Maurizio Isabella
Queen Mary, University of London, History, Faculty Member
- Harvard University, Center for European Studies, Department Memberadd
- History, Intellectual History, Cultural History, Political Philosophy, Re-imagining Democracy 18th-19th Centuries, Liberalism, and 17 moreLiberalism and Republicanism, Transnational and World History, Modern Italian History, Exile, Risorgimento, Italian Risorgimento, History of Political Thought, Italian Studies, Italian Literature, Mediterranean Studies, History of the Mediterranean, Nineteenth Century Studies, Southern Europe, Modern European History, Cultural Studies, Global History, and Global Intellectual Historyedit
This talk addresses the question of what revolutions were by looking at the way in which they were conceived, understood and performed by historical actors in the early 19th century. It does so by discussing a wave of uprisings demanding... more
This talk addresses the question of what revolutions were by looking at the way in which they were conceived, understood and performed by historical actors in the early 19th century. It does so by discussing a wave of uprisings demanding the introduction of constitutions that broke out in Portugal, Spain, Piedmont, Naples and the Ottoman Empire in the 1820s. By so doing, it points to an alternative chronology and geography of the European age of revolutions that questions existing historical narratives, based on 1789, 1830 and 1848 and centered around France.
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Research Interests: European History, Italian (European History), Revolutions, Early Modern Portuguese History, Mediterranean Studies, and 7 moreModern Greece, The Age of Revolutions in the Atlantic World, Liberalism and Republicanism, Early modern Spain, Italian Risorgimento, The European Revolutions of 1848, and Greek Revolution
Chapter 4 of "Mediterranean Diasporas"
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Mediterranean Diasporas looks at the relationship between displacement and the circulation of ideas within and from the Mediterranean basin. In bringing together leading historians of ideas and nationalism working on Southern Europe, the... more
Mediterranean Diasporas looks at the relationship between displacement and the circulation of ideas within and from the Mediterranean basin. In bringing together leading historians of ideas and nationalism working on Southern Europe, the Balkans, the Middle East and North Africa for the first time, it builds bridges across national historiographies, raises a number of comparative questions and unveils unexplored intellectual connections and ideological formulations. As the book shows, in the so-called age of nationalism, the idea of the nation state was by no means dominant, as displaced intellectuals and migrant communities developed notions of double national affiliations. By adopting the Mediterranean as a framework of analysis, the contributors offer a fresh contribution to the growing field of transnational and global intellectual history, revising the genealogy of 19th-century nationalism, and reveal new perspectives on the intellectual dynamics of the age of revolutions. This book puts the Mediterranean space back into a broader transnational context, and as such will be of interest to anyone studying or researching the region, as well as anyone with an interest in the history of nationalism and the global circulation of ideas.
See http://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/mediterranean-diasporas-9781472576668/
See http://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/mediterranean-diasporas-9781472576668/
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Research Interests: Greek History, Transnational and World History, Liberalism, Nationalism, Exile, and 10 moreHistory of Political Thought, Latin American History, Diaspora Studies, Risorgimento, Liberalism and Republicanism, Diaspora and transnationalism, History of Nationalism and Nation-Building, Spanish American Independence, Society and Politics 19th Century Latin America, Italian Risorgimento, and Re-imagining Democracy 18th-19th Centuries
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Research Interests: Intellectual History, Ottoman History, Italian (European History), History of Religion, Portuguese Studies, and 11 moreFrench Revolution, Spanish History, History of Political Thought, 18th & 19th Centuries, Church History, History of the Mediterranean, The Age of Revolutions in the Atlantic World, European intellectual history, Modern European History, The European Revolutions of 1848, and Greek Revolution
Historians of liberalism have tended to ignore or underplay the contribution of southern Europe. However, in the 1820s this part of the world was at the forefront of the struggle for liberal values. This essay explores the relationship... more
Historians of liberalism have tended to ignore or underplay the contribution of southern Europe. However, in the 1820s this part of the world was at the forefront of the struggle
for liberal values. This essay explores the relationship between constitutional culture and religion during the liberal revolutionary wave that affected Portugal, Spain, the
Italian peninsula and Greece, by examining parliamentary debates, the revolutionary press, literature targeting the masses, religious sermons and exile writings. It argues
that rather than rejecting religion, liberals strove to find an accommodation between their values and revealed truth—they were convinced that no society could survive
without religious morality. In this way, they developed a variety of religious attitudes that ranged from deism to forms of crypto-Protestantism without abandoning their
established religions. At the same time, although they defended individual rights and freedom of expression against the opposition of the churches, and argued for reformed
and enlightened forms of religiosity, most of them considered the religious uniformity of their societies advantageous and even opposed religious toleration.
for liberal values. This essay explores the relationship between constitutional culture and religion during the liberal revolutionary wave that affected Portugal, Spain, the
Italian peninsula and Greece, by examining parliamentary debates, the revolutionary press, literature targeting the masses, religious sermons and exile writings. It argues
that rather than rejecting religion, liberals strove to find an accommodation between their values and revealed truth—they were convinced that no society could survive
without religious morality. In this way, they developed a variety of religious attitudes that ranged from deism to forms of crypto-Protestantism without abandoning their
established religions. At the same time, although they defended individual rights and freedom of expression against the opposition of the churches, and argued for reformed
and enlightened forms of religiosity, most of them considered the religious uniformity of their societies advantageous and even opposed religious toleration.
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The paper discusses the political thought of Cesare Balbo (1789–1853), a leading Risorgimento moderate liberal and politician, in the context of the efforts by the Piedmontese political elite to support and legitimise the constitutional... more
The paper discusses the political thought of Cesare Balbo (1789–1853), a leading Risorgimento moderate liberal and politician, in the context of the efforts by the Piedmontese political elite to support and legitimise the constitutional regime introduced by King Charles Albert in 1848. Revising current interpretations of Risorgimento moderate liberalism as backward and provincial, it seeks to locate the political thought of Balbo and his colleagues at the heart of contemporary European, and particularly French, debates regarding liberty and aristocracy. In particular, it argues that the views of Balbo and more broadly Piedmontese moderate liberals on centralisation, the importance of a social elite to defend freedom, and equalisation, were conversant with the ideas of Guizot, Chateaubriand, Burke and Tocqueville. Their harsh condemnation of republican virtue, on the other hand, rendered their liberalism peculiar in the Italian context, where Tuscan moderate liberals continued to resort to the language of civic humanism after 1848 to defend their political and social model.
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The article discusses the way in which liberals conceived the relationship between freedom of the press, political liberty, and the Risorgimento. It argues that while all Risorgimento patriots advocated the introduction of freedom of the... more
The article discusses the way in which liberals conceived the relationship between freedom of the press, political liberty, and the Risorgimento. It argues that while all Risorgimento patriots advocated the introduction of freedom of the press, and saw it as a precondition for the success of their programmes, they also held different views on its applicability. While early liberals like Giuseppe Pecchio and Ugo Foscolo, in tune with the ideas of Benjamin Constant, were in favour of the largest possible freedom of speech, Italian moderates were less convinced of the benefits of an unchecked proliferation of political media. In line with the ideas of the French doctrinaires, Cesare Balbo, Vincenzo Gioberti, Terenzio Mamiani and Carlo Farini insisted on the pedagogical role of the press, and on the need to prevent it from becoming an instrument in the hands of democratic leaders and demagogues, one that would lead either to the proliferation of factions or to the establishment of a dictatorship of the majority.
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The aim of this article is to analyse the main economic and political writings of Giuseppe Pecchio (1785–1835), a Lombard economist and former Napoleonic civil servant who, after the failed uprising of 1821 in Milan, spent most of his... more
The aim of this article is to analyse the main economic and political writings of Giuseppe Pecchio (1785–1835), a Lombard economist and former Napoleonic civil servant who, after the failed uprising of 1821 in Milan, spent most of his life in exile in England. Against previous interpretations dating back to contemporary reviewers, it is argued that Pecchio was an admirer
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12 Décembre 2017, 17h-19h
Salle d'Histoire
Séminaire « L'histoire transnationale et globale. Actualités de la recherche »
ECOLE NORMALE SUPERIEURE, RUE D'ULM, PARIS
Salle d'Histoire
Séminaire « L'histoire transnationale et globale. Actualités de la recherche »
ECOLE NORMALE SUPERIEURE, RUE D'ULM, PARIS
Research Interests: Italian Studies, Transnational and World History, French Revolution, Mediterranean Studies, 19th century France, and 8 moreGlobal History, The Age of Revolutions in the Atlantic World, French Revolution and Napoleon, Risorgimento, Modern European History, Italian Risorgimento, Historia política y diplomática independencia iberoamericana, and Europe in the Age of Revolution and Napoleon, 1780-1815
In recent years, the Mediterranean had a comeback in historiography and other related disciplines. Many of the recent studies however distance from Braudel’s concept of mediterranée. They prefer promoting histories in the Mediterranean... more
In recent years, the Mediterranean had a comeback in
historiography and other related disciplines. Many of the recent studies however distance from Braudel’s concept of mediterranée.
They prefer promoting histories in the Mediterranean instead of histories of the Mediterranean. Is the unity of the Mediterranean of a merely fictitious character or can it still serve, at least in its less pretentious adjective form, as a useful category of historical analysis? Did the circulation of political ideas, in particular liberal ideas, which national diaspora disseminated over the long nineteenth century, substantiate a Mediterranean political unity? Are the Mediterranean islands an example for separated pluralities, or not rather for a multi-layered connectivity? Has the Mediterranean become a ‘sea of risks’? How do migrants who cross the Mediterranean, and those who depart from its rims to
Northern Europe, experience and represent the maritime space? What remains of the claims for Mediterranean unity when it comes to the EU migration politics? The participants of the workshop will address these and other related questions.
historiography and other related disciplines. Many of the recent studies however distance from Braudel’s concept of mediterranée.
They prefer promoting histories in the Mediterranean instead of histories of the Mediterranean. Is the unity of the Mediterranean of a merely fictitious character or can it still serve, at least in its less pretentious adjective form, as a useful category of historical analysis? Did the circulation of political ideas, in particular liberal ideas, which national diaspora disseminated over the long nineteenth century, substantiate a Mediterranean political unity? Are the Mediterranean islands an example for separated pluralities, or not rather for a multi-layered connectivity? Has the Mediterranean become a ‘sea of risks’? How do migrants who cross the Mediterranean, and those who depart from its rims to
Northern Europe, experience and represent the maritime space? What remains of the claims for Mediterranean unity when it comes to the EU migration politics? The participants of the workshop will address these and other related questions.
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Dalla storia dell'impero alla World History, giornata di studi su itinerario storiografico di Christopher Bayly, Napoli, 10 marzo
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A round table discussion at the IEA on Mediterranean Diasporas,Ideas and Politics in the long Nineteenth Century, with Keith Baker, Bernard Heiberger, Wolfgang Kaiser, Antonis Liakos, Ali Yaycioglu, Konstantia Zanou, Maurizio Isabella
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A conversation between Maurizio Isabella and Holly Case, Brown University,
Friday , 9 April, 12 PM EDT (17 BST)
Register on Zoon at the link below
Friday , 9 April, 12 PM EDT (17 BST)
Register on Zoon at the link below
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Rethinking 19th century history from Latin America to the Mediterranean In conversation with Gabriel Paquette and Konstantina Zanou February 24, 12.15 New York (EST) time. Videorecording available at this link... more
Rethinking 19th century history from Latin America to the Mediterranean
In conversation with Gabriel Paquette and Konstantina Zanou
February 24, 12.15 New York (EST) time.
Videorecording available at this link
https://us02web.zoom.us/rec/share/WC_Pkdu9_umlMZ_3A13ffiK2nGHxMxD4sIxkvn6ay6Gjttegxz1xN-4TP6vVzNVR.7JkuIuGnMVLwuIAj
In conversation with Gabriel Paquette and Konstantina Zanou
February 24, 12.15 New York (EST) time.
Videorecording available at this link
https://us02web.zoom.us/rec/share/WC_Pkdu9_umlMZ_3A13ffiK2nGHxMxD4sIxkvn6ay6Gjttegxz1xN-4TP6vVzNVR.7JkuIuGnMVLwuIAj
Research Interests: Modern History, Greek History, Southern Europe, Modern Italian History, Nineteenth Century Studies, and 15 moreLiberalism, Mediterranean, Modern Greece, Global History, 19th Century (History), History of the Portuguese Empire, The Age of Revolutions in the Atlantic World, French Revolution and Napoleon, Risorgimento, Contemporary History of Spain, Portugal (History), Constitutional History, Spanish empire, Liberalismo, and Independencias Hispanoamericanas
Las invasiones napoleónicas y los conflictos entre imperios que impulsaron, produje-ron un conjunto de crisis políticas que afectaron el sur de Europa, el Mediterráneo y los Balcanes, y desencadenaron un ciclo de revolución y... more
Las invasiones napoleónicas y los conflictos entre imperios que impulsaron, produje-ron un conjunto de crisis políticas que afectaron el sur de Europa, el Mediterráneo y los Balcanes, y desencadenaron un ciclo de revolución y contrarrevolución durante la mayor parte del siglo xix. Este coloquio pretende explorar las relaciones entre revolución y contrarrevolución en Portugal, España, Francia, los Estados italianos y el Imperio otomano entre finales del siglo xviii y la segunda mitad del siglo xix. Estos fenómenos comparten una serie de características notoriamente similares, y solo pueden enten-derse plenamente de forma interrelacionada: produjeron nuevas ideologías; fueron ca-paces de movilizar a sectores sustanciales de la sociedad; trajeron consigo una nueva comprensión de la relación entre la Iglesia, el Estado y la religión; y se intrincaron entre sí tanto a nivel local como a nivel trans-regional. En aquellos contextos políticos en los que los enfrentamientos ideológicos producidos por la Revolución francesa no fueron tan relevantes, como en el mundo Otomano, es difícil distinguir la revolución de la contrarrevolución, acontecimientos similarmente desencadenados por el cambio de régimen y por las reformas. Finalmente, tanto las revoluciones como la contrarrevolu-ción fueron el producto de — y produjeron a su vez — un conjunto de crisis territoriales y guerras civiles apuntaladas por una pluralidad de reivindicaciones y proyectos polí-ticos. Al explorar estos fenómenos, el coloquio quiere ofrecer oportunidades para su comprensión de forma comparativa y transnacional. Les invasions napoléoniennes, et les conflits entre empires qu'elles ont impulsés, ont produit un ensemble de crises politiques qui ont affecté l'Europe du Sud, la Méditerra-née et les Balkans, et ont déclenché un cycle de révolution et de contre-révolution pendant la majeure partie du xix e siècle. Ce colloque a pour objectif d'explorer les relations entre la révolution et la contre-révolution au Portugal, en Espagne, en France, dans les États italiens et dans l'Empire ottoman entre la fin du xviii e et la seconde moitié du xix e siècle. Ces phénomènes partagent un certain nombre de caractéristiques notoirement similaires et ne peuvent être pleinement compris que de manière interdépendante : ils ont produit de nouvelles idéologies; ils ont ont été capables de mobiliser des secteurs substantiels de la société, ils ont apporté avec eux une nouvelle compréhension des relations entre l'Église, l'État et la religion, et ils se sont immiscés l'un dans l'autre tant au niveau local que transrégional. Dans les contextes politiques où les affrontements idéologiques produits par la Révolution française ne furent pas aussi pertinants que dans le monde ottoman, il est difficile de distinguer la révolution de la contre-révo-lution, événements déclenchés de la même manière par le changement de régime et les réformes. Enfin, les révolutions et les contre-révolutions sont le produit et ont produit un ensemble de crises territoriales et de guerres civiles, étayées par une plu-ralité de revendications et de projets politiques. Ce colloque a pour objectif d'offrir une meilleure compréhension de ces phénomènes dans une perspective comparatiste et transnationale.
Research Interests: European History, Greek History, Southern Europe, Latin American and Caribbean History, Modern Italian History, and 14 moreItalian Studies, Portuguese History, Revolutions, Liberalism, French Revolution, Spanish History, Mediterranean Studies, History Portuguese and Spanish, 19th Century (History), The Age of Revolutions in the Atlantic World, Risorgimento, Atlantic history, Contemporary History of Spain, and Counterrevolution
El período de gobierno constitucional que vivió España entre el pronunciamien-to de Riego en enero de 1820 y la reintroducción del absolutismo tres años más tarde gracias a la intervención militar francesa, se ha considerado a menudo como... more
El período de gobierno constitucional que vivió España entre el pronunciamien-to de Riego en enero de 1820 y la reintroducción del absolutismo tres años más tarde gracias a la intervención militar francesa, se ha considerado a menudo como un momento paradigmático en la historia española. Sin embargo, los his-toriadores han tendido a considerar el Trienio Constitucional como una oportu-nidad perdida para la modernización del país. Este fracaso se relaciona con la supuesta debilidad de la tradición revolucionaria española, una debilidad aso-ciada a la escasa participación popular y a una base social limitada, así como a la naturaleza conservadora de su liderazgo revolucionario. Al alejarse de este paradigma, esta jornada de estudios explora la naturaleza y el alcance de la mo-vilización popular durante el período y ubica este experimento revolucionario en un marco transnacional. Analizando la experiencia española en relación con debates europeos y transatlánticos más amplios, este encuentro espera ofrecer nuevas pautas interpretativas sobre la naturaleza polémica de la cultura consti-tucional española y sobre su relación con otros movimientos liberales extranje-ros. Considerará también las limitaciones impuestas a sus actores políticos por las resistencias locales y por el contexto diplomático y financiero, así como las formas en que los revolucionarios españoles trataron de superarlos. La période qui correspond en Espagne au Gouvernement Constitutionnel, entre le coup d'état de Riego en 1820 et la restauration de l'absolutisme trois ans plus tard, suite à l'intervention militaire française, a souvent été considérée comme un moment charnière dans l'Histoire de l'Espagne. En effet, les historiens ont eu tendance à considérer le Trienio Constitutionnel comme une occasion manquée d'un tournant décisif de modernisation de l'Espagne. Cet échec a été imputé à une absence de tradition révolutionnaire et à une faible participation popu-laire, ainsi qu'à la nature conservatrice de l'élan révolutionnaire. Cette journée d'étude a donc pour objectif d'analyser la nature et la portée des mouvements de mobilisation populaire ; elle souhaite également situer cette expérience révolutionnaire dans un cadre transnational. En abordant l'expérience espa-gnole au prisme des débats européens et transatlantiques plus amples, cette rencontre entend offrir de nouvelles perspectives d'interprétation concernant à la fois la nature controversée de la culture constitutionnelle espagnole et ses liens avec d'autres mouvements libéraux étrangers. Cette réflexion collective prendra notamment en compte les contraintes imposées aux acteurs politiques par les résistances locales, le contexte diplomatique et financier, et la manière dont les révolutionnaires espagnols ont tenté d'y faire face.
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"This volume is not just enlightening but potentially liberating: there is, it turns out, more than one way to take control, at least at the level of ideas"
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This round table discusses a collection that explores the circulation of ideas across and beyond the Mediterranean in the long nineteenth century, a space normally consigned to the margins of historiographical concerns and studied in... more
This round table discusses a collection that explores the circulation of ideas across and beyond the Mediterranean in the long nineteenth century, a space normally consigned to the margins of historiographical concerns and studied in discrete geographical areas. The commentators agree that the diasporic approach centred on biography taken by the collection demonstrates the existence of a plurality of liberal strands and political projects, highlights the importance of exchanges between European peripheries like Russia, the Adriatic and Greece, and challenges the notion of the derivative nature of eastern and oriental political culture. At the same time, the round table suggests new paths for future research, pointing to the desirability of producing a transnational conceptual history of liberalism that connects and compares East and West, and of applying the same transnational methodological approach to other seas.
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The talk uses the 1820 revolution in Palermo as a starting point to explore the different ways in which Italian history can be reinserted into the history of the Mediterranean and its global context.
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SISSCO Conference, Macerata, Keynote, 16 September 2016
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History Faculty, Oxford, 6 February, 5 PM: John-Paul Ghobrial, Abigail Green, Giuseppe Marcocci, and Eduardo Posada-Carbó will be in conversation with Maurizio Isabella about his new book, Southern Europe in the Age of Revolutions... more
History Faculty, Oxford, 6 February, 5 PM:
John-Paul Ghobrial, Abigail Green, Giuseppe Marcocci, and Eduardo Posada-Carbó will be in conversation with Maurizio Isabella about his new book, Southern Europe in the Age of Revolutions (Princeton University Press, 2023)
https://www.history.ox.ac.uk/event/roundtable-discussion-of-southern-europe-in-the-age-of-revolutions-in-conversation-with-profes
John-Paul Ghobrial, Abigail Green, Giuseppe Marcocci, and Eduardo Posada-Carbó will be in conversation with Maurizio Isabella about his new book, Southern Europe in the Age of Revolutions (Princeton University Press, 2023)
https://www.history.ox.ac.uk/event/roundtable-discussion-of-southern-europe-in-the-age-of-revolutions-in-conversation-with-profes