The first Italian social psychologies (SP) showed a pluralism of perspectives that disappeared in subsequent development of the discipline. With the presence of a collective sociological psychology, a philosophical SP, and a psychological SP rooted in the sociocentric dimension, the field appeared variously articulated with a negotiation and a dialogue between different disciplinary approaches for the construction of its identity. This dialogue was destined to be swept away, first, during the fascist period, and then in 1954, with the affirmation of a psychological and experimental SP, sanctioned by the first national congress of SP. However, in Italy, unlike the USA, the SP maintained strong social roots. These roots had been evident already between the end of the nineteenth century and the beginning of the twentieth century, when three central topics for SP were emerging in Europe: crowd psychology, psychology of the public opinion, and race psychology. Each of these topics had a particular role under the totalitarian regimes. In Italy Antonio Miotto (1912-1997) and Paolo Orano (1875-1945) were the scholars who dealt with these three themes, developing them to different degrees of involvement with the fascist regime. Antonio Miotto remained relatively autonomous from the political lines dictated by fascism. Thus, he articulated an original positive conception of the crowd, contrasting the vision of passive masses to maneuver typical of fascism. He did not express himself in favor of, or against the censorship of the media and the control of public opinion, and developed only after fascism a reflection on the role of political propaganda analyzing examples from totalitarian regimes. On the theme of the race he avoided taking strong and clear positions, although the few statements on the subject were completely in line with the regime's racist ideology. Orano, by contrast, had a marginal interest in the crowds, sharing the negative prejudice typical of the conservative crowd psychology. However, the role of public opinion was widely treated by Orano. It was developed along the lines of fascist totalitarian policy. He was one of the protagonists of this field, coming to found, in 1938, the first Italian center of study of public opinion (Demodoxalogy Center) created with the aim of knowing it, guiding it and controlling it. Even with respect to the theme of the race Orano was completely involved in the fascist racist ideology, devoting considerable energy and bringing his original contribution that can be framed in the point of view in historiography defined as "national-racism". Of these different forms of social psychologies and their role during the fascist regime, there was no trace in the development of the SP that occurred after the Second World War. Post-war Italian social psychology completely removed the contribution of these two psychologists. Only recently has the pre-war social psychology begun to be analyzed by a critical history both centered on the disciplinary and socio-cultural context.

Italian social psychologies and fascist regimes: history of a collective removal / Sensales, Gilda. - (2020), pp. 1-31. [10.1093/acrefore/9780190236557.013.676].

Italian social psychologies and fascist regimes: history of a collective removal

Sensales Gilda
Primo
2020

Abstract

The first Italian social psychologies (SP) showed a pluralism of perspectives that disappeared in subsequent development of the discipline. With the presence of a collective sociological psychology, a philosophical SP, and a psychological SP rooted in the sociocentric dimension, the field appeared variously articulated with a negotiation and a dialogue between different disciplinary approaches for the construction of its identity. This dialogue was destined to be swept away, first, during the fascist period, and then in 1954, with the affirmation of a psychological and experimental SP, sanctioned by the first national congress of SP. However, in Italy, unlike the USA, the SP maintained strong social roots. These roots had been evident already between the end of the nineteenth century and the beginning of the twentieth century, when three central topics for SP were emerging in Europe: crowd psychology, psychology of the public opinion, and race psychology. Each of these topics had a particular role under the totalitarian regimes. In Italy Antonio Miotto (1912-1997) and Paolo Orano (1875-1945) were the scholars who dealt with these three themes, developing them to different degrees of involvement with the fascist regime. Antonio Miotto remained relatively autonomous from the political lines dictated by fascism. Thus, he articulated an original positive conception of the crowd, contrasting the vision of passive masses to maneuver typical of fascism. He did not express himself in favor of, or against the censorship of the media and the control of public opinion, and developed only after fascism a reflection on the role of political propaganda analyzing examples from totalitarian regimes. On the theme of the race he avoided taking strong and clear positions, although the few statements on the subject were completely in line with the regime's racist ideology. Orano, by contrast, had a marginal interest in the crowds, sharing the negative prejudice typical of the conservative crowd psychology. However, the role of public opinion was widely treated by Orano. It was developed along the lines of fascist totalitarian policy. He was one of the protagonists of this field, coming to found, in 1938, the first Italian center of study of public opinion (Demodoxalogy Center) created with the aim of knowing it, guiding it and controlling it. Even with respect to the theme of the race Orano was completely involved in the fascist racist ideology, devoting considerable energy and bringing his original contribution that can be framed in the point of view in historiography defined as "national-racism". Of these different forms of social psychologies and their role during the fascist regime, there was no trace in the development of the SP that occurred after the Second World War. Post-war Italian social psychology completely removed the contribution of these two psychologists. Only recently has the pre-war social psychology begun to be analyzed by a critical history both centered on the disciplinary and socio-cultural context.
2020
The Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Psychology
Italian social psychology; crowd psychology; public opinion; race psychology; Fascism; triangulation models; social representations; new history; narratology; scientometry
02 Pubblicazione su volume::02d Voce di Enciclopedia/Dizionario
Italian social psychologies and fascist regimes: history of a collective removal / Sensales, Gilda. - (2020), pp. 1-31. [10.1093/acrefore/9780190236557.013.676].
File allegati a questo prodotto
File Dimensione Formato  
Sensales_Psychologies-and-Fascist-regimes_2020.pdf

solo gestori archivio

Tipologia: Versione editoriale (versione pubblicata con il layout dell'editore)
Licenza: Tutti i diritti riservati (All rights reserved)
Dimensione 2.08 MB
Formato Adobe PDF
2.08 MB Adobe PDF   Contatta l'autore

I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.

Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/11573/1424059
Citazioni
  • ???jsp.display-item.citation.pmc??? ND
  • Scopus ND
  • ???jsp.display-item.citation.isi??? ND
social impact