La Basilicata e il Mezzogiorno tra autonomia e sviluppo

From Carlo Levi to Franco Cassano, Basilicata and the Mezzogiorno were interpreted in the light of the idea of autonomy, originating from that peasant world of which Levi had seen its own autonomous civilization emerge, then crushed by the advance of modernity and the so-called development, which would overturn its social structure and culture. Peasant movements and the struggles for better living conditions will end with the advancement of reforms and industrialization policies, while emigration and the abandonment of the land will make agriculture marginal. Within twenty years, with the social change thus induced in the demography and in the economy, the transformation of the South will be completed. Autonomy and development will remain the horns of the dilemma for the growth of the South.