Abstract

This book examines the transformation of the Italian city from the 1950s to the present with particular attention to questions of identity, migration and changes in urban culture. It focuses on two phases of that transformation: the years of accelerated industrialisation in the late 1950s and early 1960s, and the period of de-industrialisation and postmodernity beginning in the 1980s.

It shows how major demographic movements and cultural shifts threw into relief new conceptions of the city in which old boundaries had become problematic. Design, fine art, literature, youth culture, film and social history all provide focal points. The contributions bring specialist expertise to each area while the extensive illustrations give a vivid picture of the contemporary visual culture for which Italian cities are famed.

This is a genuinely interdisciplinary approach by Italian and English-speaking historians and scholars of urban studies, literature, architecture and design which introduces new debates and research to an English-speaking audience for the first time. Extensive illustrations provide a vivid picture of contemporary Italian visual culture.

John Foot is Professor of Modern Italian History at Bristol University.  He is the author of Milan since the Miracle: City, Culture and Identity (Berg, 2001) and Modern Italy (Palgrave, 2003). Robert Lumley is Professor of Italian Cultural History, University College London. He is editor, with Jonathan Morris, of The New History of the Italian South: The Mezzogiorno Revisited (UEP, 1997) and, with D. Forgacs, of Italian Cultural Studies (OUP, 1996).

'An innovative collection of essays by an impressive range of contributors. There is a need for this book. It will have several audiences and a wide 'cross-over' appeal.'  (Martin Brown, Senior Lecturer in History, Staffordshire University)

‘This is an excellent collection of essays tracing the massive changes of the contemporary Italian city, which shows how a multidisciplinary approach is not only desired, but required for understanding these changes. It provides an ideal entry point into new ways of looking at the city.’ (Italian Cityscapes: Culture and Urban Change in Contemporary Italy, European History Quarterly, Vol. 40.1, January 2010)