Theory and Practice of Italian Associationalism in the Nine-teenth and Twentieth Centuries

Fiorenza Taricone

Theory and Practice of Italian Associationalism in the Nine-teenth and Twentieth Centuries

Authors

Fiorenza Taricone

https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1542-3973

Keywords:

Associationalism, Women's Associationalism, Citizenship, Democracy, Liberalism and civil and political rights

Synopsis

Editore: EUC - Edizioni Università di Cassino

Series: Miscellaneous

Pages: 434

Language: Italian

Abstract: This book analyzes the theory and practice of Italian voluntary associations between the 19th and 20th centuries, with a specific focus on the role of women’s organizations in the process of political and social modernization. Based on extensive archival research and an examination of key theoretical frameworks—liberal, democratic, socialist, Catholic, and nationalist—the work reconstructs the diverse forms of association and investigates their function as mediators between civil society and the State. Associationism emerges as a pivotal space for the exercise of citizenship, particularly for women who, despite being excluded from suffrage, were protagonists of intense social, educational, and political activity. The study highlights how these associations served as a practical training ground for democratic participation, contributing to the formation of individual and collective consciousness and anticipating demands for civil and political equality. In this light, women’s associations are framed as a central element in the history of Italian democracy and the construction of gender rights.

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Author Biography

Fiorenza Taricone

Fiorenza Taricone is Full Professor of History of Political Thought and Political Thought and the Women’s Question at the University of Cassino and Southern Lazio, where she has also served as Deputy Rector. Within the University, she has chaired the Equal Opportunities Committee, the University Centre for Disability, Research and Innovation, and the Single Guarantee Committee. She has published numerous books and essays concerning civil and political rights, interventionism, pacifism, and women's associations in 19th and 20th-century Italy and France. Her publications include: Teoria e prassi dell’associazionismo italiano nel XIX e XX secolo (2003); Ottocento romantico e generi. Dominazione, complicità, abusi, molestie (2013); Romain Rolland pacifista libertario e pensatore globale (2017); Politica e cittadinanza. Donne socialiste fra Ottocento e Novecento (2020); Manuale di pensiero politico e questione femminile (2022); Zoé Gatti de Gamond e l’utopia fourierista (2023); Introduzione a Anna Kuliscioff. Non sono la signora di nessuno (2024, Rizzoli - Corriere della Sera) and is the Editor of Oltre il tempo patriarcale. La lungimiranza di Anna Kuliscioff (2025).