Empowering scientific nationalism:positivism,technocracy & health in post-unified, pre-fascist Italy

Italy, after the unification (1861), went through a period of complex political, social and cultural reforms aimed at modernising the new nation state. In these turbulent yeas, several Italian doctors and scientists were involved in the  political debate at both a local and national level. They ran national inquiries, produced new legislations, organised public talks and debates, and were actively committed to create a sense of national identity.

This seminar looks at the work of those doctors and scientists in order to explore the complex relationship between medicine, science and politics in Italy after the unification. In particular, I will focus on the idea of scientific nationalism and the necessity to use the teaching of modern science as a political guide during the complex process of creating the first generation of Italians.