Università di Torino, Dipartimento di Culture, Politica e Società 12-13/03/2026

Argument

The seminar “Colonial Communities” in the Mediterranean between Italian Unification and the Occupation of Libya seeks to address a still relatively unexplored topic: the study of Italian communities abroad, with particular attention to the Mediterranean world in the period between national unification (1861) and the occupation of Libya (1911). At the core of this reflection lies the close, and not merely chronological, relationship between the migratory dynamics that characterized the early decades of unified Italy and the rise of colonial expansionism. The seminar therefore aims to investigate this connection through the specific lens offered by the Italian presence in North Africa and in the Ottoman Empire before the occupation of Libya.

While historiography has devoted considerable attention to the military, political, and cultural history of formal colonialism, less emphasis has been placed on the dynamics linking migration, informal colonial practices, and the presence of Italian communities in the Mediterranean—not only consuls and ambassadors, but also workers and political exiles.

A key starting point will be a critical reflection on the meaning of the term colony. In official documents and contemporary publications, it was commonly used to designate communities of expatriates (Italian or European) settled beyond the homeland; yet, in the specific historical and geographical context of the Mediterranean, its semantic boundaries expanded and, to some extent, shifted. The progressive European commercial, diplomatic, and military expansion, combined with the weakness of local national and supranational governments from the mid-nineteenth century onward, transformed these settlements into something more complex than mere communities culturally tied to the mother country.

In the Italian case, three factors contributed to this transformation. The first, legal in nature, concerns the regime of extraterritoriality stemming from the Capitulations; the second, ideological, is reflected in the expansionist projects advanced by Risorgimento-era political and intellectual figures—from both the pre-unification states and the Kingdom of Italy—toward Tunisia and, to a lesser extent, Egypt. Finally, the third, political, relates to the role played by consuls and colonial elites in shaping the metropolitan government’s decisions in the Mediterranean.

Two main axes of inquiry will therefore be privileged. The first aims to understand the role—both cultural and political—that the metropolis assigned to its Mediterranean “colonies” within its regional expansion policy and in the broader competition among European powers for influence over the Mediterranean and Africa. The second focuses on the self-perception of Italians—men and women, citizens and individuals under consular protection, members of elites and popular classes alike—and on how they understood their own presence, particularly in relation to local populations. These aspects will be framed within a comparative perspective encompassing the wider Italian presence in Africa and the Americas, in order to highlight both convergences and divergences.

The objective of the conference is to systematize research that remains fragmented across different disciplines and historiographical traditions, while foregrounding the specificities of the Italian historical trajectory and, at the same time, situating it within a broader international dialogue. By focusing on these “Mediterranean colonies,” the conference seeks to open new avenues of research at the crossroads of Italian history, migration studies, colonial and postcolonial studies, and Mediterranean and global history. Bringing together diverse disciplinary approaches, heterogeneous sources, and comparative methodologies, it aims to foster the development of new scholarship on migration, colonialism, and transnationalism—stimulating international research on Italy’s role in global and colonial history and offering an interdisciplinary perspective that resonates strongly with contemporary debates on mobility, identity, and cultural encounters.

Keynote

Keynote speech by Nicola Labanca (Università di Siena)

Submission guidelines

To apply as a speaker, candidates are required to submit a proposal including title, affiliation, abstract (maximum 400 words), and a short bio (maximum 100 words) by 1/12/2026 to the following email address: comunitacoloniali@gmail.com

Grants

SISSCO will provide a number of grants of €150 each, intended to cover fully or partially the expenses of scholars under the age of 40 who are not in permanent academic positions and do not have access to other sources of funding, in order to facilitate their participation in the seminar as speakers. Applicants wishing to be considered for this support are asked to include a short explanatory note (maximum 200 words) outlining the reasons for their request and specifying how the funds would be used. Reimbursement will be made after the conference upon submission of receipts.

Seminar

The seminar is organized with the support of the Italian Society for the Study of Contemporary History (SISSCO), the Association for the Study of Modern Italy (ASMI), and the University of Turin, Department of Cultures, Politics and Society.

The event is open to all.

Organizing Committee

Beatrice Falcucci (Universitat Pompeu Fabra Barcelona – Università degli Studi di Firenze) and Costantino Paonessa (Università di Torino).