Political prisoners: a transnational question in 19th century Italy

Project Information

PoliticalPrisoners

Grant agreement ID: 838937

DOI

10.3030/838937

Project closed

EC signature date 18 March 2019

Start date 1 October 2019

End date 30 September 2022

Funded under

• EXCELLENT SCIENCE - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions

Total cost

€ 251 002,56

EU contribution

€ 251 002,56

Coordinated by

UNIVERSITA CA' FOSCARI VENEZIA
Italy

Periodic Reporting for period 2 - PoliticalPrisoners (Political prisoners: a transnational question in 19th century Italy)

Reporting period: 2021-10-01 to 2022-09-30

Summary of the context and overall objectives of the project

During the 19th century, a great number of Italian activists, intellectuals and patriots spent part of their lives in prison as a consequence of their struggles to obtain Italian independence or unification, and based on this experience they created an identity founded on concepts of martyrdom and sacrifice. Although nationalism and the reconfiguration of punishment in the 19th century have figured in the historian’s agenda, the study of the relationship between political repression, nationalism and humanitarian debates in a transnational dimension has been largely understudied. The following gap may also be seen as the result of an underestimation of the role played by political convicts in the history of nationalism and in the international awareness of this phenomenon.

PoliticalPrisoners examines the international role and representations of Italian political prisoners during the 19th century. Its goal is to investigate how and to what extent political prisoners were key figures not only in the construction of an Italian nationalist discourse, but equally in the foreign understanding of and commitment for the Italian Risorgimento (the movement for Italian independence). Moreover it delineates how humanitarian debates operated in the commitment towards a national political cause. The experience of imprisonment influenced both the detainees’ political activities and identities and the representation of the Italian national movement abroad. Thanks to media and political strategies the treatment of political convicts became an international and diplomatic concern: political detainees fighting for freedom or emancipation became heroes ready to sacrifice their lives for the nation or for political liberalism.

There is a running thread between these historical issues and questions concerning political prisoners in the world today, and the international awareness about them which has recently grown because of the rising number of both imprisoned political activists and refugees escaping persecution. There is a strategic opportunity here: the study helps to understand the phenomenon of political repression and solidarity in contemporary societies. Debates on these issues have become intense with the political and economic crisis that has recently engulfed the world: the question of political prisoners is a persisting one. Both European and extra European countries are involved by the problem of political detainees, and different EU institutions have proposed resolutions calling for the release of political detainees in foreign countries. The research helps to understand the European historical sensitivity and a commitment towards political detainees, and people persecuted for political opinions and the evolution of international protection and humanitarian discourses.

The overall objective of PoliticalPrisoners is to provide a compelling argument for the role of political prisoners as transnational and patriotic actors of the 19th century, stressing the European commitment towards political detainees and people persecuted for political opinions. It thus analyses the transnational and humanitarian impact of practices of political imprisonment of Italian patriots, as well as their connection with international debates on punishment, nationalism and humanitarianism circulating during the Restoration (1815-61). More specifically, the research examines the currently understudied question of political prisoners in 19th-century Italy, questioning the notion that political detainees became an international concern only in the 20th century and analysing the transnational role of political prisoners as actors of the Italian Risorgimento.

Work performed from the beginning of the project to the end of the period covered by the report and main results achieved so far

Through intensive research in archives and libraries in Italy, France, Great Britain, the United States, literary reviews, academic discussions and communication and dissemination activities, I reached the objectives of the project.
The products of the PoliticalPrisoners research are: three research articles accepted for publication in The Journal of Modern History, Passato e Presente and Studi Storici, and two under peer-review (M3); the seminar series Political Prisoners in the Modern World. Imprisonment, Deportation and Public Commitment, organized online in 2, 9, 16 December 2020, the panel Il carcere politico e la politica del carcere. Rappresentazioni e pratiche di lungo periodo nella storia italiana (The political prison and the politics of the prison: representation and practice in Italian history) presented at the Cantieri di storia Sissco - Workshop of the Italian Society for the Study of Modern History, online, 15-17 September 2021; the international workshop Transnational Political Prisoners (19th-20th c.), 23 September 2022 (M2). Moreover I presented my research in different seminars, conferences, public events, and workshops.

Progress beyond the state of the art and expected potential impact (including the socio-economic impact and the wider societal implications of the project so far)

PoliticalPrisoners goes beyond the state of the art presenting a new approach in studying political imprisonment emphasising its transnational and humanitarian dimension and the challenging to the current state-of-the-art, highlighting how political prisoners were an international concern already in the 19th century.
Moreover the research sheds light on the historical development of the issue of political imprisonment, on international solidarity and on the peculiar European sensitivity for and commitment towards political prisoners, exiles and persecuted people.
Thus PoliticalPrisoners is timely for its wider societal implications: it plays a critical role in understanding and implementing the lessons of history in relation to contemporary issues, promoting public awareness on political repression and persecution and international solidarity and intervention in favour of refugees in today’s world.
Thus PoliticalPrisoners does not only provide new perspectives on the historical dimension of political imprisonment, but also allows an innovative analysis of political repression and solidarity in modern societies, a persisting issue in our times.
Through dissemination and communication activities, PoliticalPrisoners increases awareness of the historical elaboration and transnational impact of political crime. In particular, focusing on the case of the states of the Italian peninsula during the 19th century, I have presented the research first results in different academic and non-academic contexts (included Columbia University, Utrecht University, Ca' Foscari University of Venice, Seton Hall University, Universities of Pisa, Bolzen and Salerno, Italian Cultural Institute in London, Scuola Superiore Meridionale, Lezioni di Storia Festival, Institute of Historical Research, European Researchers night, Venice Children’s University). Moreover I have organized seminar series, panel for conferences and seminars on the topics of the research project. The main results of my investigation will be published in single authored articles in leading academic journals and I am preparing a book proposal.

Workshop Political Prisoners: a transnational question of 19th century Italy with Konstantina Zanou,

Online Marathon - Giustizia per Giulio Regeni - libertà per Patrick Zaki, Maratona di voci a Ca’ Fos