Research: An integrated neo-Marxist approach for the socio-economic analysis of the middle class in contemporary Italy: Theory and empirical evidence
Ph.D. candidate in Social and Economic Sciences (curriculum: Sociology and applied social research) with the following research project: “An integrated neo-Marxist approach for the socio-economic analysis of the middle class in contemporary Italy: Theory and empirical evidence.”
I earned a BA in Classics from Sapienza University of Rome in 2018 with a thesis on “Marxist Historiography and Ancient Rome” and an MA in Philosophy (curriculum: Deutscher Idealismus und moderne europäische Philosophie) from Sapienza University of Rome and Friedrich Schiller University Jena in 2020 with a thesis titled “What is Exploitation? Exploitation, Social Classes and Justice in Analytical Marxism.” I also completed a three-year degree (“diploma triennale”) in Humanities in 2019 and a subsequent two-year degree (“diploma magistrale”) at Sapienza’s School for Advanced Studies (SSAS) in 2021.
My Ph.D. research project focuses on the theoretical definition and empirical analysis of the middle class in contemporary capitalism. In terms of the theory, I try to reconstruct an integrated neo-Marxist approach to class analysis in order to clearly identify the defining features of the middle class in capitalist social formations. My starting point is the classic analyses provided by Nicos Poulantzas (1975) and Erik Olin Wright (1985, 1997). I then refine and expand these theories, drawing on a critical review of several ideas scattered in different strands of the heterodox Marxist literature (on exploitation, the State, social needs, ideology, Marxist feminism, ancient and modern Marxist historiography, Marxist political economy). On that basis, I propose an analytical reconstruction of the theory of class and exploitation as social domination that has the exact definition of the middle class as its main purpose. In the second part, I operationalize the theory previously outlined and, considering Italy as a case study, investigate some key socio-economic features of contemporary Italy’s middle and working classes. In this manner, I aim to show the persistent significance of the middle class in contemporary societies — and its autonomy vis-à-vis other social classes — and the relevance and utility of a — duly reconstructed — neo-Marxist approach to socio-economic analysis.
More broadly, the common thread of my studies and research is a concern with finding the most appropriate approach to the study of social and economic structures — particularly with regard to social power — as much in their static explanation as in their historical dynamics. My long-term research project is, therefore, part of a collective effort to contribute to the development of an integrated neo-Marxist approach as a transdisciplinary social science that (1) meets the highest standards of modern empirical research (qualitative and quantitative) and theoretical clarity and complexity, (2) is open to and is in constant dialogue with other theoretical approaches and disciplines, but at the same time, (3) retains its own autonomy in determining its research agenda and developing its fundamental theoretical core. Having identified this fundamental theoretical core in the theory of exploitation and social classes, I am primarily concerned with developing this core theoretically and empirically, with special attention to the contribution that sociological Marxism (Wright & Burawoy 2002) can make to this project through the study of class structure, the State, ideologies, and the political and cultural behaviors of social classes in contemporary capitalism.
My main research areas are social theory, sociology of inequality, and economic sociology. I am also interested in the history of sociological and economic thought and some aspects of political and moral philosophy — as they relate to Marxist theory. In each of these fields, I am concerned with both the rigorous development of the theory and its careful empirical translation. Correspondingly, besides working on topics directly linked to my Ph.D. research, I am currently working — alone or with other colleagues — on other projects related to these research areas. I am open to proposals and happy to collaborate with colleagues (undergraduate and graduate students and early career researchers) working — from different disciplinary backgrounds, in different national contexts, within or outside academia — in these research fields and, more generally, on the main topics covered by the Marxist research agenda.
PARTICIPATION TO CONFERENCES:
Is there a future for Marxist media studies? Old debates, recent research, and new challenges for Marxism as a social science
ESA RN-18 mid-term conference 2022: Communication, Capitalism and Critique. Polytechnic of Turin, Turin, Italy, September 1-3, 2022.
Towards a unified Marxist framework for class analysis
2022 IIPPE Annual Conference: Socio-ecological crisis and the political economy of sustainability. University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy, September 7-9, 2022.
Exploitation, social domination, and the middle class: Towards a realist unified framework for the socio-economic analysis of the middle class. Controversies, theoretical issues, and empirical evidence
Young Economists Conference 2022: Political economy of power. Arbeiterkammer Wien, Vienna, Austria, October 7-8, 2022.
Rethinking Marxist class analysis: Crossing disciplinary boundaries to reframe a key research field for Marxist social science
2023 IIPPE Annual Conference: The Chronicles of Multiple Crises Foretold. Universidad Rey Juan Carlos, Madrid, Spain, September 6-8, 2023.