L’immagine del Mezzogiorno nella sociologia degli ultimi cinquant’anni

The sociological representation of Southern Italy in the last fifty years
A first glance at the sociological representation of Southern Italy is given through a review of selected essays from the journal Quaderni di Sociologia, published from 1951 through 2001. Italian society is shown as it was described when its Southern villages were studied by American sociologists coming from abroad to understand the moral basis of a backward society. It is also shown as it is looking now, when its Southern towns are joining in the network society. This shifting image is then used as a framework for a reflexive account about an ongoing debate concerning the heuristic value of theoretical concepts as «social capital», «civicness» and «trust» to understand how Southern Italy is changing in the sociological imagination.