The “reformist nebula” in Italy. Origins of Occupational Medicine between European influences and the national context (1900-1915)

The beginning of the 20th century was characterised in Italy by a period of great economic development, which fostered processes of modernisation and reform. This process is not only Italian but fits into a broader international trend that characterises the period of the second industrial revolution. In the title of my speech, in fact, I make use of the concept 'reforming nebula' elaborated by Christian Topalov on the French case for the same historical period, because in the Italian case too this concept succeeds in describing the reality of that period in an exemplary manner. Firstly because in Italy, by contrast with the previous risk of a “reactionary turn” at the end of the century, the “reforming discourse” in a certain sense preceded the actual implementation of some important reforms. Moreover because, as in the French case, it is not a well-structured and organised network, but a “nebula” in which very different actors move around places and networks and with rapidly evolving goals. Underlying in both countries is the use of a common language based on the shared need for a modernisation driven by science, in particular by a series of new scientific disciplines that are also capable of intervening on the social terrain. My talk will focus on Italian occupational health, in particular on the birth of the “Clinica del lavoro” and the foundation of the national and international organisation of occupational physicians, during the Universal Exhibition of 1906 in Milan. However, important weight will also be given to the other components of the “nebula” that interacted with occupational health: from the private and public bodies and organisations, such as the “Società Umanitaria” and the “Labour Office” of the “Ministry of Agriculture, Industry and Commerce”, to the places where knowledge and skills were developed: such as the journals, congresses, and that particular and very interesting season of the great enquiries into the worlds of work that characterised the first quarter of the century.