A research study collection curated by Sapienza University of Rome focuses on a major issue for development

Sustainability is the goal of all production organisations that wish to be in tune with contemporary themes. An achievable goal, no doubt – but even before pursuing it, its meaning needs to be fully understood as, after all, though the concept appears simple it does not follow it will be easy to attain. Indeed, while we should be able to reconcile good business practices with financial (and social) needs, making sure not to negatively affect the environment and its resources – which are becoming increasingly key to development – all this requires some precise guidelines, too. This is the topic investigated by a study team driven by doctorate-level activities in the field of private market law, undertaken in various Italian universities, a team now centrally coordinated by the Essence-Lab2 Laboratory and that, supervised by Giuseppina Capaldo (Sapienza University), has already published a first set of research papers.

These papers have been collected in Iniziativa economica privata e mercato unico sostenibile (Private economic initiatives and a sustainable single market) and expound on the need to explore and rebuild the notions of sustainability – in environmental, economic and social terms – as well as of sustainable development, with the aim of identifying the principles that may guide the relation between sustainability and private law.

Thus, the collection starts by framing the topic of governance in private institutions within the context of a sustainable single market, before proceeding with an analysis of the relationships between “circular economy” and “common property”. The work then goes on to explore traits more related to legal concepts: “environmentally-oriented” contracts drawn up “on solidarity grounds”; the path we should follow to determine the rights of “sustainable consumers”; issues relating to investments, choices and guidelines; matters pertaining the information that consumers should receive.

The papers collected by Capaldo build some solid foundations useful to the establishment – also in legal terms – of a sustainable corporate culture at European level, too, as the need for clear and applicable policies continues to increase.

Iniziativa economica privata e mercato unico sostenibile (Private economic initiatives and a sustainable single market)

Giuseppina Capaldo (curated by)

Materiali e documenti (Material and documents series), Sapienza University Press, 2023

Milan already possesses several notable roles – related to the economy, culture (with its outstanding theatres and museums), the publishing industry, an efficient healthcare system, fashion and design – and can now boasts of yet another distinction: it’s the main university city in Italy, counting 211,000 enrolled students – a third coming from other Italian regions and 11% from abroad. An attractive city, then, not merely for wealth, businesses and ideas but also for enterprising young people looking for better study, employment and life opportunities.

Life opportunities? Now, here’s the catch: does Milan actually still offer opportunities for a better life? Can an attractive city also be really inclusive?

Milan always embodied a welcoming and supportive attitude, starting with the edict issued by Archbishop Heribert of Antimiano in 1018 (“Those who know how to work hard should come to Milan. And those who come to Milan are free individuals”) and up to the 1980s, the grand buoyant era of “Milan is for drinking” (paraphrasing Marco Mignani’s extraordinary advertising campaign for herbal liqueur Amaro Ramazzotti, which epitomised bustling vibrancy and sophisticated elegance, as well as precious civic values). Now, however, as witnessed by the criticism and self-criticism prevalent on printed newspapers (including the latest wonderful issue of Città – Cities – recently published and presented at the Franco Parenti Theatre) and on digital media, a growing unease is spreading – about a widening social divide, the contrast between glaring luxury trends (rapidly soaring property values, cost of life, gaudy consumption goods) and the hardships bearing down on both the working and middle classes.

“Here’s Milan, city of luxury: students’ tents and the former Seminary’s hotel suites. And the new poor flee” was the headline in Corriere della Sera (26 May), a piece disclosing the costs and opulence of a super hotel on Corso Venezia, erected where the austere Archiepiscopal Seminary used to be.

And yet, “students’ tents”, too – so much so for those above-mentioned prominent roles and contradictions of this university town. Students pitched tents in front of the Polytechnic, to protest against high rents and the poor life conditions they are experiencing in Milan – students who, considering the dynamics existing between Milan, Italy and the world, could well represent a driving force for development – for sustainable, environmental and social development, in fact, if these same students succeed in harnessing those Milanese traditions combining productivity and civic responsibility, competitiveness and solidarity. Traditions that, nowadays, are in shambles.

There are issues affecting the link between future opportunities and academic content (as Italian President Sergio Mattarella aptly reminded us, recalling the figure of Don Milani in the 100th anniversary of his birth as he reiterated the significance of quality education as a learning tool for acquiring notions pertaining to the common good and civic responsibility). And, further, current figures are problematic: Italy has too few graduates and too many “NEET” (young people not engaged in education, employment or training), too many people with decreasing literacy skills and too many high school graduates unable to adequately understand a text and perform average mathematical tasks (as mentioned in last week’s blog). Thus, in such a context, the protest organised by Milanese students and the criticism on the future of education – occurring in Italy’s main university city – forces us to reflect on a phenomenon that’s not localised at all but affects the whole country.

But let’s take a better look at the data concerning Milan’s academic nature – data collected and analysed by MHEO (Milan Higher Education Observatory), a body founded by the University of Milan in collaboration with CINECA University Consortium and Deloitte, which is part of the MUSA (Multilayered Urban Sustainable Action) ecosystem of technology and sustainable innovation project connected to the PNRR (Italian recovery and resilience plan) Education and Research Mission (a mission that should lead to the achievement of ambitious reform goals and more effective education in Italy).

After scrutinising fully up-to-date (up to 2022) official data, MHEO reported that the Lombardy region features 65 tertiary education institutions (the same number as in the whole of Portugal), including 15 universities (8 in Milan), 15 AFAM (Higher Education for Art, Music and Dance institutions, such as the Brera Academy and the Conservatory) and 24 ITS Academies (Higher Technical Institutes, which are rapidly expanding also thanks to initiative implemented by companies in need of a quality workforce with solid technical and scientific skills).

MHEO’s data further reveals that the 211,000 “Milanese” students amount to 12.1% of all Italian university students over the three years of study (to which can be added another 6.8% of students from the Lombardy region) and 14.7% of students enrolled on Master’s degrees. In terms of enrolment numbers, the top four universities include the University of Milan, the Polytechnic of Milan and the Università Cattolica of Milan, while the fourth is eCampus, an online university, which reveals a growing trend towards “remote education” – a phenomenon whose growth we should keep an eye on (during the COVID-19 pandemic, lockdown acted as an accelerator).

There’s one more piece of data to be considered: in Milan, there’s only one programme without an enrolment cap – all others apply a restricted number policy. This illustrates the difficulty that universities and other academies are experiencing in dealing with too many requests from both Italian and international applicants (the most sought-after universities are the Polytechnic and the Bocconi University).

The issues brought to light by this data, and by the student protests, are plain to see, then: how to deal with such interest, and which services does it entail? Milan’s attractiveness is certainly a source of social, cultural and civic wealth yet, over time, it might turn the tables on Milan and reduce it to a space for non-resident “city users”, where one may gain an education and flee immediately after.

The aim, then, should be that of reviving the city’s supportive nature and its strong traditions rooted in reforms and industry, by embracing the teachings of “industrial humanism”, which nowadays is evolving into “digital humanism” – teachings that permeate our best enterprises and the practices of a productive middle class marked by a powerful civic attitude. We should put an end to – or at least restrain, as much as possible – this wave of exasperating “events” that are turning Milan into “a large display window, a humongous performance” (a sharp outline by sociologist Giampaolo Nuvolati, la Repubblica, 28 May).

Hence, this is a challenge on cultural, political and social levels. A challenge that demands urban redevelopment (we could wisely profit from the opportunities offered by those large former industrial areas currently under regeneration and redesign, which include Milan’s seven old railway hubs). A challenge that necessitates new housing policies (to oppose, or at least restrict, “short-term rentals” aimed at “touch and go” tourism – policies that, incidentally, have already been implemented in Paris and Berlin, with positive results), as well as transport structures and services. In order to make Milan liveable, accessible, stimulating – for its students, too – as well as welcoming, attractive and inclusive.

The future, as we all know, lies in the opportunities entailed by the knowledge economy, and the whole Italian industry is going in that direction. Milan, Italy’s main university city, cannot waste the chance to become its driving force, acting within a virtuous network system engaging other Italian and European universities.

(photo Getty Images)

A recently published book retraces the story of one of the greatest entrepreneurs of the 20th century

The life of an (exceptional) entrepreneur narrated by those who knew him, with very few figures, and, likewise, little economic and management analysis, yet plenty of real-life accounts. This is the style adopted by Salvatore Giannella to narrate the life of Michele Ferrero – to narrate the story of a man who built a confectionery industry empire almost from scratch, instigated a new consumption model and, through his products, became a familiar name to entire generations.

The title of the book, Michele Ferrero. Condividere valori per creare valore (Michele Ferrero. Sharing values to create value) already says it all: an entrepreneur depicted through his life and work tenets. The book further narrates the evolution of one of the greatest enterprises in the world – in its sector, at least (though not limited to it). The style of Giannella’s work is reminiscent of a journalistic essay that retraces the life of Ferrero through a number of significant accounts acquired by interviewing dozens of people who were close to “Mr Michele”. A laborious yet successful effort, which Giannella explains by quoting the great journalist (and writer) Dino Buzzati: “The first steadfast rule of a reporter’s job, in order to take great women and men off their pedestals and reveal their human nature – as they are human, after all – is to go where they used to live and accumulate as many accounts, quotes and notes as possible, become unpopular by pestering a lot of people, and work hard: basically, it simply consists in digging”. An effort undertaken in order to comprehend, and therefore narrate, the life and approaches of a legendary figure, as, after all, that is what Michele Ferrero was and still is.

The outcome of Giannella’s “digging” is an extremely readable book of little less than 300 pages that reveals the features of a great figure who possessed brilliant intuition, an international vision and the ability to listen to others. A true legendary man, indeed, also distinguished by his painstaking attention to the quality of products, the needs of consumers and the well-being of employees. An almost excessively reserved individual, Michele Ferrero and his particular corporate culture stand out due to a few peculiar characteristics: innovative production methods, care for human values and, therefore, awareness of the social responsibility entailed in industrial activities.

Giannella’s book is a must-read, and also reminds us that while legendary figures may be unique, they can nonetheless always teach a lot to everyone.

Michele Ferrero. Condividere valori per creare valore (Michele Ferrero. Sharing values to create value)

Salvatore Giannella

Salani Editore, 2023

A research study by INAPP highlights the nature and functional ability of a particular kind of production

Social enterprises – a special kind of businesses, yet enterprises nonetheless. Almost forgotten, and now rediscovered, and to be studied and understood. These are the premises that inspired “Le imprese sociali: organizzazioni dell’economia sociale nello sviluppo dei territori e delle comunità” (“Social enterprises: social economy organisations as part of the development of territories and communities”), a research study by Sabina Polidori and Massimo Lori, recently published as an INAPP Working Paper.

Polidori and Lori (from the Italian National Institute for the analysis of public policy and ISTAT respectively) explain that the study’s contextual frame lies in noticing the renewed interest of public political and institutional debate, both at an Italian and a European level, in social economy enterprises. An interest that is also due to the implementation of the Italian Third-Sector Code, as well as of the European Social Economy Action Plan, and, further, by the objective effectiveness of these particular way of doing business.

The study aims to highlight the nature of social enterprises from several viewpoints, starting – as the two authors explain – by examining them within a social economy context as well as from a conceptual perspective. The paper then offers a quantitative analysis that illustrates the relevancy and the economic weights of this organisation category, based on the scrutiny of their main structural features (geographical location, dimensions, etc.). Finally, particular attention is paid to the shared administration of social enterprises, which also represents an innovative tool for the public policies related to this segment.

Thus, Polidori and Lori’s work outlines a particular kind of production organisation that is also significant in terms of production culture. As the conclusions state, “Indeed, social enterprises tend to maximise social impact within economic sustainability constraints, reversing the factors that ‘traditional’ corporate models utilise to achieve their goals.”

Le imprese sociali: organizzazioni dell’economia sociale nello sviluppo dei territori e delle comunità  (“Social enterprises: social economy organisations as part of the development of territories and communities”)

Sabina Polidori, Massimo Lori

INAPP Working Paper, no. 102

Italian primary school children are good students – they’re good readers and understand their lessons well, better than their German, French and Spanish peers. As their learning path progresses, however, things get worse and reach deplorable levels: one student out of two reaches the end of high school without having acquired basic skills in Italian, English and maths.

Basically: the more you grow, the less you know. Thus, we’ve ended up in the absurd situation where 47% of the Italian people have lost their literacy skills and are functioning illiterates, i.e. unable to effectively use basic reading, writing and maths skills in daily life – almost an Italian person out of two.

Here’s a snapshot of the education crisis, which also has an impact on civic awareness and democratic participation, on economic development and social responsibility – a major emergency that’s taking a great toll on Italy.

First of all, let’s take a look at the data. According to the 2021 IEA PIRLS survey, coordinated by Boston College and presented in the past few days at the Accademia dei Lincei in Rome, 97% of Italian nine-year-old children can flawlessly read a text and understand its meaning. The survey was undertaken in 57 countries around the world and involved 400,000 students, 380,000 parents and 20,000 teachers. The highest-ranking countries are, in order: Singapore (573 points), Hong Kong, Great Britain, Denmark and Norway, and then there’s Italy, with 537 points, a score higher than that of Germany (524), Spain (521), France (514) and so on. The EU average is of 527 points.

A good result for Italian children. Moreover, in Italy, as in other countries, girls are raising the average, with a difference of 7 points as compared to boys (something to be pondered about and constantly fostered, in higher education too, by encouraging them to take STEM (scientific) subjects – subjects where girls find themselves at a disadvantage due to traditional reprehensible biases, neglect or prejudice.

Furthermore, when taking a better look we can also glimpse a few more issues. A decrease of 11 points as compared to five years ago (also a consequence of the learning gap caused by Covid), while the impact of territorial disparities keeps on growing, with the South of Italy struggling (36 points less than the North – a severe increase considering it amounted to 12 points in 2006).

We need to insist on the dissemination of high-quality teaching, then. This can be achieved through the wise investment of PNRR (Italian recovery and resilience plan) funds aimed at supporting young people and their education (the EU Recovery Plan is called “Next Generation” for a reason), and, in this era dominated by the “knowledge economy”, by looking at education, scientific research and culture as the key cornerstones for a better quality of civic and social life throughout Italy, as well as for sustainable, environmental and social development.

Here’s a crucial issue: Italy’s competitiveness is closely related to our capacity for innovation, and innovation requires knowledge, especially in our times of Artificial Intelligence and even in the simplest forms it assumes. It requires compulsory education, of course – from primary school (learning about its good performance is excellent news) to university – but it also needs further education: life (life-long learning, as economists term it). “In a world where abilities age rapidly, the challenge for the educational sphere is to teach how to learn”, states Francesco Profumo, former dean of the Polytechnic University of Turin, former Italian minister of Education, Universities and Research and now president of philanthropic foundation Compagnia di San Paolo.

But what should we learn? Well, how to revive the best Italian traditions, insisting on the synergy between humanities and scientific knowledge, passion for beauty and taste for technological innovation. Greek and Latin, for an open and structured dialogue, and the engineering and critical skills of Leon Battista Alberti, Piero della Francesca, Leonardo, Galileo Galilei. Looking at tradition not as an “urn for ashes” but as a drive for change. Acquire a so-called “polytechnic” wisdom – rereading Primo Levi and his extraordinary books, such as La chiave a stella (The wrench) on mechanics and Il sistema periodico (The periodic table) on chemistry, should be enough to remember the value of this skill.

Related to this, intriguing news come from Naples, which is at the centre of a project involving the use of Lego bricks to teach maths. It’s the MATABI project (“maths” and “ability”), curated by the Agnelli Foundation, the Polytechnic University of Turin and the Lego Foundation, and involving 88 primary school classes throughout Italy, with 30 of them in Naples. The aim is to increase scientific and mathematical knowledge, with a special focus on girls, in order to immediately filter out gender bias (in Italy, out of 1,000 inhabitants aged 20 to 29, graduates in scientific disciplines count 13.3 girls and 19.4 boys, as compared to the EU and German averages of 14.9 and 27.9, and 13.2 and 34.7 respectively).

An education and gender gap that’s having a profound impact on Italy’s productivity, and that, therefore, must be drastically reduced in order to strengthen the country’s economic and social growth – a growth founded on the “Made in Italy” ethos, innovation, sophisticated technologies, the quality and sustainability of products and services (the mechatronics, automotive, chemical, pharmaceutical, aerospace, shipbuilding, industrial automation and robotics industries, and more traditional sectors such as agro-industry, clothing and furnishing), as well as on development assets such as specialised supply chains and medium and medium-large enterprises (our “pocket multinationals”). All assets that demand entrepreneurship and creativity or, in one word, education.

(Photo Getty Images)

Thursday, 11 May 2023: The winners of the second edition of the Premio Campiello Junior, the literary award created by the Pirelli Foundation and the Fondazione Il Campiello, were announced at the Teatro Franco Parenti and the Pirelli Foundation in Milan.

The popular jury, consisting of 240 young people from across all Italy as well as from abroad, voted for the winners in two categories, 7-10 and 11-14 year-olds, choosing from the six finalist books:

Nicola Cinquetti, L’incredibile notte di Billy Bologna, Lapis Edizioni, for the 7-10-year category;

Davide Rigiani, Il Tullio e l’eolao più stranissimo di tutto il Canton Ticino, minimum fax, for the 11-14-year category.

During the event, the journalist and science communicator Massimo Polidoro interviewed the six finalists, and the actress Emilia Tiburzi brought to life extracts from their books.
The speakers also included Mariacristina Gribaudi, chair of the Premio Campiello Management Committee, Antonio Calabrò, director of the Pirelli Foundation, Roberto Piumini, president of the Selection Jury, and Martino Negri, member of the Selection Jury

To watch the awards ceremony, click here.

Further information on Premio Campiello Junior events is available at www.fondazionepirelli.org and www.premiocampiello.org.

The latest literary work by Giuseppe Lupo retraces the history of factories through the 20th century and asserts the need for a different way of narrating the past

Modernity and tradition. Progress and poverty. Development and decline. Heaven and hell. We could find many other antithetical dyads – constantly changing and re-shaped by perspectives – to influence the readings of present and past (without, of course, neglecting the future, which entails yet another different viewpoint). Modernity calls for complex analysis, an analysis that, nonetheless, must be undertaken by those who really want to be fully cognizant of the period they are living in. This is why La modernità malintesa. Una controstoria dell’industria italiana (Misunderstood modernity. A counternarrative of Italian industry), the latest literary work by Giuseppe Lupo, makes for very useful reading.

Lupo reviews the 20th century, the century of modernity, a period that has engendered a dramatic change in economy and politics, leaving a deep mark on the cultural and social fabric of Italy (and not only), disrupting century-old balances, shattering the line of continuity between past and future, up to a momentous turning point: the end of rural civilisation and the rise of industrialisation. The past century rushed towards the future, a phenomenon that Lupo analyses through its narratives, by giving voice to some of the most representative figures: from Vittorini to Testori, from Fortini to Mastronardi, from Calvino to Pasolini (to mention just a few) and without neglecting the controversial relationship between humanism and science within such narratives and the house-organisms arisen in the second post-war period. A journey that reaches our present, characterised by a “fluid realism”, by new and different forms of working class, by the many frailties related to employment, and uncertain and confuse prospects. A literary effort that makes us wonder whether it would not be better to drastically change our perspective and adopt, instead, an original, alternative, organised counternarrative aimed at changing the world or, as the book explains, “at severing the umbilical cord with this terrible and majestic century of which we still feel we are the children”.

A densely beautiful book written by Giuseppe Lupo: to be read with great care, not always easy yet certainly useful and intriguing.

La modernità malintesa. Una controstoria dell’industria italiana (Misunderstood modernity. A counternarrative of Italian industry)

Giuseppe Lupo

Marsilio Editori, 2023

A recently published research study analyses the deep bond between cultural activities and “good life”

The paper provides an overview that attempts to outline different paths for “building well-being” over ten years of Italian history, starting with the economy and moving on to other different spheres, such as those of health, culture and psychology.

Well-being as the building block for a “good life”. and culture as a tool to attain a more wholesome feeling of well-being permeating our life. An important combination. for enterprises, too, and for the attainment of a corporate and production culture not purely focused on profit, and one that may find greater substantiation when scrutinised by scientific research. This is what Giorgio Tavano Blessi, Federica Viganò and Enzo Grossi attempted to achieve in “Il ruolo della cultura nella costruzione del benessere. Evidenze a livello nazionale 2008-2018” (“The role of culture in building well-being. National evidence 2008-2018”), a research study recently published in journal Sociologia urbana e rurale (Urban and rural sociology).

Tavano Blessi and his colleagues start from an observation: the topic of well-being is increasingly drawing the attention of academic studies because relevant in terms of individual and collective functioning. If we share this assumption, we can then surmise that what determines “well-being” can be analysed and find application in regional policies and communities.

Thus, the research study investigates the elements that constitute individual mental well-being in order to identify the most critical ones. A work undertaken on two levels: first of all, the work looks at the relevant literature, and then at statistical data gathered in two different years (2008 and 2018) in order to quantify the significance of factors generating well-being and finally assess how they may change.

As such, this paper allows to determine the underlying impact of culture – understood as the activities undertaken by individuals in their free time – and how it can represent one of the most relevant factors on individual well-being, explicitly illustrating the role it can play as a possible tool applicable to regional policies at the service of individuals and society – something that, by the by, is also significantly affected by socially responsible corporate operations.

Il ruolo della cultura nella costruzione del benessere. Evidenze a livello nazionale 2008-2018 (“The role of culture in building well-being. National evidence 2008-2018”)

Giorgio Tavano Blessi, Federica Viganò, Enzo Grossi

Sociologia urbana e rurale, 2023/130

Museums are like the backbone of a community – by keeping its memories, they allow to build its future. Similarly, corporate museums and archives record how vigorously entrepreneurial, creatively intelligent, hard-working and innovative an active, productive and socially inclusive community is. And it’s in this fertile interweaving of memory and innovation that the development potential of the Italian economy is rooted, together with its high-quality manufacturing and high-tech service network, features that are prized on the international markets.

These are the underlying notions informing the Museimpresa (the Italian Association of business archives and corporate museums) assembly, to be held in Milan, at the headquarters of the AEM Foundation, on 24 May. Notions that are further corroborated by the key terms chosen by ICOM (the International Council of Museums, founded in 1946 to support the conservation and enhancement of cultural heritage) to emblemise this year’s International Museum Day, held on 18 May: “sustainability and well-being”. In fact, as regards social and environmental sustainability, Italian enterprises have already conquered a privileged position on the global markets, as they turned these values into competitive assets a long time ago, while the Italian propensity for industry – Italy ranks as the second largest manufacturing country in Europe, after Germany – generates employment opportunities, and thus more widespread wealth and well-being.

To better understand all this, let’s have a look at ICOM’s latest definition of what a museum should be, a definition also adopted by Museimpresa: “A museum is a permanent non-profit institution at the service of society, undertaking research, collecting, preserving, interpreting and exhibiting material and immaterial heritage artefacts.” Open to the public, accessible and inclusive, “museums promote diversity and sustainability. They operate and communicate ethically and professionally, engaging the community and offering diversified experiences to foster education, enjoyment, reflection and the sharing of knowledge”.

Museums as living sites, then, as tools we can use to gain a deeper understanding of history and the human experience, as means to disseminate knowledge, as open, dialogic and democratic spaces. And corporate museums as places where material cultures acquire value and perspective by freeing historical narration from mere political and military bonds – as the Annales school taught us – to include cultures of work, food and trade, daily life practices, and a “do, do well and do good” attitude, as well as traditional crafts that distinguish the Italian regions and that – also thanks to Museimpresa – are being increasingly shared, enhancing territorial creativity and productivity.

In fact, there currently is a great impetus towards growth, towards writing “a future-oriented story”, which is turning museums and archives into veritable competitive assets, not only for enterprises but also for stakeholders, as by disseminating awareness about past values museums helps us carve a path towards sustainable development.

Creation and innovation, exuding the strength of real “industrial pride”, are the true key features of Italian corporate culture, and as such they represent the memory and narrative of a long, rugged and complex transformative journey of production technologies and products, consumption and traditions. This because enterprises, as communities of people, are key social actors within history, and their distinctive feature lies in a wide strategy combining so-called “polytechnic culture” (a unique blend of humanities and scientific knowledge) with productive processes, communication languages and product marketing, which are also mindful to the relationships existing between manufacturing, services, creativity and scientific research, between technological evolution and the narration built by painters, writers and poets, architects, film directors and photographers, commercial artists and designers. A civilisation steeped in images and words, people and machinery.

What underlies the activity of Museimpresa (founded over 20 years ago by entrepreneurial associations Assolombarda and Confindustria and now boasting more than 130 members and institutional supporters) is, in fact, an entrenched conviction that enterprises are both physical and mental spaces where past and future meet, determining economic and social development.

Indeed, our corporate archives guard and narrate traditional manufacturing wisdom and high-quality services, which are the cornerstones of an extensive economic, social and civic culture: documentation, photographs, films, advertisements, technical drawings, as well as contracts and employment records, which all tell us about the – especially human – dimension of labour, including its different industrial relationships, ties and conflicts, the evolution of bonds between entrepreneurs, managers, technicians and labourers. A social capital that, by defining its history and identity, makes each enterprise unique – the fluid portrayal of an extraordinary side of human life.

A book presents with 16 terms that may help us understand the past, and therefore the present

Understanding how to read the past and capture its complexities and multidimensional nature – something that is useful to everyone, and that, further, enhances that good production culture that should become integral part of every community’s general culture. Knowing how to read the past, then, through simple tools accessible by all. This is the goal readers achieve when reading (and rereading) Lessico della storia culturale (A lexicon of cultural history), a recently published book curated by Alberto Maria Banti, Vinzia Fiorino and Carlotta Sorba.

The work focuses on 16 key terms. It’s a lexicon that, through each term, retraces how new questions arise, how new sources and investigation paths emerge, how perspectives able to offer a long-range view on several issues concerning current societies open up, from mass society standardisation processes to the dynamics ruling relationships and social exclusion.

The terms given to readers are: food, mass culture, print and writing cultures, visual cultures, emotions, family, insanity, gender, war, heritage, mass media, memory, nation, race, sexuality, and technoscience. All terms woven into history and our present, creating the fabric that we need to stitch together in order to understand how we form a community.

Thus, Banti, Fiorino and Sorba – aided by a number of important collaborators – build a kind of travel guide, a manual for the understanding of the past, which also help us comprehend the present and build a future with eyes wide open. A book that, like every good travel guide, should always be kept at hand – in order to read it and reread it, as said above.

Lessico della storia culturale (A lexicon of cultural history)

Alberto Maria Banti, Vinzia Fiorino and Carlotta Sorba (curated by)

Laterza, 2023