The dissolution of the Italian Communist Party and the identity of the Left: ideology and party organisation

Andreani, Francesco (2013). The dissolution of the Italian Communist Party and the identity of the Left: ideology and party organisation. University of Birmingham. M.Phil.

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Abstract

The crisis of the Italian Left has become self-evident in the last years, particularly after the elections in February 2013. The Democratic Party (PD), heir and last stage of the former Italian Communist Party’s (PCI) transformation, has proven to be lacking in many fields: this thesis analyses the deep, historical causes of this inadequacy, examining the itinerary of the Italian Left from the PCI through the identity crisis of the ’80 and its subsequent development into other forms of parties and alliances throughout the last decades. I present an accurate study of those crucial years, when major changes in the identity and organization of the Italian Left took place: I collected and examined both expert analyses and original documents, in order to reconstruct how and why said changes were made, and their effects. If, on the one hand, the PCI abandoned its ideology and traditional structure, in order to increase its electorate and to gain the steady legitimateness it needed to govern, on the other hand it fragmented in (often) warring factions and lost much of its left-wing political orientation, together with other unifying elements.

Type of Work:

Thesis (Masters by Research > M.Phil.)

Award Type:

Masters by Research > M.Phil.

Supervisor(s):