Mazzini and Gramsci on international politics: an Italian approach?

Commentators attempting to explain Italy often see many contradictions and peculiarities. Looking in particular at Italian political thought, they find personalities and rarely schools. Nonetheless, this essay will focus on the legacies of Mazzini and Gramsci. They are the most distinguished Italian personalities in the debate about modern international relations. They diverge on most arguments concerning the international as a political category and are rarely discussed together. Today’s Mazzini is included in the debate about the conditions that justify international military interventions, while Gramsci is mainly discussed during considerations of the empowerment of subordinate workers. However, what unites them is the peculiarity of Italy placed halfway between the developed and underdeveloped worlds. In addition, the social and territorial amorphousness of Italy gave rise to the necessity of a process of remodelling and rethinking the role and form of politics beyond conventional institutional frameworks.