Meridionalismo , the crisis of liberalism, and the advent of Marxism in post-risorgimento Naples

Author: Richard Drake

Source: The European Legacy, Volume 9, Number 4, August 2004 , pp. 481-502(22)

Publisher: Routledge, part of the Taylor & Francis Group

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Abstract:

For an ideology described by Marx himself as one that was suitable only for advanced societies, backward Naples ironically served as the point of entry for Marxism in Italy. As theorists and activists, the great Neapolitan Marxists--Antonio Labriola, Carlo Cafiero, Arturo Labriola, and Amadeo Bordiga--completely dominated the initial stages of the movement. For an understanding of the severe socio-economic conditions that did much to make Naples the incubator of radicalism in post-Risorgimento Italy, the literature of the meridionalisti (southern reformers) remains indispensable. Under attack on both sides of the Atlantic by a new generation of historians who admirably seek to produce a nuanced history of the South by rising above the stereotypes associated with a one-dimensional image of the "Southern Problem," the meridionalisti require supplementing today as historians. Nevertheless, the reaction against them has been too extreme. They remain invaluable eye-witnesses to the conditions and events that formed the historical context of Marxism's momentous appearance in Italy.

Document Type: Research article

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/1084877043000281990

Publication date: 2004-08-01

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