Generational gap and post-ideological politics in Italy (POSTGEN): A generation-aware analysis of ideological destructuring and political change in the Italian case

Recent political upheavals, such as Brexit, Trump's election, the rise of challenger parties in Europe, and Italy’s first "populist" government in 2018, challenge traditional theories of voting behaviour and party competition. Conventional explanations often point to populism and voter irrationality. However, recent research highlights that challenger parties leverage issue opportunities that transcend traditional ideological boundaries, suggesting a de-ideologized context where voters are drawn to post-ideological platforms. Despite these insights, a possible de-ideologization process remains insufficiently understood. The POSTGEN project seeks to fill this gap by analysing de-ideologization mechanisms and dynamics, particularly in Italy—a key case of contemporary political transformation. It adopts a generation-focused approach, emphasizing the role of younger generations in the evolving political landscape. The project examines how political attitudes develop and impact individuals, generations, and society over time. It investigates whether political issues integrate into coherent ideological structures or remain fragmented, and how non-political influencers affect these dynamics amid the crisis of traditional epistemic authorities. The project employs a mixed-method, multi-method, longitudinal strategy that features multiple components: from mass surveys, to social media content (also analysed through automated methods), to dedicated surveys aimed at secondary-school students, to qualitative in-depth interviews to young adults. By integrating these methods within a robust theoretical framework, POSTGEN aims to provide insights into the evolution of the Italian political systems, also to help understand broader changes in democratic representation in Western political systems

Generational gap and post-ideological politics in Italy (POSTGEN) : a generation-aware analysis of ideological destructuring and political change in the Italian case

Publication date: 11 July 2024Recent political upheavals, such as Brexit, Trump's election, the rise of challenger parties in Europe, and Italy’s first "populist" government in 2018, challenge traditional theories of voting behaviour and party competition. Conventional explanations often point to populism and voter irrationality. However, recent research highlights that challenger parties leverage issue opportunities that transcend traditional ideological boundaries, suggesting a de-ideologized context where voters are drawn to post-ideological platforms. Despite these insights, a possible de-ideologization process remains insufficiently understood. The POSTGEN project seeks to fill this gap by analysing de-ideologization mechanisms and dynamics, particularly in Italy—a key case of contemporary political transformation. It adopts a generation-focused approach, emphasizing the role of younger generations in the evolving political landscape. The project examines how political attitudes develop and impact individuals, generations, and society over time. It investigates whether political issues integrate into coherent ideological structures or remain fragmented, and how non-political influencers affect these dynamics amid the crisis of traditional epistemic authorities. The project employs a mixed-method, multi-method, longitudinal strategy that features multiple components: from mass surveys, to social media content (also analysed through automated methods), to dedicated surveys aimed at secondary-school students, to qualitative in-depth interviews to young adults. By integrating these methods within a robust theoretical framework, POSTGEN aims to provide insights into the evolution of the Italian political systems, also to help understand broader changes in democratic representation in Western political systems

2st Interim Report on Human Shape Localization Research Project

Rapporto tecnic

1st Interim Report on Human Shape Localization Research Project

Rapporto tecnic

Pedestrian Detection by means of Far-infrared Stereo Vision

This article presents a stereo system for the detection of pedestrians using far-infrared cameras. Since pedestrian detection in far-infrared images can be difficult in some environmental conditions, the system exploits three different detection approaches: warm area detection, edge-based detection, and disparity computation. A final validation process is performed using head morphological and thermal characteristics. Currently, neither temporal correlation, nor motion cues are used in this processing. The developed system has been implemented on an experimental vehicle equipped with two infrared cameras and preliminarily tested in different situations