00932 - Contemporary History (M-Z)

Learning outcomes

At the end of the course the student knows the specific characters of contemporary history and, in particular, the social transformations and cultural policies of the twentieth century. It can understand the main issues relating to the contemporary.

Course contents

The history of the contemporary age. A tool for understanding the present.

The course aims to focus on the main issues and processes of change that characterise the contemporary era. To this aim, the course will move backwards from the present to the past: by identifying some events or problems of the current world, a genealogy will be attempted, a path that restores historical perspective to the unresolved issues of our time. In particular, some fundamental themes will guide this backward path: the forms of citizenship and the definition of a culture of rights (civil, political, social); the historical development of democratic regimes, the transformations of the State and the succession of different political-institutional systems; the Europeanisation of the world, colonialism and the processes of globalisation and integration/fragmentation; wars, violence and the formation of the system of international relations; the organisation and cultures of work; political cultures and the forms of collective mobilisation.

The general objective of the course is to initiate the student into a knowledge of the basic features of contemporary history between the late 18th century and the end of the 20th century, up to the threshold of the present, according to a European and world history perspective, with a focus on long-term transnational dynamics, such as: the relationship between empires, nations and colonies; moments of competition between powers for world hegemony; the redrawing of borders and national spaces; the rise of systems of mass democracy and the extension of suffrage; the spread of fascist movements and regimes; world wars and responses to crises; the bipolar world rearrangement; decolonization and the Western "golden age" up to the 1970s. The proposed course thus aims to lay the basic elements of a critical awareness of the complex past/present relationship, developing elements of understanding the present world.

Readings/Bibliography

The examination will be based on the following texts:

A. General section

Raffaele Romanelli, Lezioni di storia contemporanea, vol. I. Ottocento, vol. II Novecento, Il Mulino.

[basic manual texts compulsory for all, only in special and well-justified cases substitutable with other texts]

 

B. Monographic section

One couple of texts to be chosen from the following:

[each couple has for its main theme a topic discussed in the lessons and fundamental to understanding the characteristic elements of the contemporary era]

 

1 - Wolfgang Reinhard, Storia del colonialismo, Einaudi;
Bruna Bagnato, L' Europa e il mondo. Origini, sviluppo e crisi dell'imperialismo coloniale, Mondadori education-Le Monnier.

2 - Guido Formigoni, Storia della politica internazionale nell’età contemporanea, Il Mulino;
Cemil Aydin, Il lungo Ottocento. Una storia politica internazionale, Einaudi.

3 - Federico Romero, Storia della guerra fredda, Einaudi;
Arnaldo Testi, Il secolo degli Stati uniti, Il Mulino.

4- Enzo Traverso, A ferro e a fuoco. La guerra civile europea (1914-1945), Il Mulino;

Ian Kershaw, All'inferno e ritorno. Europa 1914-1949, Laterza.

5 - Enzo Traverso, La violenza nazista. Una genealogia, Il Mulino;
Donald Bloxham, Lo sterminio degli ebrei. Un genocidio, Einaudi.

6 - Charles S. Maier, Leviatano 2.0. La costruzione dello stato moderno, Einaudi;
Maurizio Fioravanti (A cura di), Lo Stato moderno in Europa. Istituzioni e diritto, Laterza.

7 - Victoria De Grazia, L' impero irresistibile. La società dei consumi americana alla conquista del mondo, Einaudi;
David Forgacs, Stephen Gundle, Cultura di massa e società italiana 1936-1954, Il Mulino.

8 - Wilfried Loth, Tensioni globali. Una storia politica del mondo 1945-2020, Einaudi;
Tony Judt, Dopoguerra. Come è cambiata l'Europa dal 1945 a oggi, Mondadori.

9 - Paul Ginsborg, Storia d'Italia dal dopoguerra ad oggi, Einaudi;
Guido Crainz, Storia della Repubblica. L’Italia dalla Liberazione ad oggi, Donzelli.

10 - Mark Duffield, Guerre postmoderne. L'aiuto umanitario come tecnica politica di controllo, Il Ponte editrice;
Mary Kaldor, Le nuove guerre. La violenza organizzata nell'età globale, Carocci.

11 - Charles S. Maier, Dentro i confini. Territorio e potere dal 1500 ad oggi, Einaudi;
Fernand Braudel, Storia, misura del mondo, Il Mulino.

12 - Johann Chapoutot, Controllare e distruggere. Fascismo, nazismo e regimi autoritari in Europa (1918-1945), Einaudi;
Federico Finchelstein, Dai fascismi ai populismi. Storia, politica e demagogia nel mondo attuale, Donzelli.

13 - Richard J. Evans, Alla conquista del potere. Europa 1815-1914, Laterza;
Tony Ballantyne, Antoinette Burton, L’età degli imperi globali 1870 - 1945, Einaudi.

14 - Steven C. Topik, Allen Wells, Verso un’economia mondiale. Una storia dei mercati. 1870-1945, Einaudi;
Thomas W. Zeiler, Porte aperte. L'economia mondiale dal 1945 a oggi, Einaudi.

15 - Raffaele Romanelli, Nelle mani del popolo. Le fragili fondamenta della politica moderna, Donzelli;
Emanuele Felice, La conquista dei diritti. Un’idea della storia, Il Mulino.

 

Possible ad hoc bibliographies-in the case, for example, of students who already have a solid background in history-or reshuffling of bibliographic couples can be agreed on the basis of justified needs and specific individual interests.

Teaching methods

The course will be conducted in the form of "face-to-face" lectures, with the possible use of images and useful materials to explore specific themes and clarify the contours of historical issues as they are discussed.

Assessment methods

The examination is conducted in the form of an oral interview.

The questions proposed will aim to verify the ability to frame a broad theme in its spatial-temporal context, articulating the exposure in clear and effective terms; to measure the mastery of well-defined contents and the ability to make connections of relationship and causality; to deepen more specific knowledge, at the same time making generalizations and conceptualizations of the most relevant historical issues.

In particular, the oral interview is intended to test the acquisition critical skills in identifying the problematic and interpretative issues of historical discourse. The student will be able to develop the capacity to identify and locate in time and space the historical roots of the main questions concerning the contemporary world, to reconstruct a coherent and synchronic framework of the main factual elements of European history, to outline its aspects in the different national contexts, but also in a transnational and extra-European perspective.

Teaching tools

From time to time, power point projections and images may be used, as well as the reading and illustration of historical texts and documentary sources.

Office hours

See the website of Luca Baldissara