Research: The Italian Geographical Society: a study on the evolution of geographical discourse from colonial legitimization to cosmopolitan criticism (provisional)
Nicolò Matteucci holds a Master's degree with honor in International Relations, earned with a Master's dissertation in Geopolitics on Critical Geopolitics. He is currently a PhD student in Peace Studies (curriculum 6 «Space, territory, resources, and narratives for peaceful pathways») at the Department of History, Anthropology, Religions, Performing, Arts at Sapienza University of Rome. His research project, combining theoretical elements with empirical analysis, aims to critically examine the evolution of the scientific and communicative contribution of the Italian Geographical Society (SGI) from the era of colonial legitimation to the cosmopolitan critique. This objective is pursued through the construction of an archaeology of geographical knowledge and the analysis of the SGI's documentary, archival, cartographic and iconographic heritage. The study, carried out in collaboration with the SGI, investigates the geographical discourse emerging from the activities of the SGI in the perspective of peace and coexistence among peoples and cultures. The central thesis of this project is that the critical analysis of the SGI’s colonial past represents a concrete act oriented towards peace. Once at the forefront of Italian colonialism, the SGI today appears to be oriented towards objectives of progress, dissemination of geographical thought and internationalization from a critical and conscious perspective, far removed from its former posture, and committed to the promotion of peace and peaceful coexistence among peoples and cultures in a cosmopolitan framework.
Recently, he presented a paper entitled “Decolonial cosmopolitanism and the transition from universalism to pluriversalism” during the 14th edition of the Study Day «Beyond Globalization: Transitions», organized by the Society for Geographical Studies (forthcoming in the Memorie Geografiche of the Society for Geographical Studies). For the Rivista Geografica Italiana, his article “Spaces of cosmopolitanism: a critical-geographical reflection” is forthcoming.