Giuseppe Giarrizzo e la storia urbana come storia politica: Catania, 1986

The essay notes how, in the history of contemporary Catania (1860-1980), written by Giuseppe Giarrizzo in 1986 for Laterza publishers, the application of a paradigm of political history succeeds in combining urban space and political-social activity together, anticipating methodological approaches that were to only be established in the mid-90s. Giarrizzo approach privileges the political dimension in that it is capable (or incapable) of ‘regulating’ the complex and contradictory processes of urban growth. Cultural models, spatial articulations, social topography and economic processes are observed from the point of view of political activity which is responsible for identifying a possible urban balance and defining a shared identity.