640 research outputs found
The opacity of a system T.R. Malthus and the population in principle
No full textThis contribution analyses the scientific and political meaning of the concept of ‘population’ within Thomas Robert Malthus’ thought. It is here argued that by encapsulating ‘population’ in a scientific principle, the author not only aimed at contrasting radical and revolutionary theories of his time; he was also looking for a renovation of the role principles hold in scientific reasoning. He considered this crucial for delineating a plausible science for such an elusive political object as society. Through an examination of key passages of Malthus’ theoretical production – his critique of previous definitions of ‘population’, his reassessment of the natural history of society, and the use of selected metaphors to explain his political thought – it is possible to observe how the author attempted to naturalize society and the inequalities arising from its historical laws. As shown in the conclusions, Malthus’ scientific and political effort was directed towards questioning possibilities to reduce the history of social relations to a path of rational progress, which is consistent with the way he re-conceptualized ‘population’ as regarding the fate of the people and their chances to transform the future in the plausible outcome of their political action in the present
Redimere il capitale. T.R. Malthus e la rendita nel limite della regolazione
No full textThis essay analyses the problem of ‘regulation’ as it emerges in Malthus’ political economy. It is addressed the way he conceptualized ‘rent’ as a providential regulator of capital accumulation which must always be artificially sustained by government. Starting from an analysis of the essays Malthus published in 1815, this contribution then put them in relation with the definition of ‘crisis’ emerging in the Principles of Political Economy. Through this intellectual trajectory, the author developed a conception of ‘crisis’ as an ‘irregularity’ which is part and parcel of the ‘regular’ progress of wealth. Governments’ intervention is thus defined by Malthus as being both an ‘exception’, and a necessary tool to ensure the political and social conditions of the regular progress of capital accumulation. Lastly, the role of equilibrators of the economic cycle he attributed to the landlords highlights the attempt to make rents the expression of a power which is deemed essential to ‘redeem’ capital, thus to regulate the crises it tends to produce
TECHNOLOGY AND ENVIRONMENT: REFLECTIONS ON THE GLOBAL RELEVANCE OF A HISTORICAL AND CONCEPTUAL NEXUS
No full textThis contribution engages with recent scholarship on technology, environment, Big Data and Artificial Intelligence that have highlighted their manyfold historical, political and conceptual entanglements on a global scale. These include the way technologies over time have contributed to shape the human and natural environment; how they are changing political and scientific representations of the environment and of its transformations; the ecological costs of contemporary capitalism that exploits data and largely relies on digital technologies. Through this survey of texts and theories – mainly advanced by scholars at the Divison of History, Science, Technology and Environment of the Kth Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm, Sweden – this contribution aims at pointing at the major strands of critical understanding of contemporary digital technologies from a global and ecologist point of view, also in order to highlight some of their theoretical further possible developments.
Bodies and self-disclosure in American female confessional poetry
No full textFar from being a mere thematic device, the body plays a crucial role in poetry, especially for modern women poets. The inward turn to an intimate autobiographical dimension, which is commonly seen as characteristic of female writing, usually complies with the requests of feminist theorists, urging writers to reconquer their identity through the assertion of their bodies. However, inscribing the body in verse is often problematic, since it frequently emerges from a complicated interaction between positive self-redefinition, life writing, and the confession of trauma. This is especially true for authors writing under the influence of the American confessional trend, whose biographies were often scarred by mental illness and self-destructive inclinations. This paper assesses the role of the body in the representation of the self in a selection of texts by American women poets—namely Sylvia Plath, Anne Sexton, Elizabeth Bishop, Adrienne Rich, and Louise Glück—where the body and its disclosure act as vehicles for a heterogeneous redefinition of the female identity
Of Mirrors and Bell Jars. Heterotopia and Liminal Spaces as Reconfigurations of Female Identity in Sylvia Plath.
No full textThe poetry of Sylvia Plath (1932–1963) has received a considerable number of critical responses, among which spatial analysis occupies a minor position, although her texts explore complex relationships between subject and context. Drawing from a threefold theoretical apparatus (Bachelard’s theory of the poetic space, the Foucauldian concept of heterotopia, and the trope of liminality), this article focuses on the analysis of Plath’s increasing use of in-between spaces and objects of transition and transformations (mirrors, thresholds, windows), as well as on her predilection for heterotopic and alienating sceneries (hospital rooms, cemeteries), in both her poetry and prose. The study first acknowledges Plath’s choice of spatial imagery as a progressive orientation towards transitional states and places of otherness and ambivalence. Then, it highlights the specific role of heterotopic and liminal spaces in the process of reconfiguration of female identity. Given the impossibility for the female subject to rely on imprisoning domestic spheres to suture the edges of her fragmented self, reconceptualization of her own consciousness only becomes possible in the movement across a threshold. The analysis finally determines that the poetic evocation of spaces of conflict and difference paradoxically contributes to the shaping of female identity
La disciplina del merito. L’istruzione reciproca in Inghilterra tra XVIII e XIX secolo
No full textThis essay takes into account the pedagogical reform for the poor proposed in England by Andrew Bell, Joseph Lancaster and Patrick Colquhoun between Eighteenth and Nineteenth century. Differentiating individuals and reproducing social order through the implementation of a pedagogical plan is a response both to the excessive expectations of well-being raised among the English poor by the Revolution in France, and to the uncontrolled spread of crime and undisciplined behaviours in the new manufacturing districts. This is why social reformers looked at the pedagogical reform of mutual instruction as a way to build the conditions of reproduction of social differences: the plans proposed by Bell and Lancaster, based on emulation, competition and merit, are supported by Colquhoun because they offer a possible solution for the problems of crime and immoral behaviour. «The order of Merit», triggered by emulation, distinction and reward, thus become the main tool of influencing poor’s expectations so to predict and discipline their conduct as future waged workers.Questo saggio analizza la riforma pedagogica per i poveri proposta in Inghilterra da Andrew Bell, Joseph Lancaster e Patrick Colquhoun tra il XVIII e il XIX secolo. Distinguere gli individui e riprodurre l’ordine sociale attraverso l’implementazione di un piano pedagogico serve tanto a rispondere alle aspettative di benessere nutrite dai poveri sulla scia degli avvenimenti rivoluzionari in Francia, quanto a contrastare la diffusione incontrollata del crimine e dei comportamenti indisciplinati nei nuovi distretti manifatturieri. Per questi motivi i riformatori sociali guardarono alla riforma dell’istruzione reciproca come un modo di riaffermare le condizioni che fondano le differenze sociali: i piani proposti da Bell e Lancaster, basati sull’emulazione, la competizione e il merito, sono sostenuti da Colquhoun proprio perché offrono una risposta al problema del crimine e dei comportamenti immorali. «L’ordine del merito», fondato sull’emulazione, la distinzione e il premio diviene lo strumento principe per influenzare le aspettative dei poveri e rendere prevedibili e disciplinate le loro condotte in quanto individui destinati al lavoro salariato
Lo spazio fuori dalla stanza
No full textThis article discusses the notion of space as it relates to the condition of women in history, society, culture, and literature. The concept of space has been widely used by 20th-century feminist theorists as a key metaphor to warn against the marginalization of women from cultural and power discourses. Alternatively, through the idea of a “politics of location”, spatial metaphors were used to highlight the diverse contexts and perspectives pertaining to each individual woman, which must be taken into consideration in contemporary multicultural feminist debates. This article aims at exploring how the notion of space was reframed by Italian scholar Daniela Brogi in her recently published essay Lo spazio delle donne (2022), which precisely revolves around the metaphor of space, and which represents a multifocal take on the condition of women in Italian culture and society and proposes new ways to deconstruct widespread patriarchal logics, as well as new lenses to look at women’s experiences with a view to encouraging opportunities for intercultural growth
Estrangement, Performativity, and Empathy in Bo Burnham's Inside (2021)
No full textThis paper aims at a critical analysis of comedian Bo Burnham’s Netflix special Inside (2021) – a show filmed during the Covid-19 lockdown period – in terms of defamiliarization techniques, and especially through the lens of the Brechtian notion of Verfremdung. By resuming the main theories of estrangement, comparing Shklovsky’s ostranenie to Brecht’s Verfremdungseffekt, and transposing them into the context of contemporary cinematic texts, the analysis foregrounds instances of the V-effect in Inside, namely the ironic exposure of the automatisms of contemporary society, the attention drawn towards performativity, and the goal of encouraging viewers to adopt a critical frame of mind. Despite the emotional detachment that Verfremdung conventionally pursues, this essay explores the complex interplay between estrangement and affective responses in the audience’s engagement with the comedy special
Green Malthus? A Bibliographical Itinerary Between Neo-Malthusianism and Environmentalism
No full textThis contribution presents a bibliographical itinerary on Twentieth century environmental revival of Malthusian doctrines. After introducing both the main conceptual strains inherent to the topic, and their scientific interest the essay takes into consideration the Post-WWII emergence of global environmentalism. A survey of the texts of 1960s and 1970s exponents of Neo-Malthusian environmentalism shows the important role played by this tradition of thought in shaping environmental concerns on both the scientific and the governmental level. The itinerary ends with an analysis of the main authors and strains of enquiry that have assessed the historical and conceptual relevance of Neo-Malthusian environmentalism. It is argued that more researches into Malthus’ legacy over time could grant significant theoretical gains both for the history of political thought, and its entanglements with the history of environmentalism
Bonasera (F.), Desplanques (H.), Fondi (M.), Poeta (A.). — La casa rurale nell'Umbria.
No full textVeyret Paul. Bonasera (F.), Desplanques (H.), Fondi (M.), Poeta (A.). — La casa rurale nell'Umbria.. In: Revue de géographie alpine, tome 44, n°4, 1956. p. 774
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