Con passo sicuro, partito comunista e goerno del territoria nel valdarno superiore (1944-1970)

• Main Author: Fantoni, Gianluca
• Published: University of Strathclyde 2008
• Subjects: 324.245075
• Online Access: http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.502276

The long lasting power of the Italian Communist Party (PCI) in many areas of Tuscany and in several other areas of Italy within the so called "regioni rosse" is one of the most remarkable characteristics of post-war Italian history. In the post-war Italian political panorama the left wing political orientation of the people of Tuscany became a well established fact. For large sections of population being communist was something more than an electoral choice: it was a factor that played a major role in the construction of what could be termed a 'community-defined self identity' Furthermore, there was a self perception of intrinsic 'otherness' which enabled Tuscan communists to compare themselves positively to the rest of the Italian population who they perceived as largely dominated and corrupted by the power of Democrazia cristiana (DC). Being communist was regarded by the local population as a natural condition, a consequence of moral and civic primacy, a synonym of solidarity and honesty and evidence of a deep commitment to the economic development of the country. For those people who, like the author of the present research, lived in Tuscany the fall of Berlin wall, it was rather surprising to observe the postCommunist left survive, seemingly relatively unharmed, the eclipse of ideologies of the late '80s and indeed maintain and even increase its electoral consensus. The enduring nature of communist power implies the existence of economic and social reasons for the long lasting power of the PCI, together with cultural and ideological factors. The aim of the present research is therefore to investigate, in the area of Valdarno, the complex process that allowed the PCI to build such a substantive electoral and social isensus among the local population of this area. The complexity of historical phenomena and consequent need for a multi-faceted approach to historical research inform this investigation throughout.