Giacomo Parrinello, Fault Lines. Earthquakes and Urbanism in Modern Italy (original) (raw)

Environmental Humanities and Italy

Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Environmental Science

Does something like "Italian environmental humanities" exist? If so, what makes an Italian approach to this multifaceted field of inquiry so different from the more consolidated Anglo-American tradition? At least until the early 21st century, Italian academic institutions have maintained established disciplinary boundaries and have continued to produce siloed forms of knowledge. New and more flexible forms of scholarly collaboration have also not been traditionally supported at the national level, as political decisions regarding curricular updates and funding opportunities have been unable to foster interdisciplinarity and innovative approaches to knowledge production. However, an underlying current of environmental awareness and action has a strong and long-standing presence in Italy. After all, Italy is where St. Francis wrote The Canticle of Creatures, with its non-hierarchical vision of the world, which then inspired the papal encyclical Laudato si (2015). Italy is also where Ambrogio Lorenzetti's fresco The Allegory and the Effects of Good Government in the City and in the Country (1337-1339) already "pre-ecologically" reflected on the relationship between nature and culture, on the effect of political decisions on our surroundings, and on the impact of local environments on the well-being (as well as the malaise) of their inhabitants. Additionally, Italy is among the few countries in the world whose constitution lists specific laws aimed at protecting its landscapes, biodiversity, and ecosystems in addition to its cultural heritage, as stated in a recent addendum to articles 9 and 41. However, Italy also experienced an abrupt, violent process of development, modernization, and industrialization that radically transformed its urban, rural, and coastal territories after World War II. Many of its landscapes, once iconic and picturesque, have become polluted, toxic, or the outcome of contested, violent histories. And the effects of globalization are materially affecting its ecologies, meaning that Italy is also exposed to constant risks (earthquakes, floods, landslides, volcanic eruptions) and presents geo-morphological features that situate it at the very center of planetary climate change (both atmospheric and sociopolitical) and migration patterns. Considering this, thinking about Italy from an environmental humanities (EH) perspective and, in turn, about the EH in the context of Italy, highlights the interconnections between the local and the global and, in the process, enriches the EH debate.

OPEN ACCESS Journal for the History of Environment and Society, Volume 1 / 2016 Front matter & Table of Contents

Journal for the History of Environment and Society, 2016

The Journal aims to be a leading on-line and open-access magazine that covers various aspects of environmental history in the broadest sense of the word. Emphasis is upon studies which focus on the historical relations between environmental changes and the social-historical context. Interregional and international comparative articles are getting special attention. Contributions should be of high scientific quality. Because of the interdisciplinary nature of the discipline, papers should be easy-to-read for all disciplines of the field, which ensures their accessibility to a wider audience as well. To ensure scientific quality, JHES follows a strict double-blind peer-review procedure. Geographically, the Journal is primarily – but not exclusively - focusing on NW-Europe including areas that had historical relations with that broad region. Articles with a more general geographic scope can also be published in the Journal. The articles are published in English, French or German. Articles in French and German must have an extended English summary and should be introduced by a bilingual (English and French or German) abstract. In the latter case, the subtitles from the illustrations need to be bilingual as well.

Italian Environmental Historiography in the New Millennium: Four 'Short Histories

Global environment, 2019

Between 2004 and 2015, after a decade of research and publications, four books on environmental history were published in Italy. The word 'short' appears in all their titles. Starting from this curious coincidence, this essay analyses, via the use of such books, the way through which the new historical paradigm has been addressed in Italy. It focuses on a wide range of issues, including epistemological definition, historical periodisation, fields of research, and the relationships between environmental history and other areas of history and natural sciences.

Environmental History in Italy. Some considerations on historiography

Storia e Futuro, 2019

Questo articolo presenta una breve rassegna della storiografia storico-ambientale, un settore di studio che stenta ad affermarsi all'interno dell'accademia italiana. Dopo un breve periodo (tra la seconda metà degli anni '90 del Novecento e il primo decennio di questo secolo) in cui sembrava prendere forza, la storia dell'ambiente ha perso slancio ed oggi è divenuta una sorta di periferia storiografica. Il saggio discute alcuni problemi epistemologici e di metodo che, secondo l'autore, contribuiscono alla marginalizzazione della materia: la difficile ibridazione dei saperi tecnico-scientifico e storico-sociali; la prevalenza di un approccio ecocentrico, fortemente ideologizzato; l'esiguità di istituzioni interessate all'approccio storico-ambientale e la difficoltà a reperire le fonti e i materiali su cui lavorare.

The historian, the activist, the ecocritic, and the writer: an undisciplined debate on the Italian environmental history

It is difficult to define what belongs exclusively to Environmental History (EH), and even more what belongs to Italian Environmental History (IEH). This discipline often includes research concerned with different chronological periods, issues, approaches, and methods. This plurality of perspectives reflects the varied and often contrasting labels attached to those studies. This plurality of paths and experiences should not be considered a problem, but an opportunity to overcome the limitations of the current hyperspecialized structuring of research. For this reason, we have chosen to refer to the multidisciplinary area of the environmental humanities as the common ground. On the other hand, we have chosen a new way to present IEH to an international public: the interview and, especially in the last part, the multidisciplinary and hybrid dialogue

Italian Environmental Literature: An Anthology

Barron, Patrick and Anna Re, eds. Italian Environmental Literature: An Anthology. New York: Italica Press, 2003. --------------------- Italian Environmental Literature An Anthology Edited by Patrick Barron and Anna Re Foreword by John Elder Preface by Rebecca West ITALY has always presented itself in the modern Anglophone mind as the quintessential urban society: art, style and high culture; ancient, medieval and Renaissance cities; modern urban blight, crime and immigration. Yet Italy has perhaps the longest and most continuous tradition of environmental thinking and writing, stretching from the bucolic ideal of the ancient Romans, through the religious stewardship of creation enshrined by Benedict of Nursia in the sixth century in the monastic movement, to the nature mysticism of the high Middle Ages symbolized by Francis of Assisi. IN THE MODERN ERA Italy took its place very early on alongside the American conservation movement, and by the later 20th century it boasted a fully aware — and politically active — environmental movement. THIS VOLUME brings together, for the first time — in Italy or for an English-speaking audience — a collection of over 40 authors from this deep and broad tradition of Italian environmental writing. Poetry and prose, the essay, the political and economic tract, and the new arts are all represented in this collection. THE AUTHORS include: Corrado Alvaro Daria Menicanti Mariella Bettarini Eugenio Montale Virginio Bettini Giuseppe Moretti Giuseppe Bonaviri Giorgio Nebbia Italo Calvino Luciana Notari Dino Campana Anna Maria Ortese Carlo Cassola Giovanni Pascoli Antonio Cederna Pier Paolo Pasolini Gianni Celati Fulco Pratesi Gabriele D’Annunzio Salvatore Quasimodo Laura Conti Nuto Revelli Giuseppe Dessì Monica Sarsini Danilo Dolci Massimo Scalia Corrado Govoni Carlo Sgorlon Tonino Guerra Ignazio Silone Jolanda Insana Mario Rigoni Stern Carlo Levi Studio Azzurro Nicola Licciardello Alfredo Todisco Loredana Lucarini Giuseppe Ungaretti Gianna Manzini Andrea Zanzotto. Gianni Mattioli

The state and the future of the Earth, planetary and environmental sciences, especially in Italy

RENDICONTI LINCEI, 2008

A critical review of the health state of the Earth sciences is carried out for the world and for Italy, with special regard to both their traditional branches and those recently developed to address the preservation of the Italian environment and cultural heritage. Past and recent achievements by Lincei members who contributed to the progress of the Earth sciences vision to changing public opinion on the impact of natural and human actions on the environment are briefly discussed. The possible contribution of renovated "Rendiconti Lincei" to distributing internationally the present best achievements by Italian Earth scientists and by foreign scientists working on Italian soil is also analyzed.