Piero Gobetti and the Politics of Liberal Revolution PDF
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Italian and ItalianAmerican Studies StanislaoG.Pugliese HofstraUniversity SeriesEditor This publishinginitiative seeksto bring the latest scholarshipin Italian and Italian American history, lit erature,cinema,and culturalstudies toalargeaudienceofspecialists,general readers,and students.I&IAS willfeatureworkson modernItaly(Renaissancetothepresent)and ItalianAmericancultureand societyby establishedscholarsaswellasnewvoicesintheacademy.Thisendeavorwillhelptoshapetheevolvingfields ofItalian and Italian American Studies byreemphasizingthe connectionbetween the two.The following editorialboardofesteemedseniorscholarsareadvisorstotheserieseditor. REBECCAWEST JOSEPHINEGATTUSOHENDIN UniversityofChicago NewYorkUniversity FREDGARDAPHE PHILIPV.CANNISTRAROt StonyBrookUniversity QueensCollegeand theGraduateSchool,CUNY ALESSANDROPORTELLI UniversitadiRoma"LaSapienza" QueerItalia:Same-SexDesireinItalianLiteratureandFilm editedbyGaryP.Cestaro,July2004 FrankSinatra:History,Identity,andItalianAmericanCulture editedbyStanislaoG.Pugliese,October2004 TheLegacyofPrimoLevi editedbyStanislaoG.Pugliese,December2004 ItalianColonialism editedbyRuthBen-GhiatandMiaFuller,July2005 Mussolini'sRome:RebuildingtheEternalCity BordenW.Painter Ir.,July2005 RepresentingSaccoandVanzetti editedbyJeromeH.DelamaterandMaryAnneTrasciatti,September2005 CarloTresca:PortraitofaRebel NunzioPernicone,October2005 ItalyintheAgeofPinocchio:ChildrenandDangerintheLiberalEra CarlIpsen,April2006 TheEmpireofStereotypes:GermainedeStaelandtheIdeaofItaly RobertCasillo,May2006 RaceandtheNationinLiberalItaly, 1861-1911:Meridionalism,Empire,andDiaspora AIizaS.Wong,October2006 WomeninItaly, 1946-1960:AnInterdisciplinaryStudy edited byPenelopeMorris,October2006 ANewGuidetoItalianCinema CarloCelliandMargaCottino-Iones,November2006 DebatingDivorceinItaly:MarriageandtheMakingofModernItalians, 1860-1974 MarkSeymour,December2006 HumanNatureinRuralTuscany:AnEarlyModernHistory GregoryHanlon,March2007 TheMissingItalianNuremberg:CulturalAmnesiaandPostwarPolitics MicheleBattini,September2007 AssassinationsandMurderinModernItaly:TransformationsinSocietyandCulture editedbyStephen Gundleand LuciaRinaldi,October2007 PieroGobettiandthePoliticsofLiberalRevolution JamesMartin,December2008 Piero Gobetti and the Politics of Liberal Revolution James Martin palgrave macmillan * PIERO GOBETTI AND THE POLITICS OF LIBERAL REVOLUTION Copyright © James Martin, 2008. Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 2008 978-0-230-6027 4-8 All rights reserved. First published in 2008 by PALGRAVE MACMILLAN® in the United States-a division of St. Martin's Press LLC, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10010. Where this book is distributed in the UK, Europe and the rest of the world, this is by Palgrave Macmillan, a division of Macmillan Publishers Limited, registered in England, company number 785998, of Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 6XS. Palgrave Macmillan is the global academic imprint of the above companies and has companies and representatives throughout the world. Palgrave® and Macmillan® are registered trademarks in the United States, the United Kingdom, Europe and other countries. ISBN 978-1-349-37105-1 ISBN 978-0-230-61686-8 (eBook) DOI 10.1057/9780230616868 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Martin, James, 1968- Piero Gobetti and the politics of liberal revolution I James Martin. p. cm.-(Italian & Italian American Studies) Includes bibliographical references and index. I. Gobetti, Piero, 1901-1926-Political and social views. 2. Italy-Politics and government-1914-1945. 3. Liberalism-Italy-History-20th century. 4. Anti-fascist movements-Italy-History-20th century. 5. Gobetti, Piero, 1901-1926-Influence. I. Title. DG575.G6M37 2009 945.091092-dc22 [B] 2008021590 A catalogue record of the book is available from the British Library. Design by Scribe Inc. First edition: December 2008 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Transferred to Digital Printing 2011 ForSusan Contents Acknowledgments IX Introduction LiberalismandtheItalianCrisis 13 2 IdealismandRenewal 31 3 LibertyandDiscipline:Gramsciandthe Factory 49 CouncilMovement 4 Liberal Revolution:TowardaNew Elite 67 5 ContestingFascism,DefendingLiberalism 89 6 PoliticizingLiberalism:Gobetti'sItalianLegacy III 7 LibertyandConflict:An "Agonistic"Liberalism 135 Afterword 155 Notes 159 Bibliography 193 Index 203 Acknowledgments Althoughitcanoften feellikesolitaryconfinement,doingresearchisnever anentirelyisolatedactivity.Thisbookowesitsexistencetonumerouskinds ofsupportthatIwouldliketo recognize here. lowealargedebt ofthanks toanumberofindividualsand organizationsinItaly,theUnitedKingdom, and the UnitedStates,manyofwhom providedinformation,wrote refer ences,read earlydrafts,andput up with some faltering spoken Italian for longerthanmightbe thoughtfair. On the Italian side, I would like to express my gratitude to Franca Ranghino,Pietro Polito,andallthe staffatthe CentroStudi Piero Gobetti inTurinfortheirgenerousassistanceoverseveralyearsinmakingavailable all kinds of materials byand about Gobetti. Also in Turin and deserving ofthanksisthe staffofthe libraryat the FondazioneLuigiEinaudi.David Bidusa and the staffofthe Bibliotecha Feltrinelli in Milan kindlyassisted myinquiriesthere. Iamgrateful,too,toProfessorMassimo L.Salvadorifor some usefulsuggestionsearlyon inmyresearch. IntheUnitedKingdomandUnitedStates,thanksareduetoRichardBel lamy,TerrellCarver,DavidFisher,MichaelFreeden,RichardGrayson,Sonja Grussendorf,MarcLefebvre,CarlLevy,and StanPugliese.Ishouldalsolike to acknowledge two sources of financial assistance:aresearch award from the University of London in 2004 and a British Academy Small Research Grantin 2005.The ResearchOfficeat Goldsmithsdeservescredit, too,for thespeedyprocessingofvariousapplications,asdoesthestaffofGoldsmiths Library for the silent but essential procurement of texts.Earlyversions of some of the material here were presented at seminars and conferences in Chicago,Manchester,and Nottingham.Iam grateful to the participantsat these events for their comments. Last,Chris Chappell at Palgraveoversaw the finalstagesofthebook'sproduction with awelcome,steadyhand. Mychildren,EsmeandLuis,remainedcheerfullyoblivioustothisstudy but they grew up in such remarkable waysduring its evolution that they seem an essential part ofit. Finally,nothing would have happened at all withoutthesupport,criticism,and inestimable courageofSusanLapworth, x ACKNOWLEDGMENTS to whom this book isdedicated. Shehas contributed more than Icareto saytoinkeepingmegoingand loweher.Lots. Alltranslationsaremyown,expectwhereotherwisestated. Iam grate fulto Giulio Einaudi editore and Editori Riuniti for permission to quote from thecollectedworksofGobetti,Gramsci,Togliattiandvarious others. ImagescourtesyofArchivofotograficodelCentrostudi PieroGobetti. Introduction Piero Gobetti has been described as"one of the most remarkable fig ures in twentieth-century Italian culture;' someone who can right fullybe understood as"a political thinker of classicstature,"!Yet outside ofhisnativeItaly,Gobetti isvirtually unknown.InAmericaand the restof Europe,precious littleiswrittenofhim orofhisideas.Justwho,then,was thisfigureand what accounts forsuchexuberantpraise?Ashortsummary might begintoclarifymatters. Gobetti (1901-26) belonged to ageneration ofEuropeanliberalswho, in the earlydecades of the twentieth century, witnessed the grand ideals of the previous century-individual liberty, parliamentary government, and gradual social progress-collapsing in ruins, trampled beneath the advance of the newer,more aggressiveprograms ofcommunism and fas cism.A journalist, editor, and intellectual, Gobetti was himself both an observer and narratorofliberalism'srapid declinein the wakeofthe First WorldWar.Unlikean older,more warygeneration,however,he hopedto latchon to populardiscontentwith parliamentarypoliticsand liberalval ues,not to affirm their redundancy, but to radicallyrenew liberalism and welditto mass-based politics. Stylinghimselfa"revolutionaryliberal;'Gobetti alliedhis ideasto the advance of the workers' movement in Italy. For him,liberalism was not simply anarrow doctrine of individual rights, freetrade, and parliamen tary institutions. Rather,itwasan inclusiveethic ofliberation based on a struggle against all"transcendent" beliefsand imposed, hierarchical sys tems.Gobettithusassociatedliberalismwithrevolutionarymovementslike the RussianBolsheviksand thefactory councilsofhishometown,Turin. Gobetti's"heretical"liberalism,expoundedfrom 1922inhisjournalLa RivoluzioneLiberale (LiberalRevolution), sethim far apart from the pre dominantlyconservativeliberalswhodominatedparliamentarypoliticsin prefascistItaly.Byemphasizingthe role ofsocialmovements and conflict ingeneratingand promotingnewexperiencesofliberty,Gobetti soughtto challengethepoliticsofcompromiseand eliteaccommodationthathad,in hisview,narrowedtheappealofItalianliberalism.Hisobjectivewastosal vageliberalismfrom thebourgeois liberalswhowereincreasinglyattracted 2 PIEROGOBEnlANDTHEPOLITICSOFLIBERALREVOLUTION toMussolini'scallforareturnto"order:'Youngliberals,heargued,needed to recapturethevitalityoflibertyasanidealgroundedinsocialreality,not asetofabstract valuestobeimposedon the world. Onlyifunderstoodas akind of"religiosity,"afaithinhumanity'scapacitytotransformtheworld and renewitsunderstandingoffreedom, heargued,would liberalism sur vivethe disastersthen confrontingit. Sadly,Gobetti himselfdid not survivethe riseoffascism.Hedied tragi callyyoung, atthe ageof twenty-five,followingabeating byfascistthugs. Hiscareerasapublic intellectual and critic had lasted amere sevenyears. Yet in this time,Gobetti had worked tirelesslyto popularize and develop his radical liberalperspective.Hehad gatheredaroundhim an impressive array of talented people. He had created his own publishing house and overseen a variety of books and journals in cultural and historical criti cism.Aboveall,he had played a significant role in stimulating the early antifascistmovementin Italy. Later,hiswritings and activitieswererecalledasadirect inspirationto many of the communists, liberals, and socialists active in the antifascist Resistanceinthe 1930sand'40s.KeyfiguresinItalian intellectuallife,such astheMarxistthinker,AntonioGramsci,thepostwarpoliticalphilosopher, Norberto Bobbio, or the writer and artist, Carlo Levi, drew from him a rangeofinsightsthatlaterwouldbecentraltotheir ownideas.Asonecom mentatorhasargued,Gobetti's"legacywasperhaps thesinglemost impor tant component in the subsequent attempt to renew the liberal tradition inlightofthe fascistexperience,"?Inrecent decades,too,Italians havehad recourse to Gobetti's lessonon renewing libertyasthe exposure of deep rooted political corruption broughtthe postwar democratic republic into crisis.Despitethebrevityofhiscareer,then,theyoung torineseremainsan inspirationtothoseseekingtoinvesttheir energiesinabetter,morerobust, and transparentpoliticallife. A"remarkablefigure,"then, certainlyinhisnativecountry. Butapoliti calthinkerof"classic"stature?Forthisaccolade,one thatinvitesattention outsidethe boundaries of his national and historical experience,weneed to dig deeper.Such isthe purpose of this book. In the remainder of this introduction,IexplainhowIintendtogoaboutthatenterprise. The PoliticsofLiberalRevolution This book explores the life,thought, and enduring significance of Piero Gobetti.As the title suggests, the book takes as its focus the politics of "liberal revolution"-the heading under which Gobetti presented the arguments thatanimated him. This focus can be broken down into three fundamentaltasks:exegesis,interpretation,and analysis.
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