As a lead-in to the discussions at this ASL session, it was remarked that historians pithily term any major turning points – whether they be single events or prolonged phenomena – which are capable of bringing about an irreversible change in the destiny of mankind as “interludes”. The participants felt that this expression, far from being hyperbolic, lends itself well to describing the global scenario that has come to define the last twenty years – a scenario first marked by the combined effect of globalization, technological revolution and the emergence of new key players on the international stage, and then by the worst financial and economic crisis in recent history. Serving as a backdrop to this has been a demographic revolution, which, in much of the West, has translated into a progressive aging of the population and a substantial increase in migration flows, with readily imaginable consequences on the continued viability of the old welfare-state model and on forecasts for the universalization of the social rights, cohesion and welfare that underpin that model.
It was noted that in Italy these global trends have over the last decade been accompanied by stalled economic growth that has led many commentators to warn with increasing insistence of the risk of decline for the country’s economy as a whole. More recently, this outlook of prospective decline, along with the practical effects of the crisis on the real economy and jobs, as well as a period of marked political conflict, have contributed to a growing sense of insecurity and mistrust predominantly among those segments of society excluded from that “bulwark of rights” constructed by degrees throughout the twentieth century, including unemployed or underemployed youth, women marginalized in the labor market or forced into acting as a back-up social safety net by new forms of family organization, and elderly people increasingly drifting towards marginality and hardship. These are society’s new ‘vulnerable’ classes: millions of citizens for whom the system no longer seems capable of providing protection and opportunities for fulfillment.
In terms of social psychology, it was suggested that this vulnerability – though on paper constituting an inescapable yet useful trait of human nature for the crucial purposes of reflecting reality – risks spilling over into uncertainty, disillusionment, fear or even anger if its rate of intensity exceeds the critical threshold of normality. This happens, for instance, when resources are unexpectedly cut back, where safety nets suddenly disappear, where institutions charged with reducing inequalities and promoting wellbeing can no longer be counted on, or in the case of events perceived as random and uncontrollable, such as natural disasters or terrorist attacks. Faced with these possible consequences, political leaders have a responsibility to defuse conflicts and try to transform the vulnerability of the individual into a new level of social engagement, based on improving relations between people with a view to achieving shared goals of cohesion, equity, and widespread prosperity.
It was stressed that whatever the metrics to be adopted and the countermeasures to be implemented, only the individual who is integrated within a solid network of concentric relationships – “homo relatus”, to draw on a conceptualization attributable to the ongoing debate over the encyclical Caritas in Veritate – can reasonably make efforts to overcome the uncertainties he or she faces. This is true not just with respect to change impacting on everyday life that has taken place or is underway, but also, on closer reflection, change which is expected or promised yet never seems to arrive. A case in point in this regard are the frustrated expectations of an entire generation hamstrung by a chronic lack of social mobility and meritocracy, the never-ending postponement of structural reforms deemed crucial to unleash the potential of the country, return it to growth and ensure equal opportunities for all (particularly as between the sexes), and the entrenched inability to resolve the question of Italy’s North/South divide.
In conclusion, the participants emphasized that what stands out in each of these cases – and at any rate looms large in the search for a new yet-to-be-formulated development model (which in truth is an issue affecting most Western societies) – seems to be the still sadly-unmet demand for a plan for the future of the country: a future conceived not as a static right, but as a painstakingly-built and forward-looking construct, marked by clear goals and above all driven by a mission to which the whole of society subscribes.