Historians have frequently portrayed Italian anarchism as a
marginal social movement that was doomed to succumb to its own
ideological contradictions once Italian society modernized.
Challenging such conventional interpretations, Nunzio Pernicone
provides a sympathetic but critical treatment of Italian anarchism
that traces the movement's rise, transformation, and decline from
1864 to 1892. Based on original archival research, his book depicts
the anarchists as unique and fascinating revolutionaries who were
an important component of the Italian socialist left throughout the
nineteenth century and beyond.
Anarchism in Italy arose under the influence of the Russian
revolutionary Bakunin, triumphed over Marxism as the dominant form
of early Italian socialism, and supplanted Mazzinianism as Italy's
revolutionary vanguard. After forming a national federation of the
Anti-Authoritarian International in 1872, the Italian anarchists
attempted several insurrections, but their organization was
suppressed. By the 1880s the movement had become atomized,
ideologically extreme, and increasingly isolated from the masses.
Its foremost leader, Errico Malatesta, attempted repeatedly to
revitalize the anarchists as a revolutionary force, but internal
dissension and government repression stifled every resurgence and
plunged the movement into decline. Even after their exclusion from
the Italian Socialist Party in 1892, the anarchists remained an
intermittently active and influential element on the Italian
socialist left. As such, they continued to be feared and persecuted
by every Italian government.
Originally published in 1993.
The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand
technology to again make available previously out-of-print books
from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press.
These paperback editions preserve the original texts of these
important books while presenting them in durable paperback
editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly
increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the
thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since
its founding in 1905.
General
Is the information for this product incomplete, wrong or inappropriate?
Let us know about it.
Does this product have an incorrect or missing image?
Send us a new image.
Is this product missing categories?
Add more categories.
Review This Product
No reviews yet - be the first to create one!