Volume 25 // New Balance and New Perspectives

This volume starts with the pages dedicated to the “years of lead terrorism” and finishes with a vision of new perspectives. The analysis of the subversion is closely connected to the analysis of a “national solidarity experience” and of “historic compromise” between the Christian democracy and the Italian Communist party which was supposed to allow the country to develop economically in a more harmonious way, to renew its social premises and to begin a democratic process. An appropriate space is given to the political challenges of these recent years of the Italian history, from the electoral competitions to the activities of the regions that have not been taken into account for long, and are now fulfilling  the Constitution the way they are supposed to, offering new participation  channels to the citizens. Faithful to general guidelines of the “History of the Italian society”, i.e., having the goal of connecting and explaining the political events and the most important  economical and social movements, the pages of this volume insist on aspects and central points of the Italian recent past, such as trade union crisis and recovery, production development in the middle of inflation and stagnation, mass media spread and their connection with the intellectuals, computerising industrial process, working class losing its central place in the society and services industry developing in an advanced way.

SUMMARY

Years of terrorism
Donatella Della Porta

Parties from the “referendum” to the failure of the “historic compromise”
Francesca Taddei

Trade union crisis of the years 1972-1985
Adolfo Pepe

Church and Catholics in Italy after the Concilium
Carlo Felice Casula, Giovanni Tassani

Electoral competition
Rita Pasquini

Regional experience
Loredana Leoni

Planning in Italy
Gualtiero Tamburini

Inflation and growth in Italy
Gualtiero Tamburini

Computerising process
Paola M. Manacorda

Intellectuals and mass media
Marcello Flores