Beyond <i>Va Pensiero</i> and the <i>Prison Notebooks.</i> Fernanda Gallo Explains Why Modern Italian Political Thought Can Be Best Understood Through the Reception of Hegel

The review considers Fernanda Gallo's Hegel and Italian Political Thought against the background of common conceptions of Italian political thought. It reconstructs how Hegelian philosophy shaped three generations of Italian thinkers during Italy's unification and modernization (1832-1900). Challenging Anglophone historiography's focus on Mazzini and Gramsci, Gallo demonstrates how diverse political actors–from Southern revolutionaries to Northern liberals, from Marxists to fascists–drew upon Hegel's ideas to articulate competing visions of Italian nationhood. Beginning with the surprising Russian origins of Italian Hegelianism through figures like Ottavio Colecchi, the book centers on Naples as the hub of Hegelian thought, examining key mediators including Bertrando Spaventa and Marianna Florenzi Waddington. As I argue, Gallo shows compellingly how Hegel's philosophy informed not just theoretical debates but practical governance, including Silvio Spaventa's anti-Camorra policies. By tracing intellectual practices across prisons, parliaments, and private schools, this study reveals the Hegelian foundations underlying modern Italian political traditions–liberal, Marxist, and fascist–and their continued relevance.