Between national and local pride: Florentine Workers at 1911 Roma Exhibition

di Annarita Gori
in Memoria e Ricerca n.s. 37 (2011), p. 173

In 1911, Italy celebrated the anniversary of its Unification. The governing class invited citizens to participate to a variety of events and exhibitions in all major cities of the Peninsula. This essay aims at showing the Florentine working class’s point of view. In particular, it analyzes how workers have drawn up basic ideas for the the National Building’s process, and how these concepts have been related to a strong sense of local identity. To attempt to achieve these goals, the article uses the reports of a group of Florentine workers and craftsmen sent – on behalf of the Municipality of Florence – to the Exhibitions held in Rome in 1911. These sources allow us to undermine different and original visions of the homeland concept of the nation and indicates how difficult was the process of creating a shared national identity. Key words: Nation; Identity, Exhibitions; Working class; National Buildings Process; Florentine Workers.