Pierpaolo Farina
Per Enrico, per esempio. L'eredità politica di Enrico Berlinguer

THE REVIEW

Today we are delving into the analysis of a book, an essay which, as the title suggests, explores the political legacy of Enrico Berlinguer (historic secretary of the PCI) on today’s Italian left. The book was published by Pierpaolo Farina in 2024, and, contrary to what one might think, it is not a one-sided political read; instead, it is a careful analysis of the evolution of the Italian political scene with regard to certain ideals. The author, born in 1989, as he himself admits, did not directly live through Berlinguer’s years of leadership. Instead, he has retraced some of Berlinguer’s ideals and tried to reconstruct his story based on what remains today, through the testimonies of those who knew him, and weaving it all together with his own experiences in leftist groups over the past decade. Everything recounted about his story touches on the years of lead and continues up to his death in 1984. Pierpaolo Farina, being the founder of the website enricoberlinguer.it, has also drawn upon this site for some of the content reported and many of the sources upon which the text’s analysis is based. Although sometimes critical towards current center-left alliances, the author recognizes the importance of figures who came after the aforementioned PCI leader’s death, and examines the process of revision and modernization of communism as well as the emergence of post-communist social democratic ideologies and positions that characterize the left today. After reading this book, one can conclude that it is by no means apologetic toward Enrico’s figure; in fact, it is written in such a way that even someone who does not identify with communist or even generally left-wing ideals can appreciate this read. When publishing essays of this kind, public approval is always uncertain, and it’s a field to be trodden cautiously. In this case the author’s political views, though clearly stated in certain analyses, do not in any way distort or practice revisionism regarding historical events. The book includes, as its final chapter, an interview with Bianca Berlinguer (the daughter of the communist leader), in which she describes, also from a family perspective, the person her father was; it is on the basis of this interview that the circle opened in the book’s first chapter is closed, where the figure of an “Enrico the leader” is compared to that of “Enrico the father and the man.” The coherence of this man, whether one likes it or not, and that of his followers today, is left to the final judgment of the reader. Therefore, the research and work of the author can be considered to have been executed masterfully.

An “aligned” book? In part, but not in an intrusive way.

Who would I recommend it to? To all enthusiasts of Italian politics of the First Republic, and to left-wing individuals who want to learn about the history of key figures fundamental to the development of the contemporary left.