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On September 25, 2022, the Italian left faced a significant electoral setback as the centre-right coalition, led by Giorgia Meloni, secured a remarkable electoral win. Historically, the left had been represented by major parties like the Italian Communist Party (P.C.I.) and the Italian Socialist Party (P.S.I.). Their demise in the 1990s, for various reasons, gave rise to new left-leaning 'umbrella' entities such as the Ulivo and the Democratic Party (P.D.). Despite some electoral successes by these newer groups, left-wing parties and coalitions have failed to dominate the Italian political scene in recent years. A decline in the definitive meaning of 'left' in Italian politics has led to a more fragmented left-wing. As traditional leftist ideologies have waned, some of the emerging left-leaning parties have faced criticism for prioritizing civil rights over socioeconomic issues. Articles in this special issue delve into different facets of the Italian left. Pasquino highlights the stagnation in the left's political culture since the cold war's conclusion, while Newell critiques the weakness of the P.D.'s party organization and ideology. Ventura analyses both the P.D.'s organizational challenges and its leadership decisions, whereas Musella emphasizes the P.D.'s shortcomings in updating communication strategies. Pasini, Fasano, and Cerruti dive into the evolving preferences of left-wing voters, while del Palacio touches upon the radical left's challenges. Mulè and Toso offer insights into the left's efforts in poverty alleviation. In summary, this special issue underlines the pressing need for the Italian left to refresh its ideologies and strategies to stay relevant and present a competitive alternative to conservative agendas in Italy's shifting political scene. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The main aim of this paper is to examine, on the basis of relevant and so far unpublished documents from Belgrade archives, the stance of Yugoslav communists towards the Italian left after Yugoslavia's expulsion from the Cominform in 1948. Since the break up with the Cominform in the same time meant the termination of cooperation with the closest party until then - the Partito Comunista Italiano (PCI), Yugoslavia was very active in trying to win support of other Italian left-wing parties, movements or individuals. This required the widest possible basis for gathering all left-wing members into a broad spectrum which would encompass everybody, from communists to social democrats. The initial attempts to win the support of the Partito Socialista Italiano (PSI ) through the existing sympathies of its leaders did not give the expected results, because this party after some time took the same attitude as the PCI and the Cominform. In the same time they also failed to gain a stronghold with some other parties of the Italian left, like the Partito Socialista Unitario. The Yugoslav attempt to organize a so-called "progressive movement" in Italy, composed of various pro-Yugoslav party dropouts, also had a very modest effect. A bit more significant stronghold was obtained only after the emergence of the two pro-Yugoslav dissidents - Valdo Magnani and Aldo Cucchi - who withdrew from the PCI in 1951 and organized their own Movimento Lavoratori Italiani, which soon grew into the Unione Socialista Indipendente, both movements enjoying the Yugoslav support. After the reconciliation with the USSR, Yugoslavia resumed the relations with the leading Italian left-wing parties - in 1956 with the PCI and the next year, 1957, with the PSI. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Faced with the collapse of the Italian Communist Party (PCI) and Italy's both economic and political crisis in the 2000s and 2010s, many left-activists have mounted a rear-guard action trying to reassert the principles of the Resistance. However, rarely do debates concerning the legacy of the anti-fascist struggle acknowledge the variety of Resistance forces' social and political goals, far from it being a single patriotic movement. This article focuses on the experience of Bandiera Rossa, the largest partisan force in Rome during the German occupation, to argue that the Resistance involved both a struggle over postwar Italy and a battle to define a communist movement re-emerging after twenty years of Fascist repression. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]