«Storia attiva» e «storia passiva» in Antonio Labriola: la politica in tempo di crisi

«Active history» and «passive history» in Antonio Labriola: politics in times of crisis The article examines Labriola’s notions of «active history» and «passive history». For the philosopher, historical time is not linear but stratified – a «tangle of antitheses» where different rhythms coexist. Post-Risorgimento Italy is considered “passive” due to a dramatic lack of continuity in its political tradition. Faced with the crisis of socialist internationalism and the dissolution of a realistic «morphological prevision», Labriola revalues politics as an opportunity for Italian socialism to become an active force at the national and international level. His controversial idea on colonial expansion (e.g., regarding Libya and Candia) is read not as mere Realpolitik, but as an attempt to transform the Italian masses from a passive, emigrant force into an “active” subject for a new, democratic, national expansion.