Storica. 70 • anno XXIV, 2018.

L'esempio di Poznan : colonizzazione interna prussiana e politiche zariste in Asia
Alberto Masoero

The Poznan Example. Prussian Internal Colonization and Tsarist Policies in Asia

In 1893, when the Tsarist administration started to debate how to organize the settlement of Asiatic Russia, an official was dispatched to Germany in order to study what decision–makers would soon define «the Poznan example». He came back with a report on the «German internal colonization» largely based on Max Sering, Die innere Kolonisation im östlichen Deutschland. This essay examines in detail the reception of this foreign example and its relevance in the tsarist decision–making process, using printed and archival sources. It takes this particular case as a point of departure to discuss more broadly the interplay between legislators’ global awareness and their decisions regarding the Oriental provinces of the Empire. It examines the motives for observing the Prussian experiment and the particular meaning acquired by the notion of «internal colonization» once it entered the Tsarist discourse.

Parole chiave: Impero zarista; Prussia; Russia asiatica; Colonizzazione

Keywords: Tsarist Empire; Prussia; Asiatic Russia, Colonization

Dal volgare all'universale : un passaggio nella traiettoria moderna del concetto di interesse
Lorenzo Coccoli, Matteo Santarelli

From the Vulgar to the Universal. A Transition in the Modern History of the Concept of Interest

The article aims to reconstruct a crucial passage in the modern history of the concept of interest: the overcoming of the dichotomy between material interest – «interesse di roba» – and symbolic interest – «interesse d’onore». We will first analyze how this dichotomy, whose origins can be traced back to Aristotle, plays a role of social differentiation between nobles and people within the political theory of the sixteenth century. We will then analyze the different phases of the crisis of this dichotomic scheme in the 17th and 18th centuries. Specifically, we intend to show how this dichotomy is challenged by two converging processes: a process of universalization – each individual and each group is driven by its own interest – and a process of reduction – interest coincides with economic interest. The conclusion of the article aims to show how the convergence between the two processes remains incomplete in the early modern period, even in those authors who radically overcame the dichotomy between material and symbolic interests. For this purpose, the case examined is that of Bernard de Mandeville’s theory of interest.

Parole chiave: Interesse; Ragion di Stato; Società per ceti; Bernard Mandeville

Keywords: Interest; Reason of State; Society of Orders; Bernard Mandeville

Questioni: Origine dei comuni : discutere Sonnambuli verso un nuovo mondo di Chris Wickham

The Emergence of Italian City Communes. Debating Sleepwalking into a New World

We publish a forum on Chris Wickham’s Sleepwalking into a New World: The Emergence of Italian City Communes in the Twelfth Century, Princeton U.P., Princeton 2015 (It. trans.: Sonnambuli verso un nuovo mondo. L’affermazione dei comuni italiani nel XII secolo, trans. by Luigi Provero, Viella, Roma 2017). Building on his and other scholars’ research, Wickham proposes a new vision of the birth of Italian communes, arguing that, in all but a few cases, the elites of Italian cities developed the new forms of government unaware that they were creating something altogether new. Three scholars discuss the importance of this book and raise points of criticism; the debate is followed by Chris Wickham’s reply.

Parole chiave: Comuni; Roma; Milano; Pisa

Keywords: City Communes; Rome; Milan; Pisa

Il limbo, fossile guida: Biasiori legge Franceschini

Lutero visto dall'Italia: Dall'Olio legge Prosperi

Immagini e rivolte: Benigno legge Images et révoltes dans le livre et l'estampe

Città ed emozioni: Camilleri legge Prestel

Violenza ed emozioni: la rivoluzione tedesca del 1918-19 Millan legge Jones

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Summaries