Renato Sansa

Dottorato di ricerca in politica e societa' nella storia dell'eta' moderna e contemporanea. 7. ciclo. Tutore R. Morelli. Coordinatore F. De FeliceConsiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche - Biblioteca Centrale - P.le Aldo Moro, 7, Rome; Biblioteca Nazionale Centrale - P.za Cavalleggeri, 1, Florence / CNR - Consiglio Nazionale delle RichercheSIGLEITItal

The special issue on Economic Growth and Innovation in Multicultural Environments (ENGIME) collects a selection of papers presented at the multidisciplinary workshops organised by the ENGIME Network. The ENGIME workshops address the complex relationships between economic growth, innovation and diversity, in the attempt to define the conditions (policy, institutional, regulatory) under which European diversities can promote innovation and economic growth. This batch of papers has been presented at the sixth ENGIME workshop: Diversity as a source of growth ENGIME is financed by the European Commission, Sixth RTD Framework Programme, Key Action Improving Socio-Economic Knowledge Base, and it is co-ordinated by Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei (FEEM).

From the end of 18th century and the early 19th century, Italian regional governments placed great emphasis on defending woodlands. During that period, a large number of forestry acts were promulgated all over Italy. Any difference between them was surely less important than the similarities. The legislators were really attentive to issues raised, directly or indirectly, by the markets and they used their policy to try to support the exploitation of forest resources in conflict with common uses: a line also attested by the ensuing legislation of the Italian State (1877-1910-1923).

SINTESI A partire da meta Settecento si diffuse in Italia la consapevolezza della deperibilita delle risorse forestali, sostenuta dalla nascente scienza selvicolturale, qualificatasi sin dal principio come un sapere "alto" che rappresentava le necessita di approvvigionamento dei mercati urbani, in contrasto con un'altra modalita di utilizzo delle foreste, frutto di pratiche e saperi locali. In tempi recenti, un nuovo approccio storiografico ha teso a rivalutare il significato e il valore delle pratiche contadine, fornendo un'interpretazione critica dei presupposti culturali della selvicoltura, la cui esigenza di ottimizzare la resa in legname portava a disconoscere la complessita dei saperi contadini e il loro valore economico e ambientale. Un approccio dualistico, volto a contrapporre sapere alto e pratiche consuetudinarie, rischia, pero, di obliterare le esperienze di integrazione delle conoscenze. Nello Stato pontificio l'azione dei periti agronomi, o agrime...

SIDeS, «Popolazione e Storia», 2/2015, pp. 9-19 Così come è stato recentemente rilevato per il caso del colera (Alfani 2014b), negli ultimi anni le pestilenze, e più in generale tutte le crisi di mortalità, sono tornate dopo un lungo periodo di relativa disattenzione a suscitare l’interesse dei demografi storici e degli storici economico-sociali italiani e internazionali. Questo numero di «Popolazione e storia», interamente dedicato alla peste, conclude un percorso sulle crisi di mortalità iniziato con il dossier sulle carestie ospitato dal numero 1/2012 (Alfani, Mocarelli, Strangio 2012) e proseguito con il dossier sul colera pubblicato sul numero 2/2014 (Alfani 2014a). In tale prospettiva, la peste – la causa di alcune delle più terribili crisi di mortalità della storia – merita un’attenzione particolare e, non a caso, anche le «Annales de Démographie historique» hanno in programma un numero ad essa dedicato. L’obiettivo di questa introduzione è fare sinteticamente il punto della ...

Between the end of the 18th century and the beginning of the 19th century the Italian states paid a great attention in defence of woodlands. During that period a large number of forestry acts were promulgated. Any difference between them was surely less important  than similarities.
Actually the legislators were really attentive to concerns arising, directly or indirectly, from the markets and with their policy they tried to support the explotation of forest resources in conflict with common uses: a trend confirmed by the subsequent acts of the Italian state (1877 -1910 - 1923).

In the mid-18th century, the awareness of the perishability of forest resources started to spread throughout Italy, supported by the budding science of forestry. The latter had enjoyed from the very beginning the reputation of "high" knowledge representing the necessity of supply of the urban markets, in contrast with another method of forest use, which was fruit of local practices and knowledge. Recently, a new historiographic approach has persuaded scholars to reassess the importance and the value of peasant practices, supplying a critical interpretation of the cultural assumptions of forestry. The necessity of this economic branch to optimise the yield in wood led to deliberate disregard for the complexity of the knowledge of the peasants as well as its economic and environmental value. There is a risk, however, that a dualistic approach aimed at counterposing high knowledge against customary practices may obliterate the experience of knowledge integration. In the Papal State, the activity of qualified agronomist or land surveyors was seen as an element of mediation between the culture of the peasants on the one side and on the other the culture of the highest administration, which indirectly represented the dictates of forestry. Being an expression of a hybrid culture, the experts "conversed" with peasant knowledge – they were able to recognise the broader knowledge as well as naming the specific uses that the peasants put into practice. Although perhaps efficient on the cultural level, their mediating activity did not prove decisive in determining the government's practice concerning forest conservation