The Italian colonial empire collapsed with the Second World War, much earlier than that of the great European powers. Paradoxically, it was precisely this ‘early’ decolonization that allowed Italy to engage, on a political and diplomatic level, no longer in terms of subjection but of partnership. The creation of the Euro-African association, provided for by the Treaties of Rome in 1957, was an opportunity to play a bridging role and acquire unprecedented fame in the newly independent countries. The Catholic Church also interacted with these prospects. The openings of the Second Vatican Council – in which a visible African representation participated for the first time – and the attention shown by Pope Paul VI with his trips to Africa, gave a decisive push to Italy’s African projections. In this context, new subjects of civil society came into play, such as Catholic and lay associations and missionary networks, which contributed to the maturation, in Italian society, of a sensitivity and a varied solidarity drive. All this ended in 1989: the end of the bipolar world and, on the internal level, the dissolution of political structures and the growing immigration phenomenon, opened a season of strong introspective and ‘Afro-pessimistic’ pressures. Thus, that unitive projection that had animated visions and strategies on the political and collective level cracked, isolating Italy and isolating Italy and conditioning the developments of a long-term historical legacy.

L’impero coloniale italiano è crollato con la Seconda guerra mondiale, molto prima rispetto a quello delle grandi potenze europee. Paradossalmente, proprio questa decolonizzazione ‘precoce’ ha consentito all’Italia un impegno, sul piano politico e diplomatico, in termini non più di soggezione ma di partenariato. La creazione dell’associazione euro-africana, prevista dai Trattati di Roma del 1957, è stata un’occasione per giocare un ruolo ponte e acquisire una fama inedita presso i paesi di nuova indipendenza. A interagire con queste prospettive fu anche la Chiesa cattolica. Le aperture del Concilio Vaticano II – cui partecipò per la prima volta una visibile rappresentanza africana – e le attenzioni manifestate da papa Paolo VI con i suoi viaggi in Africa, impressero una spinta decisiva alle proiezioni africane dell’Italia. In questo quadro entrarono in gioco nuovi soggetti della società civile, come l’associazionismo cattolico e laico e le reti missionarie, che contribuirono alla maturazione, nella società italiana, di una sensibilità e di un variegato slancio solidaristico. Tutto questo è finito con il 1989: la fine del mondo bipolare e, sul piano interno, la dissoluzione di assetti politici e il crescente fenomeno immigratorio, hanno aperto una stagione di forti spinte introspettive e ‘afropessimiste’. Si incrina, così, quella proiezione unitiva che aveva animato visioni e strategie sul piano politico e a livello collettivo, isolando l’Italia e isolando l’Italia e condizionando gli sviluppi di un’eredità storica di lungo periodo.

Borruso, P., L’Italia e l’AfricaStrategie e visioni dell’età postcoloniale (1945-1989), Laterza, Roma-Bari 2024: 296 [https://hdl.handle.net/10807/306520]

L’Italia e l’Africa Strategie e visioni dell’età postcoloniale (1945-1989)

Borruso, Paolo
Primo
2024

Abstract

The Italian colonial empire collapsed with the Second World War, much earlier than that of the great European powers. Paradoxically, it was precisely this ‘early’ decolonization that allowed Italy to engage, on a political and diplomatic level, no longer in terms of subjection but of partnership. The creation of the Euro-African association, provided for by the Treaties of Rome in 1957, was an opportunity to play a bridging role and acquire unprecedented fame in the newly independent countries. The Catholic Church also interacted with these prospects. The openings of the Second Vatican Council – in which a visible African representation participated for the first time – and the attention shown by Pope Paul VI with his trips to Africa, gave a decisive push to Italy’s African projections. In this context, new subjects of civil society came into play, such as Catholic and lay associations and missionary networks, which contributed to the maturation, in Italian society, of a sensitivity and a varied solidarity drive. All this ended in 1989: the end of the bipolar world and, on the internal level, the dissolution of political structures and the growing immigration phenomenon, opened a season of strong introspective and ‘Afro-pessimistic’ pressures. Thus, that unitive projection that had animated visions and strategies on the political and collective level cracked, isolating Italy and isolating Italy and conditioning the developments of a long-term historical legacy.
2024
Italiano
Monografia o trattato scientifico
Laterza
Borruso, P., L’Italia e l’AfricaStrategie e visioni dell’età postcoloniale (1945-1989), Laterza, Roma-Bari 2024: 296 [https://hdl.handle.net/10807/306520]
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Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/10807/306520
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