The Spatiality of Politics: Cesare Battisti's Regional and International Thought, 1900–1916

This article concerns the conceptualization of political spaces in early twentieth-century European political thought. The main figure is the Italian geographer and political thinker Cesare Battisti (1875-1916). Drawing on his geographical knowledge of his native region of Trentino, then in the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Battisti envisioned an alternative political order in Central Europe. In a series of geographical surveys and political essays, he described his idea of the region as a meaningful political space, that could become an alternative to both empire and nation-state as part of a continental democratic federation. The article argues that through this new spatial conceptualization of region and federation, Battisti sought to reinterpret the political categories of authority and community. The article examines Battisti's ideas in their historical and intellectual context, arguing that he offers original insights on the evolution of European international and regional thought in the twentieth century.