At a time of radical and dramatic crisis in Europe, when even its former traditional allies are reaffirming its irrelevance through sarcasm and, at times, contempt, we must seek to understand the meaning and role of Europe. We must not accept the Financial Times’ pessimistic prediction that Europe will be reduced to a grand hotel for the luxurious holidays of the world’s new rich and powerful.

Commenting on the Charlemagne Prize he has just received for his commitment to European unity, Mario Draghi said: ‘Europe has many enemies, perhaps more than ever before, both internal and external. And we must become stronger militarily, economically and politically’. Europe must undergo a new shake-up if it is to get back on its feet and become the political player it must be, both quickly and effectively.

In other words, we must follow Italo Calvino’s lesson in ‘The Invisible Cities’ and ‘seek and learn to recognise who and what, in the midst of hell, are not hell, then make them endure, give them space’.

But what is not hell? Consider, for example, reading history from the perspective of the ‘mothers of Europe’, valuing female soft power, and embracing the culture of relationships and governance of complexity, quite the opposite of the display of ‘male’ power and arrogance that is so fashionable today (as discussed in last week’s blog). A radical change of political culture, a ‘new sense of duty’ and future to pursue.

Or follow ‘the infinite thread’ – a cultural and spiritual path of ideas and values – that lead Paolo Rumiz on his journey among the Benedictine abbeys (those in which the roots of Europe were born, following St Benedict’s ora et labora rule). Try to understand how to move forward in a time of ‘disintegration’ and attack on ‘the Europe of rights’, while also exploring how to build ‘a bank against its dissolution’, a spiritual, cultural, civil and therefore political cause. Rumiz proposes a hypothesis:  ‘In my wanderings, I discovered that I am a Christian, but a Christian with a Greek mindset, belonging to a civilisation of free speech, patient listening, perpetual truth-seeking and the supremacy of dialogue over the Old Testament’s temptations of the sword and revenge’. This is ‘the synodal and democratic Christianity of the origins’. A new edition of The Infinite Thread has just been published by Feltrinelli and is well worth a read. This is a radical reinterpretation of the methods and cultures of togetherness, offering a ‘spirituality’ to inform choices and relationships. It presents a dimension of civil values (the ‘polis‘, the ‘civitas‘), and so on, that cannot fail to inspire a new kind of good politics, as well as a religious dialogue whose values are not inspired by the ‘Gott mit uns‘ of new and old extremists of faith. Instead, it takes into account the living legacy of Pope Francis, who emphasises the need to build bridges, not walls.

There is also a third direction one can take, knowing full well that roads full of assumptions about a good future end up converging. This is another Benedictine lesson, this time about where to build abbeys.  The third direction is that of greater and better involvement of new generations.

The challenge for Europe is clear: it must invest heavily to become an attractive destination for its young people, who have grown up as the ‘Erasmus generation’ and are therefore accustomed to moving to work in various European countries as part of a ‘single market’. This objective has long been included in the recommendations of the report edited by Enrico Letta for the EU Commission, alongside the other ‘single markets’ of goods, capital and services. Europe must also attract young people from the vastness and variety of its culture, freedoms and opportunities. These potential migrants come from the Mediterranean basin, Arab Gulf countries and Africa, and now also the USA, as political choices in the White House limit freedoms of research, experimentation and study at the world’s leading universities (Harvard, Columbia, Stanford and Berkeley).

EU policy choices are needed to make progress in this area, particularly with regard to protectionism, scientific research and education. Substantial investment in laboratories and high-tech companies is required, as well as encouragement of labour market mobility reforms. However, it is also necessary to raise salaries, which in Italy in particular are too low compared to the rest of Europe (a German graduate earns 80% more than an Italian graduate with the same level of education and professional experience).

The challenge is clear:  a grand EU plan similar to Next Generation EU to make Europe an extraordinary economic, scientific and technological platform where cutting edge manufacturing, sophisticated knowledge processes and artificial intelligence tools coexist in a novel way that differs greatly from the models that have prevailed so far in the USA (a large market with few rules and large amounts of capital) and China (state-led economic planning with significant public support). In short, Europe has an extraordinary social and cultural capital at its disposal and must be able to quickly transform this into an economic and political force capable of competing with both major states and Big Tech itself.

In a feature-length article in Il Foglio on 17 January, Stefano Cingolani wrote about how ‘between the giants of China and the USA, there is an Italian way to artificial intelligence’ and exploring ‘how to humanise algorithms’. He noted that ‘the European model is gaining ground and that Italy has a unique position’. There is a swarm of new ideas and brilliant minds emerging from universities, laboratories and companies. Practical examples of companies, even small ones, are given, which demonstrate the link between sophisticated robotics products and the shrewd use of AI in processing data and building useful algorithms for research, production process control, predictive maintenance, security (including cyber security), logistics, and so on.

La Stampa tells a similar story in its extensive series of articles on ‘The forest of the future’.  One of the many testimonies featured is that of Andrea Bellini, a professor at the Max Planck Institute in Berlin.  ‘We are working to create the cells of the future. Artificial but intelligent’ (18 January).

From this point of view, Europe is moving forward in the areas of science, technology and enterprise, but is held back by a tendency towards bureaucracy and inefficient regulation (as are many processes in the EU). However, it is also strengthened by an extraordinary diversity of cultures, significant manufacturing strength, and an awareness of the need to quickly establish its own role in the context of a privileged alliance with the US and other dynamic regions of the world. The recently signed agreement with Mercosur is confirmation of this, breaking down trade barriers and building bridges for better trade.

In this context, Italy has a lot of work to do to keep up with the rest of the EU. It must pay close attention to the advice that the Governor of the Bank of Italy, Fabio Panetta, gave with great clarity in his speech at the inauguration of the academic year at the University of Messina a few days ago (including with a tribute to an exceptional teacher from the University, Gaetano Salvemini).  He said that we must spend more on education, increase the productivity of our companies and, above all, of the Italian system as a whole, starting with the public administration and public services. This will enable us to increase salaries and wages, which are currently among the lowest in Europe. After all, productivity in Italy has been stagnant for a quarter of a century.

There you have it, then, the path of Europe and Italy in the European context is clear: invest in knowledge. Leverage this to attract our young people (stopping the ‘brain drain’ and encouraging them to return), as well as to recruit new international talent, expand the labour market and stimulate innovation and economic growth.

It’s a difficult challenge, of course, but far from impossible. If anything, there is a need for clarity and political foresight:  less money on pensions and subsidies for electorally relevant groups and more on education, training and innovation.

‘Now that we have the public accounts in order, we must invest in young people’, argues Elsa Fornero, economist and former Minister of Labour in the Monti government (La Stampa, 17 January).  She is quite right.

(photo Getty Images)

A good guide published to better understand the present including through the narration of the past

Having good guides makes travelling through the present easier, and reflecting on the past is important.  There is essential reading to be done, and updates to be obtained.  This is why it is worth the effort to read the recently published ‘Storia internazionale. Dal 1919 a oggi’ (International History: From 1919 to today) by Antonio Varsori.

The book has a dual origin:  on the one hand, it is a ‘manual’ for learning about the history of the 20th century; on the other, it is a ‘reflection on’ the subject. It is therefore a book of learning, but also of analysis.  Moreover, it is also accessible to the general public, entrepreneurs and those engaged in public affairs, who need accurate information about the past in order to better understand current events.

Varsori’s book recounts international events from the attempted redefinition of the European and international order at Versailles at the end of the First World War, to the ‘new international disorder’ resulting from the end of Cold War bipolarism. The story then unfolds from 1919, a time of failed international order that presaged a new world conflict: the Second World War, followed by the Cold War and the emergence of two opposing systems. The text goes on to explain the creation of a new world order between 1945 and 1960. It then moves on to the events of the 1960s and 1970s, before addressing what is referred to as the ‘New Cold War’ and the illusion of a new international order. Finally, it discusses the emergence of an ‘international disorder’, which is similar to the situation we are experiencing today, with recent developments in the international system including the war in Ukraine, the conflict in Gaza, the US elections, and the impact of Trump’s retaliations on the global landscape.

Varsori offers a fresh perspective on the history of contemporary international relations, moving away from an exclusively diplomatic view to adopt a more inclusive approach that considers economic, social and cultural factors, as well as transnational processes and the strong links between domestic and foreign policy. Antonio Varsori’s book is one to read and then keep as a useful guidebook.

Storia internazionale. Dal 1919 a oggi

Antonio Varsori

Mulino, 2026

Research outlines the path to uniting past and present by applying new technologies to the memory of production

Memory that becomes present reality, the relevance of the past and a premise for a future based on the reuse and revitalisation of places that would otherwise be forgotten or not used to their full potential. The connection between business archives (and business memories) and today’s complexity is a tricky topic.

Daniela Anna Calabi, Benedetta Bellucci, Mario Bisson and Stefania Palmieri address this complex issue (and suggested solutions) in their work, ‘Memorie d’impresa, luoghi e culture: interfacce generative e dispositivi estesi per risignificare il made in Italy’ (Memories of business, places and cultures: generative interfaces and extended devices to give new meaning to Made in Italy), which is included in a comprehensive collection of studies on rethinking Made in Italy.

As explained at the beginning of the study, it is part of a broader collection of research on Made in Italy and seeks to propose a ‘paradigm of reconnection between industrial memories and actual places’, making the climate of the regions and their transformations perceptible through more contemporary narratives aided by new technologies. The aim is to integrate oral and written memories, documents and material and immaterial artefacts into networks of relational archives, i.e. collections that can communicate practical information about past industrial and business activity and current production and social life in the area to those who use them. This is a different and more complete way of narrating what is synthetically referred to as ‘Made in Italy’.

Simultaneity of sources provides news at several levels  and they can be used in a variety of ways.  The authors write that there is a strong relationship with the region, which is not ‘the platform on which the archive rests, but the content and container of memories’.  The archive is therefore ‘the guiding device capable of reinterpreting regions and supply chains’.  The region offers its productive, landscape and cultural complexity, which acquires meaning when it is explored, noted and communicated.

Business archives that come to life through new technologies and are able to convey their contents by forging a genuine connection with the places that hosted the activities whose memory they preserve. The authors also point out that, ‘by distancing itself from the standardisation of memories and roots, the archive becomes an active storyteller and an open process’.  In other words, it provides the basis for the construction and sharing of a culture (including production) that is comprehensible and inclusive.

The research by Calabi, Bellucci, Bisson and Palmieri outlines – although not always with ease of understanding – a different way of seeing the links between the past and present of companies and regions.

Memorie d’impresa, luoghi e culture: interfacce generative e dispositivi estesi per risignificare il made in Italy

Daniela Anna Calabi, Benedetta Bellucci, Mario Bisson, Stefania Palmieri

in Ripensare il Made in Italy Esperienze, questioni e progetti di una cultura circolare e sostenibile

edited by Andreas Sicklinger, Francesco Spampinato, Ines Tolic, Bologna University Press, 2025.

The Pirelli Foundation, in collaboration with the Piccolo Teatro di Milano – Teatro d’Europa, is taking part in the new edition of MuseoCity. This year’s theme is Cultural Enterprises, taking us on journeys through winter, snow and ice sports, and the achievements that have left a lasting mark on Pirelli’s history, products and communication.

Actors and actresses will accompany visitors with short performances, giving voice to archive documents, testimonies and images: from advertising campaigns that have turned the cold into a visual language to sporting partnerships that have made winter a driver of innovation.

Different stories of products and discoveries are woven together: from the first rubber soles made in 1890, designed to protect against snow and rain, through to the revolutionary Vibram alpine soles of the 1930s, given legendary status by the Italian K2 expedition in 1954.

Then came the invention of the first winter tyres, such as the Artiglio and the Nuovo Inverno, and the creation of the iconic BS3, the star of sporting victories on icy roads and in rally competitions.

Stories of innovation and design abound: from partnerships with artists such as Riccardo Manzi, Alessandro Mendini, Ilio Negri and Bob Noorda, who transformed the tread into a graphic symbol, to advertising campaigns that made Pirelli tyres a byword for safety, style and modernity on the track and on snow-covered roads.

Where:
Pirelli Headquarters, entrance from Via Bicocca degli Arcimboldi 3

How to take part:
Free activity, booking required via link

Time slots: 2:30, 4, and 5:30 p.m.

A republished, updated, and expanded edition offers a valuable resource for understanding the present

Understanding what happened yesterday helps us to understand what is happening today and be better prepared for what will happen tomorrow.  This is the meaning of history, and the result of paying attention to the origins of a present that is increasingly complex and seemingly inexplicable. Examining the past is a responsibility that everyone shares, and fulfilling this responsibility helps to develop a strong culture (including business culture). For this reason, it is important to have reliable sources of information, such as ‘Sviluppo e crisi dell’economia italiana.  Dal 1945 ad oggi’ (Development and crisis of the Italian economy: From 1945 to today), a book written by Gioacchino Garofoli over two decades ago, which has now been updated and revised to be relevant to readers once again.

Spanning approximately 260 pages, Garofoli’s account of the history of the Italian economy from 1945 to the present day draws on his extensive experience as a researcher and teacher of economic policy. In a clearly structured way, he recounts the evolution of the economy, highlighting the problems that arose in various periods and the economic policy choices that were made, thus continuing an important tradition of Italian economic studies. He analyses the conditions of both the national and international contexts, in order to understand the role of both internal and external constraints, as well as the opportunities that have arisen.
The narrative begins with the years of economic reconstruction and the development model choices that characterised our country for at least twenty years. It then moves on to consider the years of the so-called ‘economic miracle’ (1953–1963) and the period of missed opportunities (1963–1970). It subsequently discusses the periods of great change in the 1970s (the oil crisis and the transition to flexible exchange rates) and in the 1980s (progressive integration into the European economy and the introduction of the European Monetary System), leading up to the decades that were strongly marked by the creation of the single European currency and the resulting deflationary policies in Italy and Europe. The final chapters examine the progressive economic stagnation that began with the introduction of austerity policies in Europe and culminated in the great economic and financial crisis of 2008. However, Garofoli points out that the Italian and European economies will not recover due to two additional crises and a fundamental misunderstanding of the root cause: insufficient domestic demand in Europe. The book concludes with two appendices:  one providing interpretations of the country’s development, and the other dedicated to the territorial organisation of the national economic system.

Garofoli’s book is a great achievement in that it is written in simple yet not simplistic language, and is straightforward yet not oversimplified.  This is why it can be read by anyone who wants to understand the economic choices made in the past, the issues currently facing us, and the opportunities that lie ahead.

Sviluppo e crisi dell’economia italiana. Dal 1945 ad oggi

Gioacchino Garofoli

Franci Angeli, 2026

The evolution of corporate welfare and its prospects are addressed in a thesis discussed at the University of Padua

Well-being in the workplace is a crucial factor in business success.  This is now a reality for many manufacturing organisations, but not all.  Even though welfare is now an integral part of employment contracts. Giorgia Scomparin explores this topic in her thesis, which she presented at the University of Padua’s Department of Political Science, Law and International Studies.

Scomparin begins with the following observation:  in recent years, corporate welfare has played an increasingly important role in the organisational strategies of many Italian companies. However, this observation only appears trivial on the surface, as Scomparin herself points out: having started out as a supplement to public welfare, ‘corporate welfare has become a real benefits system aimed at improving the well-being of workers, increasing productivity, and retaining staff at a lower cost to companies than normal salary payments’.

Today, we are dealing with what experts refer to as work-life balance and quality of working life, which has made corporate welfare an increasingly widespread strategic tool, encouraged by legislators through tax advantages.

However, Scomparin notes that ‘alongside the benefits, there are also important critical issues’,  and it is these that the research focuses on. In particular, it examines the selective nature of the model, which risks creating inequalities between workers, regions, and productive sectors. Furthermore, Scomparin claims that ‘the tax exemption granted to company benefits leads to a loss of revenue for the state, with potential repercussions on the financing of public welfare’.

The research then analyses the phenomenon of corporate welfare in Italy, starting with its definition and regulatory evolution. It then examines the advantages and critical issues, and proposes prospects for sustainable and fair development.

While Giorgia Scomparin’s work does not introduce any significant new findings into the subject of welfare and its developments, it greatly merits bringing order to an issue that remains of significant interest for fostering good corporate culture.

Il welfare aziendale in Italia: vantaggi, criticità e prospettive future tra pubblico e privato

Giorgia Scomparin

Thesis, University of Padua Department of Political Science, Law and International Studies Bachelor of Arts in Political Science, International Relations, Human Rights, 2025

‘Europe will be forged by crises and will be the sum of the solutions adopted for those crises’, said Jean Monnet, one of the fathers of European unity and High Commissioner for the Coal and Steel Community. It was from this institution that all the others, from the Common Market to the European Union, the European Parliament and the ECB and the euro, would later emerge, crisis after crisis. At a time when the EU is in danger of being crushed by the aggressive actions and confrontations of the world’s ‘great powers’ (primarily the US and China, but also Russia), it is worth remembering the figure of Monnet and the pragmatic yet visionary approach of the other heads of state and government who established Europe (Adenauer, De Gasperi, Schuman and Spaak, to name a few, followed by Mitterrand, Kohl, Delors and many more). This is precisely why we must not lose sight of the importance of a common policy on security and defence, energy, innovation, industry, scientific and technological research, and artificial intelligence. We have discussed this in recent blog posts, even speculating about the potential involvement of Mario Draghi.

But perhaps the response to the crisis and the opportunity to be seized are not only institutional, political, industrial and financial, although these are nonetheless essential. A cultural and social shift is also necessary, as with all true voyages of discovery.
Above all, we need a fresh pair of eyes. To rethink Europe, to find answers to the fractures and risks, to ‘mend’ the tears and improve the balance. We need the vision of women. And that of the younger generations.
Let’s try an unconventional approach that is different, but not an alternative, to the institutional one. We need to rebuild and relaunch strong values and ideas for a better future. Let’s start with a seemingly minor figure in the great history of Europe: Ursula Hirschmann.

She came from a wealthy German-Jewish family of great intellectual depth (her brother, Albert, would soon become one of Europe’s leading economists). Ursula found herself joining her husband, Eugenio Colorni, and two other anti-fascist friends, Altiero Spinelli, Ernesto Rossi and Rossi’s wife, Ada, in exile on the island of Ventotene. In those terrible final years of the 1930s, they were passionate about the idea of a new Europe.
Their discussions resulted in the ‘Ventotene Manifesto’, which had a significant impact, stimulating political awareness and the desire for change in the following years, right up to the present day. Ursula, the only one not sentenced to exile and therefore free to travel, distributed the first clandestine copies of the ‘Manifesto’ and stimulated debate.
Following the murder of Colorni by a Nazi-Fascist gang during the Resistance, Ursula became the partner and later the wife of Altiero Spinelli (their daughter, Eva, married Amartya Sen, winner of the Nobel Prize in Economics). They shared ideas, political passions, generous visions of the future and a strong sense of cultural and civic responsibility. Ursula herself was the driving force behind the group ‘Femmes pour l’Europe’ for years, which was particularly active on issues of rights and political commitment to institutional renewal.

Remembering Ursula Hirschmann and reconsidering the Ventotene Manifesto (which is very topical, as President Sergio Mattarella also noted, despite the schematics linked to the historical context in which it was drafted) raises a fundamental question today: how can we involve women, especially the younger generations, as much as possible in the debate on the renewal and revitalisation of European institutions, making use of their intelligence, creativity and ability to manage complexity?
And this is a key point: making history and remembering the ‘mothers of Europe’ can provide strong foundations for the role of women in current European institutions.

We should talk about the political ideas of Anna Kuliscioff and her humanitarian socialism, as well as those of Simone Weil, Hannah Arendt and Sophie Scholl, who openly challenged Nazism through the group ‘The White Rose’. Remember Maria De Unterrichter Jervolino, the most active of the 21 women elected to the Italian Constituent Assembly in 1946, who championed women’s causes, education, and European unity. And recall that there have been many great women at the top of EU institutions and the most committed national governments throughout European history. Consider Louise Weiss, who opened the first sitting of the European Parliament in 1979 by speaking about peace, and Simone Weil, the president of that Parliament. Remember Sofia Corradi, the inventor of Erasmus, who taught millions of young people how to be and feel ‘European’ by attending shared educational programmes. Finally, we come to current events involving Ursula von der Leyen, Roberta Metsola, and Christine Lagarde at the ECB, and the figure of Emma Bonino remains highly relevant. Women in national governments, such as Angela Merkel in Germany for a long time and Giorgia Meloni in Italy today, have played a significant role in upholding Europe’s democratic values and principles, as well as its Atlantic alliances.

However, the discourse on Europe’s recovery is broader than the presence of women at the top of the EU. Above all, there must be a commitment to discussing how to actively utilise the soft power of women within the process of relaunching new ideas, languages, cultures of rights and responsibilities, horizons and reforms of participation and governance.
It is precisely this soft power that has special characteristics compared to the theories of Joseph Nye that have been applied to international relations for a good deal of time with a good degree of success. If culture, dialogue, confrontation and respect for diversity are strong values typical of democracies, they must be made available in international political confrontations.
Women’s soft power is sensitive to the ability to ‘take charge’ and the value of ‘care’. A soft power stemming from a civil and circular economy. A ‘generative economy’ and sustainable soft power. Soft power stemming from community values. This is quite the opposite of the aggressive, militarised, Darwinian and narcissistic politics that unfortunately dominate the contemporary world stage. We have written several times in this blog about the failures of narcissism, which is a myth of vanity, loneliness, impotence and death.
And then there were Martha Nussbaum‘s ideas on capabilities, namely the need to leverage education, health and a dignified quality of life. And the implications of a demographic that draws inspiration from the conditions of sustainable development and not from the primacy of the financial and technological power of finance and Big Tech. A more feminine Europe would be more attentive to people, not only in terms of gender differences and values, but also in terms of caring for the quality of life, the future, the  environment, cities and the family in its various historically assumed forms. These are cross-cutting topics on which literature, economic approaches and basic culture have women as key interlocutors. This is also because women use words such as kindness, love, attention, affection, understanding, dialogue, solidarity and recognition of the other more frequently and with greater relevance than the traditional male relationship lexicon. They have the tools to try to reform politics as the science and government of the city-state.

In short, I would like to give examples from everyday life and demonstrate the civil and personal qualities of Italian women. They have now broken through the ‘glass ceiling’ (although there is still much to be done), and they are more responsible, attentive and active in their professional lives than ever before. They preside over courts and universities, hold governmental, administrative and political responsibilities, lead companies (including large ones), direct and edit prestigious national newspapers and periodicals, manage important publishing houses, organise theatres and hold delicate public offices. They have also presided over RAI and other television and film institutions. They are scientists and researchers of international standing and have considerable influence in professional, intellectual and public spheres, competently and rigorously contributing to all major topics of public discourse. They read widely and write well, with original language and a deep focus on balanced judgement. Their gaze is competent, profound and ‘light’ (they are the best heirs of Italo Calvino) and is partly estranged from the traditional stylistic trappings of male power. They are sensitive to the relationships between economic issues and their social and personal repercussions. It is this gaze that serves to restore depth and humanity to Europe, and to guide the new generation of 20- and 30-year-olds between university and entry into the world of work.

There is a legacy to take in hand: Aldo Moro‘s final speech in parliament on 28 February 1978, a few days before he was kidnapped and killed by the Red Brigades. In it, he said: ‘ This country will not be saved; the season of rights and freedoms will prove ephemeral unless a new sense of duty is born’.
It is one of the finest examples of public discourse not only of the ‘leaden’ 1970s, but of the entire history of the Republic. Today, it must be reread with fresh eyes, especially by young people, who must study and delve into our history lucidly and critically. They should also bear in mind the lessons of two great women from that time: Tina Anselmi, a Christian Democrat and follower of Moro who was the first female minister in the history of the Republic, and Nilde Jotti, a Communist and the first long-serving president of the Chamber of Deputies.
Like all elders, I watch, remember and think about my grandchildren. I think about my granddaughters, Iolanda, Olivia and Sveva, (and yes, you too, little Emilio, before you say, ‘What about me?’). Not only do I think about them with tenderness, but I also feel a strong sense of responsibility towards them. What kind of democratic and civilised Europe are we creating for them, even with our ancient yet skilful hands?

There is an obstacle to overcome in order for this female contribution to have political agility and the necessary conditions to be realised: the gender gap. The choices to be made concern policies for birth, work, services and participation — good civil government.
The best newspapers have been writing about this issue for some time, but political, government and public investment decisions do not pay sufficient attention to it.
One recent survey in particular focuses on the status of women and was published in Il Quotidiano Nazionale (La Nazione, Il Resto del Carlino, Il Giorno) on 19 December, based on data from the University of Padua. The title is exemplary: Italy ‘is no country for mothers’. It documents how, in 2024, the number of births reached an all-time low of just under 370,000 and how, in 2025, this figure fell further still, with the average age at childbirth rising to 32.6 years. It also notes that ‘45.4% of women between the ages of 18 and 49 are childless’. And while motherhood is a right, not an obligation, and the absence of children should not be a social stigma, this data is heavily influenced by general working conditions, wages, services, and housing costs.

Other figures on gender inequality in the workplace show that 68.9% of women without children are employed, compared to 65.6% of mothers with one child and 60.1% of mothers with two or more children.
This is therefore a demographic issue with strong political implications. It also has discriminatory effects, contrary to the dictates of the Constitution. This issue must be addressed quickly.

The road leads back to Europe and the necessary empowerment of women. Next Generation EU, the largest European fund for growth, training and quality of life, has only partially met the expectations for which it was conceived, desired and financed by Parliament, with the EU Commission raising the necessary funds on the markets. Looking to the future, we need a stronger, more determined female voice. A more human one.

(Photo Getty Images)

Pirelli and its winter products have inspired successful and memorable communication campaigns, thanks to an effective blend of technical content and value-driven messages. Together, they have shaped an innovative and engaging narrative: the allure of a season defined by comfort, safety, and pleasure

“Why do these artists forget the snow and the mountains? The skis? The icicles hanging from the roofs?” At first glance, Bob Noorda‘s stylised drawing for the advertising campaign for the Inverno tyre raised some doubts. We know this from a handwritten note on the back of the sketch entitled “per l’inverno il pneumatico inverno” (the idea being: “For winter: the Winter tyre”) preserved in our Historical Archive and catalogued as “tempera and collage on card with acetate sheet, with lettering”. The work dates from 1954 and is among the first commissions Pirelli entrusted to the young Dutch-born graphic designer. It was created to promote Pirelli’s first winter tyre, the Inverno, launched in 1951 and distinguished by its herringbone tread pattern. The author of the note, whose identity remains unknown, would clearly have wanted more realistic elements, like those that appeared in the advertisements designed by Ezio Bonini in the same years. Noorda had only recently arrived in Milan and was part of a community of graphic artists and designers who approached advertising as a design discipline. Their aim was clear, instant communication, achieved through the recognisability of the graphic element.

In this sketch too, Noorda eliminates everything superfluous. Yet his essential style is by no means pure abstraction. The impeccably clean lines of the decidedly wintry tree echo the herringbone tread, conveying with striking clarity the tyre’s defining technological feature.

Pirelli would go on to commission a remarkable number of works from Noorda and appoint him as art director in 1961. The relationship between the Milanese company and the Dutch designer quickly evolved increasingly reflecting Pirelli’s values, including in communication: an embrace of innovation.

In the autumn of 1959, the launch of the Pirelli BS3 was an international event. A press conference at the Turin Motor Show — a veritable shrine of the auto industry at the time — was attended by the President of the Republic, Giovanni Gronchi. Coverage by leading newspapers around the world soon followed. The Pirelli BS3 was a tyre built around a carcass onto which three different tread rings could be mounted separately. It was perceived as a revolutionary invention, as we see in articles published in Rivista Pirelli no. 5 of 1959, and in the house organ Fatti e Notizie no. 10 of 1959. The project was launched by the engineer Carlo Barassi, then head of the Technological Office of Pirelli’s Tyre Technical Department at Milano Bicocca. During the particularly snowy winter of 1955–6, Barassi had revived an earlier invention by engineer Lugli that had never found practical application: a tyre in which carcass and tread were independent and interchangeable, vulcanised separately and held together solely by the pressure of inflation. In other words, “a tyre with a coat”.

From the outset, Ermanno Scopinich was involved in the communication campaign. It was he who created the evocative photographic and video shoot for the presentation, with the ice stadium in Cortina as its backdrop. The tyre’s technological advantages and its practical benefits for motorists are woven together in the ten-minute clip with feelings of comfort, driving pleasure and safety. The behind-the-scenes story of the product — its manufacturing processes and the expertise of skilled technicians — alternates with shots of skaters chasing an Alfa Romeo Giulietta, which remains steady on the ice thanks to the almost magical tread design of the BS3. Once again, it is Pirelli’s vision of winter that comes to the fore, balancing technological innovation with the promise of a new horizon: a season to be enjoyed to the full.

The third “winter tale” that we tell in this article centres on the hot-water bottle, Pirelli’s very first and long-standing product, created to offer comfort and protection from the cold. Listed in the catalogue as early as 1880, it inspired sketches and advertising campaigns in the 1950s, created by renowned artists such as Lora Lamm, Raymond Savignac and the Pagot brothers, many of whose works are now preserved in our Historical Archive. Yet Pirelli’s narrative has always been told in different ways and across multiple channels. By speaking different languages, it has reached different audiences, on different levels of meaning.

If we decide to turn our attention to the hot water bottle, not from the point of view of advertising but from that of journalism, we can take a look at the article by Marise Ferro published in Rivista Pirelli no. 5, 1949 “Quando l’anima è intirizzita” (“When the soul is numb”). This short autobiographical piece builds a world of meanings around the hot-water bottle, transforming it from just another useful object into an object of desire. It opens with a remark she remembers (“I have a friend who, when she is in pain, lies down and says: ‘You suffer less lying down!’ Then she adds: ‘If only I had a hot-water bottle!’”). And it continues with reflections (“The soul is often numb, as we all know; not for nothing do we live without knowing why… a hot-water bottle soothes our moral suffering as it does our physical pain.”) and memories (“My wartime winters were made even more cruel by the impossibility of achieving that minimum warmth needed to have, at the very least, a warm hand while I wrote…”). Through a chain of associations, the text arrives at a shared present that unites author and reader: “Now the war is over, Europe is in pieces, we are all completely broken and terribly poor, yet livelier than ever, and with rubber hot-water bottles of every size, every colour, every quality. How beautiful they are! In the shop windows they catch the eye even of the most distracted passer-by. The green one? The red one? The black one, as glossy as anthracite? The only difficulty is choosing…”. The image of shop windows with colourful Pirelli hot-water bottles tells the story of a season in search of light-heartedness and a measure of comfort after the years of war. This finds a contrasting yet harmonious counterpart in the autumnal landscape that closes this “ode to the hot-water bottle”, leaving us with a sense of absence, and the desire to have one of our own. “The mists are already drifting magnificently into Milan… bringing the fairy-tale of the countryside, the scent of still water, the incomparable autumnal signature of Lombardy.”

A legal analysis of the Olivetti experiment is published

The aim of ‘L’impegno di Olivetti per il Mezzogiorno: il diritto e la “Comunità’, la pianificazione e la fabbrica di Pozzuoli’ (Olivetti’s commitment to Southern Italy: the law and the “Community”, planning and the Pozzuoli factory), a study by Andrea Zauri (University of Salerno) recently published in Iura & Legal Systems,  is to examine Adriano Olivetti’s corporate culture and experience in Southern Italy from historical, economic and legal perspectives.  This provides an interesting point of view and is useful for gaining a better understanding of an entrepreneur who is held up as a model by many, yet continues to be rediscovered.

Zauri’s investigation begins,  capturing in a few lines the connection to be explored: the relationship between the legal and social dimensions of a significant experience, such as that experienced at Olivetti’s factory.  ‘What is this community factory?’ It is ‘a workplace where justice reigns,  progress dominates, beauty shines, and love, charity, and tolerance are not just empty words’.

Zauri recalls that, for Olivetti, the concept of ‘community’ formed the core of society and was the foundation for all social experiments.  The community and the factory were inseparable, based on the experiences of Ivrea and Pozzuoli.  It was not simply a utopia, but a practical result of Olivetti’s actions:  an ideal workplace and a reality. Zauri asks himself,  ‘What further purpose could be attributed to industrial work?  Was it possible to aspire to better conditions, not only economic ones, as a result of time spent in the factory?  Could a factory be included among the factors that improve individuals’ lives, as well as their social, industrial and territorial contexts?”

The article therefore analyses the relationship between law and economics through the example of the factory opened in Pozzuoli by Adriano Olivetti, and follows the implementation of the fundamental right set out in our Constitution.

Although Andrea Zauri’s research is not always easy to read, it is important because it offers a fresh perspective on a well-explored subject, providing a unique interpretation of Olivetti’s production culture.

L’impegno di Olivetti per il Mezzogiorno: il diritto e la “Comunità”, la pianificazione e la fabbrica di Pozzuoli

Andrea Zauri

Iura & Legal Systems – 2025/4, B (5): 62-72

A book that provides a good summary of the new borders and new relationships of exchange and power

Businesses are not monads, but components of a dense and complex network of relationships that is constantly changing.  They have always been this way,  and even more so today.  They are production organisations that are permeable to external and internal stimuli, in which women and men must continually make decisions to improve their destiny. Having the correct information on which to base your business decisions is important and often decisive.  For this reason, reading ‘Linee invisibili. Geografie del potere tra confini e mercati’ (Invisible lines: geographies of power between borders and markets), written with care and wisdom by Luca Picotti, is therefore a valuable undertaking.

The book, which is just over 140 pages long and has four chapters, is based on the following observation:  if the economics of trade still apply in a world organised into states, borders, and relative jurisdictions, then a new perspective, that of legal geography, can provide insight into the mechanisms of trade relations during a period characterised by various fractures. From value chains and duties to trade triangulations, financial sanctions, multinationals and digital infrastructure,  everything moves across a complex chessboard criss-crossed by invisible lines. Therefore, we need to understand where these lines are, when they are activated and how they break down and shape reality.

The path towards a greater understanding of reality and its changes begins with a summary of ‘what has happened in recent years’, specifically ‘globalisation under siege’. Readers are invited to consider the ‘complexity of the world’, and thus the discrepancies between theory and international practice. Picotti then considers two major themes.  The first is conflicts that have taken the form of economic wars. The second is those arising from new technologies.

Luca Picotti’s book aims to provide readers with the information they need to understand reality,  and it certainly achieves this goal.

Linee invisibili. Geografie del potere tra confini e mercati

Luca Picotti

Egea, 2025