Many ways to rebuild, from here onwards
A collection of essays and research articles focused on the multiple aspects of “rebuilding”, which falls on institutions, companies and individuals
Rebuilding – a difficult, yet not impossible, mission that nowadays pretty much everyone has to undertake: from individuals and institutions to families and companies. Rebuilding something that – not always and not entirely, yet for most part and most people – has been shattered not by war but by a pandemic, which has turned upside down, in rather a short time, lives, organisations, enterprises, plans and projects for the future. It’s around this goal – understood in both material and cultural terms – that the contributions collected in the recently published “Ricostruzioni” (“Rebuilding”), the latest 2021 issue of il Mulino, journal of culture and politics, revolves around.
Rebuilding, then, after a war, after famine, after a natural disaster such as an earthquake or a flood and, of course, after a pandemic. In other words, restarting virtuous processes, in order to brighten up the future for our communities, for a fairer society and a more sustainable economy. This collection of essays attempts to address this topic from every possible angle and, indeed, succeeds in doing so.
It starts by exploring the concept of rebuilding (whether it is best to keep things as they are or to renovate them), and goes on to examine aspects related to the economy, as well as features concerning the political and social structures that might be involved in rebuilding, without neglecting more specific and particular themes such as trusting institutions, necessary reforms in the healthcare system, the need to look beyond the pandemic (which will pass, one way or another), in order to find cues and resources that can be used to create a country that will be better than the one left behind.
The collection of essays and research published by il Mulino also includes insightful pieces that at first sight may appear unrelated to our current situation – such as stories about the aftermath of some of the wars we fought – as well as others concerning the environment and climate change.
An excerpt from the diaries of Piero Calamandrei perfectly summarises the whole work: “No longer independence, but ‘interdependence’: this is not a new term, and if we don’t want the past to repeat itself and exacerbate yesterday’s errors, it needs to come to stand for the new feeling of freedom which, out of so much pain, will give rise to a future that will be different from the past; freedom understood as consciousness of human solidarity, which brings together individuals and peoples, as awareness of their mutual dependence; as a condition for social justice to be respected and defended first in others, rather than in ourselves; as reciprocity and collaboration within a larger unity.”
The latest 2021 issue of il Mulino certainly makes for compelling reading.
Ricostruzioni (“Rebuilding”)
Various authors.
Il Mulino, 4/21
A collection of essays and research articles focused on the multiple aspects of “rebuilding”, which falls on institutions, companies and individuals
Rebuilding – a difficult, yet not impossible, mission that nowadays pretty much everyone has to undertake: from individuals and institutions to families and companies. Rebuilding something that – not always and not entirely, yet for most part and most people – has been shattered not by war but by a pandemic, which has turned upside down, in rather a short time, lives, organisations, enterprises, plans and projects for the future. It’s around this goal – understood in both material and cultural terms – that the contributions collected in the recently published “Ricostruzioni” (“Rebuilding”), the latest 2021 issue of il Mulino, journal of culture and politics, revolves around.
Rebuilding, then, after a war, after famine, after a natural disaster such as an earthquake or a flood and, of course, after a pandemic. In other words, restarting virtuous processes, in order to brighten up the future for our communities, for a fairer society and a more sustainable economy. This collection of essays attempts to address this topic from every possible angle and, indeed, succeeds in doing so.
It starts by exploring the concept of rebuilding (whether it is best to keep things as they are or to renovate them), and goes on to examine aspects related to the economy, as well as features concerning the political and social structures that might be involved in rebuilding, without neglecting more specific and particular themes such as trusting institutions, necessary reforms in the healthcare system, the need to look beyond the pandemic (which will pass, one way or another), in order to find cues and resources that can be used to create a country that will be better than the one left behind.
The collection of essays and research published by il Mulino also includes insightful pieces that at first sight may appear unrelated to our current situation – such as stories about the aftermath of some of the wars we fought – as well as others concerning the environment and climate change.
An excerpt from the diaries of Piero Calamandrei perfectly summarises the whole work: “No longer independence, but ‘interdependence’: this is not a new term, and if we don’t want the past to repeat itself and exacerbate yesterday’s errors, it needs to come to stand for the new feeling of freedom which, out of so much pain, will give rise to a future that will be different from the past; freedom understood as consciousness of human solidarity, which brings together individuals and peoples, as awareness of their mutual dependence; as a condition for social justice to be respected and defended first in others, rather than in ourselves; as reciprocity and collaboration within a larger unity.”
The latest 2021 issue of il Mulino certainly makes for compelling reading.
Ricostruzioni (“Rebuilding”)
Various authors.
Il Mulino, 4/21