Andrea Rapini – författare

Despite the symbolic capital and the global commercial success of the Vespa scooter, there is no academic book dealing with its history, only literature produced by the company itself or by scooter enthusiasts. The origins of the Vespa are shrouded in mist, entrusted more to myth than to historical truth. Based on lengthy research carried out in Piaggio’s historical archives and on an interdisciplinary approach, this volume aims to fill this gap. It shows how the Vespa took techniques from the most advanced aeronautical industries in the world, adapting and hybridizing them in an original way, and how the company disseminated its models in the transnational social space.

Despite the symbolic capital and the global commercial success of the Vespa scooter, there is no academic book dealing with its history, only literature produced by the company itself or by scooter enthusiasts. The origins of the Vespa are shrouded in mist, entrusted more to myth than to historical truth. Based on lengthy research carried out in Piaggio’s historical archives and on an interdisciplinary approach, this volume aims to fill this gap. It shows how the Vespa took techniques from the most advanced aeronautical industries in the world, adapting and hybridizing them in an original way, and how the company disseminated its models in the transnational social space.

This book offers a concise and original history of anti-fascism through the Italian case, tracing its evolution from its origins in opposition to Fascism to its contemporary transformations and crisis, while reinterpreting it as a dynamic and generative tradition rather than a fixed historical legacy.Readers will gain a deeper understanding of anti-fascism as a complex and evolving political, social, and cultural phenomenon, as well as critical tools to interpret current debates on democracy, the far right, and political memory in Italy and beyond. The book shows how anti-fascism has continually redefined itself across different historical phases – from the Resistance to postwar social movements, decolonisation, and contemporary politics – highlighting its capacity to generate new meanings and practices. It addresses pressing questions about the relationship between today’s political actors, including Giorgia Meloni’s government, and the anti-fascist foundations of the Italian Republic, offering insights that resonate far beyond the national context. Combining historical analysis with a broad interpretive perspective, the book challenges conventional narratives that reduce anti-fascism to a closed chapter of the past, instead presenting it as a living framework for understanding democracy and social justice. By engaging with themes such as nationalism, racism, and the persistence of authoritarian tendencies, it equips readers with a critical lens to analyse both historical continuities and present-day transformations.The book will appeal to scholars and students of modern Italian history, political history, anti-fascism studies, European studies, political theory, and contemporary politics. It will also appeal to general readers interested in the history of Fascism and anti-fascism, as well as those seeking to understand current political developments in Italy and the broader global rise of the far right.

This book offers a concise and original history of anti-fascism through the Italian case, tracing its evolution from its origins in opposition to Fascism to its contemporary transformations and crisis, while reinterpreting it as a dynamic and generative tradition rather than a fixed historical legacy.Readers will gain a deeper understanding of anti-fascism as a complex and evolving political, social, and cultural phenomenon, as well as critical tools to interpret current debates on democracy, the far right, and political memory in Italy and beyond. The book shows how anti-fascism has continually redefined itself across different historical phases – from the Resistance to postwar social movements, decolonisation, and contemporary politics – highlighting its capacity to generate new meanings and practices. It addresses pressing questions about the relationship between today’s political actors, including Giorgia Meloni’s government, and the anti-fascist foundations of the Italian Republic, offering insights that resonate far beyond the national context. Combining historical analysis with a broad interpretive perspective, the book challenges conventional narratives that reduce anti-fascism to a closed chapter of the past, instead presenting it as a living framework for understanding democracy and social justice. By engaging with themes such as nationalism, racism, and the persistence of authoritarian tendencies, it equips readers with a critical lens to analyse both historical continuities and present-day transformations.The book will appeal to scholars and students of modern Italian history, political history, anti-fascism studies, European studies, political theory, and contemporary politics. It will also appeal to general readers interested in the history of Fascism and anti-fascism, as well as those seeking to understand current political developments in Italy and the broader global rise of the far right.

This book traces the origins, life and death of Administrative Science in Italy as an academic discipline between the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. It does so by combining the study of ideas, institutional history, intellectual history and social history. The Faculty of Law first introduced Administrative Science in 1875, with the aim of providing the elite with the necessary tools to distribute wealth more equally, to take care of the population and, thus, to make the young Italian State more legitimate in the eyes of the emerging masses. Law and social sciences were merged with the aim of increasing reforms, including that of creating a State of Happiness for all citizens. Throughout its 70-year existence, Administrative Science was deprived of its contents and scientific independence, and academically overshadowed by Administrative and Public law. Finally, although the liberal elites discarded the reformer project of Administrative Science even before Fascism turned everything upside down, most of the original traits of this knowledge were absorbed into Fascist corporate and totalitarian structures.