Loading...
Rural Italy after Unification: A Microhistorical Comparative Study on Southern Jacquerie in the Matese, 1861-1877
Epifani, Amelia
Epifani, Amelia
Citations
Altmetric:
Abstract
The mountains of the Matese hosted two of the most significant episodes of dissent in the first decades of post-Unification Italian history. Brigandage and the attempted anarchist revolution took place in different historical moments and involved different actors, yet both provided a similar revolutionary answer to the so-called Southern Question. The microhistorical comparative study carried out in this thesis analyzes the political agency of the Matese peasantry as exemplified by the brigand Banda Giordano and the anarchist Banda del Matese. In particular, it hypothesizes that the success of the Banda Giordano stemmed from its roots in the territory, insofar as the similar cultural and social background was instrumental in the peasants’ decision to collaborate with the brigands. On the other hand, the different background of Banda del Matese alienated the peasantry as it appeared “foreign.” By 1877, a full decade into peasant revolts, the anarchists arrived from the North presenting a more abstract enemy than the tangible one that the peasantry needed to fight. As a result, the peasants felt that a new uprising would only provoke tough retaliation by the National Army. Notwithstanding the differences in the results, both episodes cast into question the social legitimacy of the new State’s institutions, and, even more importantly, they defied the Northern narrative of political passivity of the Southern peasantry. Shedding a light on the political agency of the peasantry ultimately opens a number of questions that still need to be investigated regarding the political consciousness of contemporary Southern Italy and the evolution of Italian national identity.
Description
Thesis (B.A. in International Affairs and History)--John Cabot University, Fall 2018.
Date
2018
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Collections
Research Projects
Organizational Units
Journal Issue
Keywords
Brigands and robbers
Citation
Epifani, Amelia. "Rural Italy after Unification: A Microhistorical Comparative Study on Southern Jacquerie in the Matese, 1861-1877". BA Thesis, John Cabot University, Rome, Italy. 2018.