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Summary in English.

Applying a Marxist methodology, the Historians' Group has been able to combine the search for a popular revolutionary tradition (source of inspiration also for political militants) with the analysis and explanation of the historical phases that stimulated the birth and development of industrial capitalism in Britain, from an economic, social, and cultural point of view. At the same time, this group of historians combined the rigorous scientific method of Marxist political economy and historical and dialectical materialism (history as science) with a strong anti-mechanistic spirit, that led to study the ""human factor"(history as poetry) and to keep it always in great regard. Keywords: Marxism; People's History; Englishness; Economy; Culture.

Summary in English.

Summary in English.

La ricerca affronta il rapporto tra il Partito comunista italiano e le organizzazioni della sinistra extraparlamentare nate nel biennio 1968-1969. Sulla base di documentazione d'archivio e fonti a stampa, vengono ricostruite ed analizzate le relazioni tra questi due soggetti nel periodo compreso tra la fine degli anni Sessanta e la metà del decennio successivo, quando i principali gruppi politici della sinistra extraparlamentare si dotarono di una struttura organizzativa più stabile che segnava una discontinuità con l'esperienza precedente. Nel corso della prima metà degli anni Settanta, i rapporti tra il PCI e queste organizzazioni furono complessi e talvolta contraddittori. Il conflitto si consumò prevalentemente sulla reciproca pretesa di possedere l'esclusiva rappresentanza politica del fermento sociale che attraversava il paese in quegli anni: il PCI rappresentando se stesso come l'unica forza politica capace di mediare tra movimenti sociali e istituzioni; i gruppi della sinistra parlamentare come «avanguardie» di un irrealizzabile progetto «rivoluzionario». ; The aim of the research is to reconstruct and interpret the relationship between the Italian Communist Party and the Radical Left-Wing Groups in Italy from 1969 to 1976. Based on researches in the archives of the Italian Communist Party, Ministry of Interior and small archives that conserve unpublished documents of the groups, the paper will focus on the constant attention and monitoring that the Italian Communist Party addressed to the extreme left groups and on how those political organizations have been changed their approach and strategy toward the PCI during this period. During the first half of the Seventies, the relationship between the PCI and these organizations were complex and sometimes contradictory. The conflict was consumed mainly on the mutual claim to possess the exclusive political representation of the social unrest that crossed the country in those years: the PCI representing himself as the only political force capable of mediating between social movements and institutions; the Radical Left-Wing Groups as «avant-garde» of a unfeasible «revolutionary» project.

For all governments, economic outcomes are crucial to gaining support and legitimacy, but they are even more important in a one-party state, as the lack of growth and economic well-being puts the entire political system at risk. Thus, economic development is essential for the survival of the regime paradigm itself. Since the founding of the People's Republic in 1949, the CCP (Communist Party of China) had to confront the reality of a backward and war-torn economy and the need to build the entire missing industrial base. From the very beginning, Chinese Marxism was plagued by a key problem: the lack of industrialization, which Marx and Engels thought was precisely the starting point of the revolutionary activity. While establishing relations with the Soviet Union, the CCP accepted the Leninist version of Marxism, arguing that an effective industrial sector must be built before making the revolution. How to fabricate the entire missing industrial base and a proletariat of significant size thus became the focus of the CCP's reflections and strategies. The consequences of this have indeed bolstered many of the key divisions within the CCP ranging from roughly its inception to the era of reform. This article argues that for the CCP, Marxism has always been a means to the ultimate goal of China's economic development. Since Marxism teaches to seek truth in facts, it must be applied to the different circumstances of China. In the Maoist period, since underdevelopment posed an existential threat to the CCP government, the class contradiction had to be addressed. In the Deng era, the identification of what represented the "primary contradiction in Chinese society" was necessary for "loserless" growth. Finally, Xi Jinping is more concerned about the contradiction between unbalanced growth and adequate development, to meet the needs to improve the quality of life of the population. Indeed, Xi Jinping clearly reveals two starting points of the Party that governs the People's Republic of China: Marxism-Leninism and the historical conditions (and wisdom) of China. In the difference in emphasis on being more "communist" or more "Chinese" we also find evidence of change and continuity in the political economy of the CCP. ; Per tutti i governi, i risultati economici sono cruciali per ottenere sostegno e legittimità, ma sono ancora più importanti in uno stato a partito unico, poiché la mancanza di crescita e di benessere economico mette a rischio l'intero sistema politico. Pertanto, lo sviluppo economico è essenziale per la sopravvivenza del paradigma di regime stesso. Dalla fondazione della Repubblica popolare nel 1949, il Pcc ha dovuto affrontare la realtà di un'economia arretrata e dilaniata dalla guerra e la necessità di costruire l'intera base industriale mancante. Fin dall'inizio, il marxismo cinese è stato afflitto da un problema chiave: la mancanza di industrializzazione, che Marx ed Engels pensavano fosse proprio il punto di partenza dell'attività rivoluzionaria. Mentre stabiliva relazioni con l'Unione Sovietica, il Pcc accettò la versione leninista del marxismo, sostenendo che un settore industriale efficace dovesse essere costruito prima di fare la rivoluzione. Come fabbricare l'intera base industriale mancante e un proletariato di dimensioni significative divenne così il fulcro delle riflessioni e delle strategie del Pcc. Le conseguenze di ciò hanno infatti rafforzato molte delle divisioni chiave all'interno del Pcc che vanno grosso modo dal suo inizio all'era delle riforme. Questo articolo sostiene che per il Pcc il marxismo è sempre stato un mezzo per raggiungere l'obiettivo finale dello sviluppo economico della Cina. Poiché il marxismo insegna a cercare la verità nei fatti, deve essere applicato alle diverse circostanze della Cina. Nel periodo maoista, poiché il sottosviluppo rappresentava una minaccia esistenziale per il governo del Pcc, la contraddizione di classe doveva essere affrontata. Nell'epoca di Deng Xiaoping, l'identificazione di ciò che rappresentasse la "contraddizione primaria nella società cinese" era necessaria per una crescita "senza perdenti". Xi Jinping, infine, è più preoccupato per la contraddizione tra crescita squilibrata e sviluppo adeguato, per soddisfare le esigenze di miglioramento della qualità della vita della popolazione.Xi, infatti, rivela chiaramente due punti di partenza del Partito che governa la Repubblica popolare cinese: il marxismo-leninismo e le condizioni storiche (e saggezza) della Cina. Nella differenza di enfasi sull'essere più "comunisti" o più "cinesi" troviamo anche prove di cambiamento e continuità nell'economia politica del Pcc.

Does higher turnout support left-wing parties, as many previous studies assume? And does communist legacy somehow project on the mentioned relationship? The theoretical discussion is still relatively unclear. This study proposes three different explanatory mechanisms of examining aggregate-level relationship between turnout and electoral support for political parties in the post-communist milieu. The mainstream hypothesis, based on the assumptions of a successful re-stratification of the society and the relevance of class voting, states that higher turnout benefits the left. The second option is derived from the Michigan model of party identification. In this case, political parties with less loyal electorate should profit from higher rates of electoral participation. However, this article makes a case for a third possible explanation, which turns the conventional hypothesis upside down and can be termed simply as "mobilization against the left". The idea is that the more people come to the polls, the stronger the post-communist right wing parties will be. Moreover, I include in my analysis only two electoral districts (regions) that can be said to be the farthest away from each other in their socioeconomic and political characteristics. Such an approach makes it possible to answer the question whether the expected effect is uniform or unequal across electoral districts in one country. Based on the analysis of election results in 1444 constituencies of two electoral districts in the Central Bohemian and Moravian-Silesian regions in the 2010 Parliamentary elections, I conclude that the proposed approach to the issue of party support and voter turnout has strong empirical support. ; Does higher turnout support left-wing parties, as many previous studies assume? And does communist legacy somehow project on the mentioned relationship? The theoretical discussion is still relatively unclear. This study proposes three different explanatory mechanisms of examining aggregate-level relationship between turnout and ...

This article provides an analysis of the relations and influences between a forgotten protagonist of transnational communism in the twentieth century, the Austrian Franz Marek, and the Italian Communist Party (PCI). By tracing these very relations, it is possible to understand the importance of transnational political and intellectual networks for the international communist movement. Focusing on the period ranging from 1945 to Marek's death in 1979, the article interprets the importance of Marek as a Marxist intellectual and political figure in Europe. From his prominent role in the Austrian Communist Party, to his engagement in theoretical discussions, Marek's life was that of a fervent Marxist. Whether as a political interlocutor or Marxist philosopher and theorist, in both cases the PCI was interested in the words of Franz Marek and fascinated by his theoretical thoughts. His studies of Gramsci were the proverbial cherry on the cake. Not only did he not become an outlaw when ousted from the Austrian Communist Party in 1970, the exchange continued to intensify, and he was involved to some extent in all theoretical discussions of the PCI, even though this posed a problem for many a brother party.

The Chinese Communist Party plays a crucial role in attempting to create a metanarrative on the history of China. The specific means used to achieve this goal have been analyzed from the viewpoints of politics, history and ideology. The role that political "code-words" play in such a process is still under-explored. This contribution fills part of this gap by exploring the most recent political and ideological concepts that set the boundaries of acceptable discourses on history. Our analysis focuses on an article authored by the China Institute for Historical Research and published in the January 2021 issue of Qiushi. We decode the meaning that this article conveys to policy makers and intellectuals in the People's Republic of China. We also unveil the meaning that this and similar texts might hide to international observers, who do not enjoy an unmediated access to Chinese language sources. ; Il Partito comunista cinese svolge un ruolo cruciale nel tentativo di creare una metanarrativa sulla storia della Cina. I mezzi specifici utilizzati per raggiungere questo obiettivo sono stati analizzati dal punto di vista della politica, della storia e dell'ideologia. Il ruolo che giocano le "parole in codice" politiche in tale processo è ancora poco esplorato. Questo contributo colma parte di questa lacuna esplorando i concetti politici e ideologici più recenti che fissano i confini dei discorsi accettabili sulla storia. La nostra analisi si concentra su un articolo scritto dall'Istituto cinese per la ricerca storicae pubblicato nel numero di gennaio 2021 di Qiushi. Decodificheremo il significato che questo articolo trasmette ai politici e agli intellettuali nella Repubblica popolare cinese, svelando anche il significato che questo e altri testi simili potrebbero nascondere agli osservatori internazionali, che non godono di un accesso immediato alle fonti in lingua cinese.