The 150th anniversary of the unification of Italy provided the Aspen Junior Fellows with a renewed opportunity at their Annual Conference to reflect on and bear witness to the country’s quintessential values, as well as celebrating the group’s tenth anniversary. The theme of the Conference, “Celebrating Italy’s 150th anniversary: the country’s youth, history and future”, was tackled in a debate which focused on three areas of discussion, namely: Italy’s shared values, historical memory and future; the economic challenges entailed in reconciling liberalism and social welfare, particularly as regards employment and the prospects of Italian youth; and promoting the country’s national identity in a multicultural society and Italy in a global market.
The Conference brought together seventy Aspen Junior Fellows in a debate divided into three sessions. In the first of these, entitled “A changing Italy: the country as it once was and as it will be”, current events were considered in light of a rereading of the values embodied in the country’s recent history and in leading figures such as Cattaneo, Sella, Stringher, Beneduce, Einaudi, De Gasperi, Vanoni, La Malfa and Malagodi, as well as entrepreneurs such as Mattei, Agnelli and Pirelli. These were seen as providing role models that should serve to encourage the engagement of Italian youth in the public and political life of the country – an engagement which must ensure that necessary reforms continue to be pursued notwithstanding successive changes of government. The stumbling blocks discussed in this regard included the persistence of a corporatist culture, and the inefficiency of the Italian bureaucracy and civil justice system. The country’s impending fiscal federalism was viewed by the participants as providing both an opportunity for recognition of Italy’s diversity and an effective response to unresolved national problems, such as the underdevelopment of the country’s southern regions.
The second session, on “Italy’s economy and institutions”, focused on economic relations and the competing demands of the market and democracy, and of liberalism and welfare. Special attention was paid to the issues of the employment prospects on offer in the current crisis – particularly for young people – and the recognition of merit. The proposals put forward during the debate hinged on addressing Italy’s North-South divide and the need for efforts to ensure that contractual relationships which promote flexicurity (reconciling flexibility with social security) become the norm. The pivotal importance of the values of subsidiarity and solidarity between generations also met with the consensus of the participants.
The third and last session, “Us and them: Italy in a globalized world”, saw the participants examine the impacts on Italy of the challenges of internationalization and the increasing pace of change. Emphasis was laid on the need for a European Union policy that compellingly encapsulates the various national interests of the Member States, in a world where individual countries no longer have the economic might to compete on their own. It was recalled, however, that weighed against this is the fact that Italy has great resources to draw on, including its manufacturing capacity and the way its as-yet unrivaled aesthetic values are manifested and conveyed in the products the country produces.
