I primi volontari italiani nella guerra civile spagnola: genesi e nascita della Sezione Italiana della Colonna Ascaso

Il volontariato durante la guerra civile spagnola è, da sempre, un tema fortemente evocativo; se si è scritto molto sul fenomeno delle Brigate Internazionali, poco spazio hanno trovato quei volontari che agirono al di fuori da quell’esperienza. In questo articolo ci occupiamo dell’esperienza dei primi antifascisti italiani che arrivarono a Barcellona nell’estate del ’36; in larga parte anarchici e militanti del movimento Giustizia e Libertà, questi volontari costituirono la prima colonna che avrebbe combattuto in Spagna: la Sezione Italiana della Columna Ascaso. L’importanza di questa formazione risiede principalmente nella sua precocità: sarebbero, infatti, dovuti passare alcuni mesi prima che fossero organizzate le Brigate Internazionali. Principali promotori del gruppo furono l’anarchico Camillo Berneri ed il leader di GL, Carlo Rosselli. Il testo ripercorre le delicate trattative, tanto tra gli stessi antifascisti italiani quanto con i leader libertari catalani, che portarono alla nascita della colonna italiana

Italia y la Primera Guerra Mundial, cien años después : entre investigación histórica y conmemoración

En Italia, como en toda Europa, las conmemoraciones del centenario del estallido de la Primera Guerra Mundial han dado lugar a un ambiente especialmente vivo. El artículo desea ofrecer una reflexión sobre las investigaciones y las conmemoraciones públicas que se han emprendido en Italia respecto al centenario. En la primera parte del escrito se resumen las peculiaridades de la investigación histórica italiana en los últimos veinte años en cuanto a la Primera Guerra Mundial. La segunda parte se centra en las publicaciones aparecidas a lo largo del último año. Por fin, en la última parte se intenta ofrecer una reflexión sobre las iniciativas de public history emprendidas en el último mes y ligadas al centenario.A Itàlia, com en tot Europa, les commemoracions del centenari de l'esclat de la Primera Guerra Mundial han donat lloc a un ambient especialment viu. L'article desitja oferir una reflexió sobre les recerques i les commemoracions públiques que s'han emprès a Itàlia respecte al centenari. En la primera part de l'escrit es resumeixen les peculiaritats de la recerca històrica italiana en els últims vint anys quant a la Primera Guerra Mundial. La segona part se centra en les publicacions aparegudes al llarg de l'últim any. Per fi, en l'última part s'intenta oferir una reflexió sobre les iniciatives de public history empreses en l'últim mes i lligades al centenari.In Italy, as in other European countries, the celebrations related with the centenary of the First World War are causing an intense climax both on the academic production and on the public sphere. This article's aim is to offer a global reflection both on the Italian achievements of the Investigation and on the Italian public celebrations. The first part of the article is dedicated to a short reflection about the historical production during the last twenty years; our aim is to underline the Italian peculiarities respect to the international context. The second part focused on the publications edited during the last year. The aim of the last part of the article is to reflect on Italian public history's initiatives linked with the centenary

Transatlantic routes and encounters : European anti-fascists in Mexico, 1939-1945

Once the Spanish Civil War ended in 1939, thousands of anti-fascist exiles be- gan to move to Latin American; Mexico, in particular, welcomed several thousand Europeans. We will follow the trajectories of some anti-fascists who had partici- pated in the conflict, and who later decided to cross the ocean and settle in Mexico. While the existence of intra-European anti-fascist exiles is well known (e.g., Italian anti-fascists who exiled to France between the 1920s and 1930), those of transat- lantic origins are much less apparent in history, with the remarkable exception of the Spanish fleeing Francoism after 1939. Since history’s recent ‘global turn’, the concept of ‘networks’ has been particularly adept at enabling historians to see the reciprocal connections between local, regional and global actors and to bridge the increasingly artificial divide among national and international spaces. The case we will discuss in this article represents a paradigmatic example of the utility of this approach. Studying anti-fascist exiles and their networks after 1939 on a global scale will allow us to see the flows of people and ideas between Europe and the American continent

Road to (k)nowhere : policy instrument selection in complex governance arrangements: the case of research and innovation policy in France and Italy

Research and innovation (R & I) are increasingly understood as essential assets in national, and supranational, strategies for economic, social, industrial and technological development. Public engagement in these activities dates back to the pre-WWII period. Nowadays, its relevance has been revitalised as a powerful strategy to respond to major social, economic and environmental challenges (e.g. Grand Challenges). On the other hand, also the private sector has gained greater prominence within the field of scientific, engineering and technological activities employed for economic development (Arnold, Boekholt, 2003). Starting from these evolutions, the present research investigates the politics of policy instrument selection in the R&I sector. This study sheds light on the political dynamics that can explain how (and why) public actors decided to intervene (or not) in governing the field of scientific and technological innovation. Through a comparative analysis between France and Italy, the research investigates how the interplay between institutional characteristics, different policy styles and interest intermediation patterns influence actors\u2019 interactions, their preferences for various instrument mixes and ultimately the evolution of national R&I policy mixes. By adopting policy instruments as a proxy for analysing actors\u2019 preferences, it has been possible to understand different patterns of interaction taking place between governing, and non- governing, actors along the policy design process. In order to disentangle these dynamics a multi-method approach based on the triangulation of different sources (semi-structured interviews, document analysis and national statistics) has been adopted. Then, through a methodological approach to qualitative data analysis inspired by within and cross-case analysis (Miles, Huberman, 1994), thematic (Boyatzis, 1998) and content analysis (Schreier, 2012), national policy instrument selection process have been investigated. The comparative analysis ultimately shows that when we focus only on how governments have used their power to steer target population towards their intended behaviours (e.g. the inducement embedded in instrument action) our two cases share many similarities in their aggregate R&I policy mix features. But if we look at the characteristics of how different instruments exercise social control (e.g. instrument shapes) and the relationship between policy makers and target population (e.g. delivery structure) our results display a greater variety. These differences reflect the alternative approaches the two countries have undertaken to interact with target population, as well as in the political entrepreneurship and organizational capacity of national R&I performers

Single-electron dynamics in topologically protected systems

Electron quantum optics is a fast growing research field which aims at preparing, controlling and coherently manipulating single- to few-electrons states in mesoscopic condensed matter systems, in the same way as single photons can be manipulated in conventional quantum optics. Recently developed coherent single-electron sources are used to generate few-electron excitations in ballistic conductors, where their propagation is not affected by backscattering and phase coherence is preserved. Among several interesting problems related to electron quantum optics, an important question is whether and how interaction effects can influence the evolution of single-electron excitations generated by coherent sources. This will be the main topic of this thesis, where we investigate the properties of excitations created by applying a voltage pulse to a quantum conductor. The thesis can be conceptually divided into two main blocks, depending on which kind of interactions are taken into account. At first we consider a couple of conduction channels coupled by repulsive electron-electron interactions, focusing on two scenarios. Initially, co-propagating edge channels in the integer quantum Hall effect are considered, followed by counterpropagating channels emerging at the edge of a quantum spin Hall insulators. In both systems, electronic interactions induce a fractionalization process causing the initially generated excitations to split into smaller ones, carrying only a fraction of the injected charge. These fractionalized excitations are carefully analyzed both in the time domain as well as in energy and momentum space, which allows to access their particle-hole content. The analysis is based on an analytic approach relying on Luttinger liquid theory and bosonization techniques and applies to any voltage drive. Moreover, specializing to the relevant case of excitations created by quantized Lorentzian voltage pulses, known as Levitons, we show that the noise generated when they are partitioned at a scatterer is minimal, regardless of interactions. Further on, a completely different kind of interaction is addressed, namely superconducting correlations. In particular, we investigate the transport properties of a superconducting tunnel junction under the effect of an arbitrary periodic drive, showing that Levitons do minimize the low frequency noise in this kind of device too

Two hearts and a loan? Mortgages, employment insecurity and earnings among young couples in six European countries

Homeownership is increasingly understood by policy makers and social scientists as a fundamental asset against poverty risks, especially in times of economic uncertainty. However, in several Western countries, homeownership among younger generations appears to be increasingly difficult to achieve, likely a result of growing employment instability and stringent criteria to access credit. This article uses multinomial logistic models and nationally representative EU-SILC data from six European countries to examine (a) to what extent precarious employment among young couples is linked to being a mortgage holder; (b) whether earned income can compensate for employment instability in being a mortgagee; (c) cross-national differences in the relationship between being a mortgage holder, earnings, and employment insecurity. Our results indicate that the higher the levels of employment insecurity, the lower the chances of being a mortgage holder in all countries. Moreover, we find that at a given level of employment insecurity, households with higher levels of earned income have higher chances of being mortgage holders than households with lower earned income. However, while earned income has a stronger effect in achieving a mortgage among couples who have secure employment in Italy, earnings are more important among couples with lower levels of employment security in France, the UK, Spain and Poland. These results suggest that the relationship between social inequalities and housing is partially mediated by the national context