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Interpretive approaches and the study of Italian politics

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  12 January 2016

James L. Newell
James L. Newell*
Affiliation:
European Studies Research Institute, University of Salford, Salford M5 4WT. Telephone: 0161 295 5660, Fax 0161 295 5077. E-mail: [email protected]
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Extract

This article asks why, despite their doubtful utility, the categories used in accounts of contemporary Italian politics are almost universally negative in character. It is suggested that at least part of the explanation has to do with the ontological and epistemological assumptions informing the accounts, together with the social circumstances that have given rise to their production. More fruitful, less uncritically negative analyses require the adoption of approaches informed by alternative ontologies and epistemologies, that is, interpretive approaches. These seek to account for social phenomena by rendering intelligible the meaningful action in which the latter are rooted and, as the example of corruption shows, yield less negative accounts by allowing researchers to imagine themselves acting, given similar circumstances, in ways similar to those they study.

Type
Contexts and Debates
Information
Modern Italy , Volume 9 , Issue 2: Special Issue: Italy in the EU: pigmy or giant? The role of Italian actors in EU policy-making , November 2004 , pp. 247 - 261
Copyright
Copyright © Association for the study of Modern Italy 

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References

Notes

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