The promise of progress: evolution and the construction of Italy

This dissertation begins from the premise that when Italy was unified in 1871, there was a general effort to construct the nation’s ideology, identity, and socio-political future. The idea of progress was one such ideology. The dissertation examines the idea of progress through several case studies and demonstrates that scientific theories were often at the core of these ideas about progress. I focus specifically on the reception of Darwin and evolutionary theory as it appears in various cultural spheres during Liberal-Era Italy (1871-1923). I demonstrate that the ideology of progress was reaffirmed and scientifically sanctified by the introduction of Darwin into Italy, and therefore the reception of many scientific ideas was often politically motivated. The various case studies that appear in each chapter show a pattern of how evolution was misunderstood and misused by Italian cultural and literary figures. Chapters 1 and 2 on Scipio Sighele show that his sociological theories suggest the possibility that a heterogeneous population can be united as one nation and make collective progress together. A consequence of this is that collective progress requires the expansion of its population beyond its original borders. In this way, evolutionary theory is used to justify imperialism. Chapters 3 and 4 focus on Italo Svevo’s understanding of individual progress in capitalist modernity. By examining Svevo’s depictions of bourgeois work-life, I argue that the individual’s ability to participate in the competitive ethic of capitalist society ensures progress on the individual and ultimately on the collective level. Chapter 5 examines the work of Eugenio Rignano, whose scientific philosophy uses evolutionary logic to prove the ubiquity of progress in the universe, including the development of nations. I argue that this fusion of evolution with politics in Rignano’s work is the epitome of a politically-motivated scientism. In conclusion, the reception of evolutionary theory in Italy reveals a larger trend to repurpose scientific topics in a way that perpetuates socio-political systems of power. Elites, educated classes, and industrialists could justify their place in the socio-political order of a nation, and legitimize the national impetus for colonial expansion in the name of the nation’s progress and survival.Ph.D.Includes bibliographical reference