The transformative power of Europe for Italian politics and policy has conventionally been taken as a positive and irreversible consequence of the “vincolo esterno”. Books with titles such as “Saved by Europe” and “Condemned to Success” highlighted the extent to which Italy’s long and difficult modernization process had finally found the catalyst that would bring about its conclusion. The current financial crisis, with Italy as potentially the lynchpin, has highlighted that, perhaps, we need to re-assess the extent to which this transformation and modernization has taken place. Taking arguments about the transformative power of Europe, and differentiated integration, it will argue that political and societal factors at the national level remain the key variable for understanding modernization. Italy presents a good case not only because it is central for the survival of the euro but also because it has often been used as the test case for the power of the “vincolo esterno”, both by political elites and academic research. The paper will look to identify which factors facilitate transformation in which areas.
P.S. The web page would not allow me to put the name of my co-author.
Marco Brunazzo
University of Trento (Italy)
marco.brunazzo@unitn.it
