Politics and Symbols: The Italian Communist Party and the Fall of Communism

Description

In the wake of the fall of the Berlin wall, and with the Communist regimes of Eastern Europe collapsing, Italian Communist Party (PCI) head Achille Occhetto shocked his party in 1989 by insisting that the PCI jettison its old name and become something new. This dramatic book tells of the ensuing struggle within the PCI, which at the time was Italy's second-largest party and the most powerful Communist party in the West. David I. Kertzer's vivid depiction of the conflict brings to life the tactics that party factions employed and the anguish of party members for whom Communism was the core of their identity. Kertzer also tells a larger story from an anthropologist's perspective: the story of the importance of symbols, myths, and rituals in modern politics. Those who seek dramatic political change, Kertzer contends, must remake history. He recounts how those who succeeded in transforming the PCI into the new Democratic Party of the Left effectively used ritual and manipulated political symbols. Bringing the views of Antonio Gramsci, Pierre Bourdieu, Michel Foucault, and other political thinkers into his discussion, Kertzer explores theoretical issues involving the relation between symbolism and political power, concluding that modern politics is fundamentally a struggle over symbols and the redefinition of history. 4283_001_page0001_1L 4283_001_page0001_2R 4283_001_page0002_1L 4283_001_page0002_2R 4283_001_page0003_1L 4283_001_page0003_2R 4283_001_page0004_1L 4283_001_page0004_2R 4283_001_page0005_1L 4283_001_page0005_2R 4283_001_page0006_1L 4283_001_page0006_2R 4283_001_page0007_1L 4283_001_page0007_2R 4283_001_page0008_1L 4283_001_page0008_2R 4283_001_page0009_1L 4283_001_page0009_2R 4283_001_page0010_1L 4283_001_page0010_2R 4283_001_page0011_1L 4283_001_page0011_2R 4283_001_page0012_1L 4283_001_page0012_2R 4283_001_page0013_1L 4283_001_page0013_2R 4283_001_page0014_1L 4283_001_page0014_2R 4283_001_page0015_1L 4283_001_page0015_2R 4283_001_page0016_1L 4283_001_page0016_2R 4283_001_page0017_1L 4283_001_page0017_2R 4283_001_page0018_1L 4283_001_page0018_2R 4283_001_page0019_1L 4283_001_page0019_2R 4283_001_page0020_1L 4283_001_page0020_2R 4283_001_page0021_1L 4283_001_page0021_2R 4283_001_page0022_1L 4283_001_page0022_2R 4283_001_page0023_1L 4283_001_page0023_2R 4283_001_page0024_1L 4283_001_page0024_2R