"I wanted to make this philosopher alive, and wanted to really explain why for 19th Century Europeans his philosophy, that talks about the dramatic political and historical change at the time, helped intellectuals making sense of what was going on around them"
This month, Dr Fernanda Gallo, Associate Professor in History and Politics at Homerton College, launched her latest book, 'Hegel and Italian Political Thought: The Practice of Ideas, 1832-1900', at the Cambridge University Press Bookshop on Trinity Street in Cambridge.
The book, which is Dr Gallo's second monograph, examines Italy in the nineteenth century, and the generation of intellectuals who engaged with Hegel's philosophy while actively participating in Italian political life. Tracing the reception and transformation of these ideas, Dr Gallo explores how Hegelian concepts were reworked into political practices by Italians who had participated in the 1848 revolution, who would lead the new Italian State after unification, and who would continue to play a central role in Italian politics until the end of the century.
In attendance at the launch were fellow academics, as well as Fernanda's family, friends and colleagues from Homerton College, with Homerton Principal Lord Simon Woolley, Homerton Politics Fellow Dr Robin Bunce, and Postgraduate Tutor and Director of Studies for History and Philosophy of Science Dr Melanie Keene, there to show their support, amongst others.
Drinks and canapés were in full flow, with heartfelt and insightful speeches from Fernanda's colleagues Prof Richard Bourke and Dr Jessica Patterson (Homerton Alumna), concluding with a few words from Dr Gallo herself who said:
"I wanted to make this philosopher alive, and wanted to really explain why for 19th Century Europeans his philosophy, that talks about the dramatic political and historical change at the time, helped intellectuals making sense of what was going on around them"
"History is not the liner path towards happiness and freedom that people believed during the Enlightenment, history has both progress and decay, it moves on and goes back but this doesn't mean it loses that element of rationality on which we can rely to move on."
Hegel and Italian Political Thought: The Practice of Ideas, 1832-1900 can be purchased from Cambridge University Press.
