The American South And The Italian Mezzogiorno Essays in Comparative History

The essays gathered in this volume explore the prospects for comparison between the American South and the Italian Mezzogiorno two regions with similarities in their processes of modernization, but also with striking social and cultural differences. In twelve broad ranging articles, leading historians consider the comparability of issues as diverse as the sterotypes relating to the two souths, the ideology of the landed elites, thetreatment of laborers on the large landed estates, the importance of gender in the understanding of social relations, and the connections between progressive political forces and between migratory movements across the wo sides of the Atlantic. The essays suggest lines of enquiry for future comparative studies of the American South and the Mezzogiorno through careful jaxtaposition of individual case studies focused on specific issues.

Enrico Dal Lago is Lecturer in American History at the National University of Ireland, Galway. He holds a PhD from University College London, and is currently working on a new book, Southern Elites: American Planters and Southern Italian Noblemen, 1815-1860.

Rick Halpern is Professor at the University of Toronto. He has published extensively on race and the American working-class and is currently researching a comparative study of migrant labor in the U.S. South and South Africa.