Suchergebnisse

International audience ; This article aims to capture the specificity of the economic thinking of the Italian Revolutionary Triennio. On the one hand, the purpose is to emphasize the value attributed to the economic freedom, perceived not only as an essential factor for economic prosperity but also as a constituent element of the new democratic and republican society. On the other hand, the article intends to contextualise this adherence to the principle of economic freedom in the framework of the broader economic reflection that took shape during the revolutionary phase. This economic reflection envisages a dynamic and industrious commercial society as a whole, explicitly opposed to the model of the ancient republicanism, anchored on the work and the valorisation of material well-being. ; Cet article vise à saisir la spécificité de la pensée économique du Triennio révolutionnaire italien. D'une part, le but est de réfléchir sur la valeur attribuée à la liberté économique, perçue non seulement comme un facteur essentiel à la prospérité économique, mais aussi comme un élément constitutif de la nouvelle société démocratique et républicaine. D'autre part, l'article se propose de contextualiser cette adhésion au principe de la liberté économique dans le cadre de la réflexion économique qui prit forme pendant la phase révolutionnaire. Cette réflexion envisage dans son ensemble une société commerciale dynamique et industrieuse, explicitement opposée au modèle du républicanisme ancien, ancrée sur le travail et la valorisation du bien-être matériel. ; L'articolo mira a indagare le caratteristiche e le specificità della riflessione economica del Triennio rivoluzionario italiano. Da un lato, l'obiettivo è riflettere sul valore attribuito al principio della libertà economica, percepita non solamente come fattore fondamentale di prosperità economica, ma anche come elemento costitutivo della nuova società democratica repubblicana. Dall'altro, ci si propone di contestualizzare questa adesione al liberismo nel quadro della più ...

This article has two aims. In the first part I will present some methodological considerations on intellectual history, particularly in relation to other disciplines considered similar yet different, such as the history of ideas, the history of concepts and the history of discourse. I will then seek to clarify what it means, in terms of research practice, to write intellectual history, taking as a starting point the subject of my own research, namely the political implications of economic thinking on luxury and consumption in Italy during the second half of the eighteenth century. More specifically, I intend to highlight the unique characteristics of intellectual history, understood as global history, which requires the reconstruction of the different contexts in which its underlying ideas and objectives developed, concentrating on its highly interdisciplinary nature. In particular, I will focus on a specific type of interdisciplinarity that characterised the methodology of my research, namely the attempt to hold together political thought and economic analysis. Eighteenth-century Italy was in fact marked by a strong, multifaceted political evaluation of economic thinking on luxury and consumption, which led me to examine the discussion of the subject through two lenses, those of economic analysis and political thinking. This specificity shows how the reconstruction of economic thought constitutes a fertile course for the investigation of the political culture and social projects of Italian authors in the eighteenth century, at a time when economic science was taking shape as a separate discipline. [Copyright Elsevier Ltd.]

The aim of this article is to shed light on the eighteenth-century Italian reflection on luxury and consumption in a comparative perspective, clarifying, on the one hand, the complex significance that it assumed and, on the other, the specificity of the Italian context, marked by the immense political value of the debate on the subject. In particular this objective will be pursued through the analysis of specific cases among the many offered by the Italian context and through different research strands. These are: the debate on the evaluation of luxury; the transition from the notion of luxury to that of consumption; and the discussion on luxury and consumption in the revolutionary context. This article intends to outline the particular contribution made by Italian thought, which conveyed a multifaceted discourse of social reform, critique and understanding built on more even foundations, and at the same time to clarify what contribution can be made to current historiography by the study of this theme within eighteenth-century Italy. [Copyright Elsevier Ltd.]