imposed on the city when it was the capital of Italy between 1865 and 1870. Lewis also writes masterfully about what other famous scholars who had visited the city have recorded: the reader of The city of Florence meets all the city’s literary visitors (from Emerson to Hawthorne, from Mark Twain to Henry James), as well as all the main Italian historians of Florence. This book is not a travel guide, but it does include both an alphabetical general index of names and an index of Florentine place-names. The erudite visitor planning to see Florence could either read Lewis’s book in advance (to get a feel for the city and prepare him/herself for the visit) or take the book along and read it there. Even better, one could do both. Coming to Florence for the first time in 1869, Henry James listened to the Florentines describe ‘the change for the worse, the taint of the modern order, bitterly lamented by haunters, admirers, lovers’. As Lewis notes, ‘one of the persistent traditions among Florence lovers is the complaint that the city has deteriorated badly in the last ten, twenty, thirty years’. Like James, Lewis initially felt such complaints pointless, but he ultimately echoed Ruskin’s severe judgment (‘the city is now too ghastly and heartbreaking to any human soul who remembers the days of gold’). Traffic, which Ruskin had also lamented, drove Lewis from the city (‘the motorcycle traffic had finally, for us, become intolerable’). So, it is heartening to note that, at the end of 2009, Florence’s mayor Matteo Renzi gated the entire area surrounding the Duomo, forbidding even the city buses to negotiate it: a glimmer of hope for disaffected lovers of the city.
When the Paris Olympics will open on 26 July 2024, there may – and, in all likelihood, there will... more When the Paris Olympics will open on 26 July 2024, there may – and, in all likelihood, there will – be some Russian and Belarusian athletes attending it. Having postponed the decision on the matter several times in the last year, the Executive Board of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) eventually took its stance on 8 December 2023.[1] Under neutral flag, having met some eligibility conditions, only as individual competitors – and yet, some athletes from the country that has been waging a brutal war of aggression against Ukraine since February 2022 will be allowed entry in the most important event of international sport. Although Russian authorities immediately decried the IOC’s announcement as “unacceptable” and “discriminatory”,[2] the decision arguably represents a not unexpected yet worrying step forward toward the normalisation of Russia’s position within the international community. In light of the IOC decision, Ukrainian leaders should now carefully consider what the best line of action may be in the run-up to next summer’s Olympics.
Dedication to sport and physical prowess have been key elements in the construction of Vladimir P... more Dedication to sport and physical prowess have been key elements in the construction of Vladimir Putin's image since his rise to the Presidency of Russia. Domestically, the Kremlin has promoted a public representation of the President as a strong, energetic, decisive leader who is 'fit for the job'. Constant emphasis has been placed on how sports-especially judo and those harking back to the Soviet past, such as sambo-forged the manly qualities of Putin, turning him into the living paradigm of Russian hegemonic masculinity. At the international level, Putin's vigorous and masculine leadership has been turned into a proxy for Russia's restored status: in the early 2000s, to mark a neat break from the 'decadence' of the 1990s; subsequently, to suggest the return of Russia to its great-power status. Hostility against human-especially LGBT-rights in sport has become central to this discourse, not only because they are suggestive of alleged Western decadence, but also because they threaten the gender norms and public image on which Putin's leadership has been built.
Rome, IAI, February 2023, 9 p. (Documenti IAI ; 23|03), 2023
This document provides an English summary of the 2022 edition of IAI's annual report on Italian f... more This document provides an English summary of the 2022 edition of IAI's annual report on Italian foreign policy entitled: "L'Italia dal governo Draghi al governo Meloni", developed within the framework of the strategic partnership with the Fondazione Compagnia di San Paolo. The 2022 edition of the Report, featuring the contributions of a group of IAI researchers coordinated by the Italian Foreign Policy programme of the Institute, examines the main challenges that emerged during the year-the war against Ukraine and the energy crisis-and their implications for the traditional pillars of Italy's foreign policy-the European, Mediterranean and transatlantic dimensions. Specific attention is paid to the Italian contribution to the European and Atlantic security system, Italy's strategy towards Sub-Saharan Africa, the renewed attention to the issue of migration, Italy's relations with China and the Italian role in multilateral organisations and development cooperation. Underlying themes are the elements of continuity and rupture in the foreign policy of the governments led by Mario Draghi and Giorgia Meloni, as well as the possible scenarios and choices facing the Italian government in 2023.
Con quali minacce, priorità e sfide di politica estera dovrà misurarsi il nuovo governo, secondo ... more Con quali minacce, priorità e sfide di politica estera dovrà misurarsi il nuovo governo, secondo gli italiani? E come valutano la politica estera del governo Draghi, ad esempio di fronte alla guerra contro l’Ucraina e alla crisi energetica? Che opinione hanno i cittadini sull’ascesa della Cina e le possibili interferenze russe nella politica italiana? Come vedono i rapporti con l’Ue e quanti voterebbero, in caso di un ipotetico referendum, per un’uscita dall’Unione? Come si divide su questi temi l’elettorato delle diverse coalizioni e partiti? Sono queste le domande al centro dell’annuale indagine di opinione condotta dallo IAI – nell’ambito della partnership strategica con la Fondazione Compagnia di San Paolo – e dal Laboratorio Analisi Politiche e Sociali (LAPS) dell’Università di Siena. Il presente rapporto offre un’analisi dei principali risultati, fornendo anche un confronto con quelli delle indagini degli anni passati ed evidenziando quindi alcune linee di tendenza nell’evoluzione delle opinioni degli italiani in materia di politica estera.
Rome, IAI, May 2022, 29 p. (IAI Papers ; 22|09), ISBN 978-88-9368-247-3, 2022
In response to Russia’s aggression against Ukraine, the International Olympic Committee and inter... more In response to Russia’s aggression against Ukraine, the International Olympic Committee and international sports federations took a number of exceptional measures: among them, the exclusion of Russian and Belarusian athletes from most international sports competitions and a ban on organising events on Russian territory. These measures were officially framed not as sanctions, but rather as a way to defend the neutrality of the sporting domain. In reality, they were the result of pressures from Western governments, public opinions, sports organisations and athletes, and highlighted the constitutive entanglement between international sport and international politics at both the organisational and symbolic level. Setting an important precedent, the sanctions against Russia may carry significant implications for the governance of international sport in the future, potentially leading to greater attention to humanitarian and human rights considerations, but also to increased fragmentation.
- Focuses on the sport policies of the Italian Communist Party and the West German Social Democra... more - Focuses on the sport policies of the Italian Communist Party and the West German Social Democratic Party in the post-war period. Whereas the Pci leadership decided to build up a flanking sports association (the Unione Italiana Sport Popolare, established in 1948), the Spd abandoned the pre-Nazi tradition of the Arbeitersport (workers' sport). Based on a research undertaken in the archives of the two parties, the article analyses their sport policies in a comparative perspective. Particular attention is paid to the legacy of the Nazi and Fascist regimes and the different political contexts in the two countries after World War II.Keywords: Italian Communist Party, West German Social Democratic Party, Sport, Labour Movement, Leisure.Parole chiave: Partito comunista italiano, Partito socialdemocratico tedesco-occidentale, sport, movimento operaio, tempo libero.
This special issue offers a first overview of the new research on Communism and Youth, thereby re... more This special issue offers a first overview of the new research on Communism and Youth, thereby revealing the questions it addresses, the approaches it utilises, and the first tentative conclusions towards which it is leading. The contributions focus on a number of European countries in an attempt to highlight both similarities and differences between communist youth policies in various national contexts.
With the elections of 18 April 1948, for Italian Communists the prospect of coming to power in th... more With the elections of 18 April 1948, for Italian Communists the prospect of coming to power in the short term vanished. In the aftermath of the elections, the sustained confrontation of the Cold War at the international level and the unfavourable political context in Italy deeply shaped the tone and content of the Communist press, including the educational magazines for young militants. This article deals with the representations of the political enemies in the press for young Communists between 18 April 1948 and the electoral campaign against the legge truffa in 1953. Attention is paid to how the Communist press portrayed, in particular by visual means, the different subjects that made up the ruling anti-Communist bloc: the US government; Christian Democrats; the Catholic Church; and, finally, the Italian business world. In particular, the analysis underlines the relevance that a ‘nation-’ and ‘gender-’ related discourse had in the construction of political enemies.
At the beginning of the 20th century, the Tuscan rural region of Chianti was already famous to th... more At the beginning of the 20th century, the Tuscan rural region of Chianti was already famous to the whole world for its high-quality red wines. The landscape of Chianti was moulded by sharecroppery, the overwhelming form of land tenure in the area. This paper deals with the way the agricultural and social landscape of the Chianti region changed during the 20th century, remaining however always identified with its typical product. Since World War I many negative factors — such as plant diseases, autarchic agricultural policies and price trends — brought wine production, and thereafter the whole local economy, into a deep crisis. Under Fascism, the resulting social unease was mostly authoritatively contained; when the regime was toppled, however, tensions eventually exploded, first (late 1940s) in the form of rural unionism, later (1950s) by inducing young sharecroppers to migrate towards the city. At that time, the Chianti region looked doomed to irreversible decline and depopulation. During the 1960s and seventies, however, the arrival of foreign tourists (especially from England), along with a capitalistic turn in agriculture (the end of sharecroppery, modernisation and specialisation of wine production), led the region to unexpected revival. The birth of the modern, touristic, ‘Chiantishire’ gave hope and prosperity to the native, albeit it deprived the older generation of peasants from ‘their’ Chianti region. The landscape was completely transformed: ‘modern’ vineyards replaced the old ‘mixed’ fields where grapevine and corn grew together – a sign of deep change in the relationship between men and surrounding space.
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Books by Leo Goretti
Leo Goretti parte da questo episodio per ricostruire la parabola novecentesca della mezzadria chiantigiana, dall’ “età dell’oro” di inizio secolo alla grave crisi apertasi negli anni Venti con il crollo della produzione del vino Chianti, vero e proprio perno dell’economia locale. Combinando diverse tipologie di fonti (interviste con ex mezzadri, inchieste agrarie, periodici, documenti d’archivio), l’autore cerca di ricostruire la dinamica che portò - tra la fine degli anni Cinquanta e i primi anni Sessanta - al crollo e alla disgregazione della mezzadria. Scompariva così, per l’irresistibile richiamo della modernità, un mondo fatto di vincoli e valori, di miserie e solidarietà forse troppo in fretta dimenticati. Questo libro vuole essere, prima di tutto, un invito a riscoprirli, e a ripensarli.
La tesi di laurea, di cui il libro è una rielaborazione, ha vinto ex aequo il Premio Daniel Granger bandito dal Dipartimento di Studi Storici e Geografici dell'Università di Firenze per la miglior tesi di laurea specialistica in storia discussa tra l'autunno 2006 e quello 2008.
Review by Fabrizio Loreto (p. 185):
http://www.sissco.it/fileadmin/user_upload/Pubblicazioni/Mestiere_di_storico/2-2009/schede_a_z.pdf
Review by Francesco Apergi (pp.16-20):
http://www.annodeimezzadri.it/wp/wp-content/uploads/2010/07/F.Apergi_Antropologia_rivisitata.pdf
Papers by Leo Goretti
Leo Goretti parte da questo episodio per ricostruire la parabola novecentesca della mezzadria chiantigiana, dall’ “età dell’oro” di inizio secolo alla grave crisi apertasi negli anni Venti con il crollo della produzione del vino Chianti, vero e proprio perno dell’economia locale. Combinando diverse tipologie di fonti (interviste con ex mezzadri, inchieste agrarie, periodici, documenti d’archivio), l’autore cerca di ricostruire la dinamica che portò - tra la fine degli anni Cinquanta e i primi anni Sessanta - al crollo e alla disgregazione della mezzadria. Scompariva così, per l’irresistibile richiamo della modernità, un mondo fatto di vincoli e valori, di miserie e solidarietà forse troppo in fretta dimenticati. Questo libro vuole essere, prima di tutto, un invito a riscoprirli, e a ripensarli.
La tesi di laurea, di cui il libro è una rielaborazione, ha vinto ex aequo il Premio Daniel Granger bandito dal Dipartimento di Studi Storici e Geografici dell'Università di Firenze per la miglior tesi di laurea specialistica in storia discussa tra l'autunno 2006 e quello 2008.
Review by Fabrizio Loreto (p. 185):
http://www.sissco.it/fileadmin/user_upload/Pubblicazioni/Mestiere_di_storico/2-2009/schede_a_z.pdf
Review by Francesco Apergi (pp.16-20):
http://www.annodeimezzadri.it/wp/wp-content/uploads/2010/07/F.Apergi_Antropologia_rivisitata.pdf