Il sistema scolastico meridionale, nel periodo 1806 - 1861, presenta gradi di efficienza diversi per ciascuno dei tre comparti dell’istruzione qui considerati (istruzione primaria, agraria e secondaria). Per quanto riguarda la scuola primaria, si evidenzia una realtà molto fragile, imputabile principalmente alla povertà dei comuni, che dovevano sopportare i relativi costi. Per i docenti, erano previsti bassissimi livelli stipendiali, che si traducevano in competenze inadeguate. Per quanto riguarda l’istruzione agraria, il governo ebbe il merito di diffonderla in tutto il Regno nel 1840, nel contesto di un organico progetto di riforma. Le scuole di agricoltura si segnalarono tuttavia per una attivazione solo parziale e per un funzionamento incerto, afflitto dai medesimi problemi riscontrabili nella scuola primaria: povertà di risorse, carenza di insegnanti, precari edifici scolastici. In riferimento all’istruzione superiore, il quadro è differente. Collegi e licei possedevano infatti un finanziamento misto, derivante in parte da fondi provinciali e comunali, e in parte dalle rette dei convittori. Le più solide basi economiche consentirono un’ampia offerta didattica, che spaziava fino ai corsi universitari. Quanto ai docenti, a differenza di ciò che accadeva nella scuola primaria, le retribuzioni erano assolutamente dignitose, e questo si traduceva in un’elevata professionalità. / The educational system of Southern Italy since 1806 to 1861 presents different levels of efficiency for any of the three branches of education taken into consideration in this research (primary school, secondary school and schools of agriculture). As for primary school, it was a very frail system, mainly due to the poverty of municipalities, which, according to the law, had to support it. Teachers used to have poor salaries, and, as a consequence, had few skills. As regards the schools of agriculture, the government tried to establish them in the whole Kingdom in 1840, according to a organic government bill. Anyway these schools arose only in one third of the municipalities, and had serious problems, such as scarcity of resources, lack of teachers, and badly-furnished buildings. As for secondary school, the situation is very different. Colleges were financed not only by municipalities and local governments, but also by boarders. Sounder economic bases meant a wide supply of courses, sometimes ranging to university disciplines. Unlike their colleagues of primary school, teachers had relatively good salaries, and, consequently, good professional skills.

Der Übergang Europas in die Wissensgesellschaft ist durch die massive Ausbreitung wissenschaftlichen Wissens und dessen Eindringen in den ökonomischen Produktionsprozess gekennzeichnet. Für die Teilnahme von Regionen an der Wissensgesellschaft ist die Ausbildung junger Akademiker und deren Integration in den regionalen Arbeitsmarkt von entscheidender Bedeutung. In dieser Perspektive wird in der vorliegenden Arbeit die Erwerbssituation und die regionale Mobilität italienischer Hochschulabsolventen aus dem Mezzogiorno betrachtet. Die Untersuchung erfolgt anhand von zwei methodischen Ansätzen. Im ersten empirischen Teil wird umfangreiches Datenmaterial, u.a. die Hochschulabsolventenbefragung des italienischen Statistikamts, ausgewertet. Hierbei zeigt sich, dass der italienische Mezzogiorno trotz vergleichsweise niedriger Absolventenzahlen von einer extremen Jungakademikerarbeitslosigkeit gekennzeichnet ist: Zudem verlassen viele junge Süditaliener vor Studienbeginn oder nach Studienende ihre Heimat, um in Nord- oder Mittelitalien eine Arbeit zu finden, so dass von einem regelrechten Brain drain gesprochen werden kann. Im zweiten empirischen Teil der Arbeit werden in einer hermeneutischen Perspektive sowohl die Erwerbssituation als auch die Mobilitätsbereitschaft von Hochschulabsolventen in Sizilien untersucht. Mit Hilfe von biographisch orientierten, themenzentrierten qualitativen Interviews wird der Versuch unternommen, die Handlungsrationalitäten zu verstehen, die sich hinter den hohen Arbeitslosenzahlen verbergen. Es wird gezeigt, dass die sozialen, kulturellen und institutionellen Rahmenbedingungen die Entstehung komplexer Aktivitätsnetze begünstigen, die den Verbleib in Sizilien auch bei einer unbefriedigenden Erwerbssituation ermöglichen und zu einem permanenten Hinausschieben der Wanderungsentscheidung beitragen. Für die regionale Entwicklung Siziliens, wie auch der übrigen Regionen des Mezzogiorno, kann sich aber gerade der Verbleib junger Hochschulabsolventen in der Unterbeschäftigung als Standortvorteil für wissensorientierte Unternehmen und somit als Entwicklungspotential erweisen. / Europe''s transition towards the Knowledge Society is characterised by major advances in scientific knowledge and its infiltration of the economic production process. To fulfil their role in the Knowledge Society, regions must ensure that young academics can be educated and integrated into the regional labour market. In this perspective the book analyses the employment situation and the regional mobility of young academics in the Italian Mezzogiorno using two different empirical approaches. The first part of this paper investigates the employment situation and regional mobility of young Italian academics using data sources provided by the Italian statistical office, Istat. Despite its comparatively small academic population, the Italian Mezzogiorno is marked by extremely high unemployment levels among young academics. Furthermore, a large number of young Italians from the South leave their home region before starting university or after graduation in order to find jobs in Northern or Central Italy. The second section of this paper draws on empirical evidence to analyse the employment outlook and high level of emigration among young Sicilian graduates from a hermeneutic perspective. With the help of biographical, problem-oriented qualitative interviews, the author attempts to understand the culturally embedded rationalities that inform statistical evidence. Sicily''s social, cultural and institutional framework is shown to promote the growth of highly complex networks of activity that encourage young unemployed graduates to remain in unsatisfactory work environments and constantly postpone their decision to migrate. On a more positive note, the continued presence of young underemployed university graduates may be considered beneficial to the regional development of Sicily, as well as other parts of the Mezzogiorno, if interpreted as a regional advantage for knowledge-intensive industries in their search for new locations.

La tesi si inserisce nell’ambito storiografico degli studi sulla Chiesa e sul cattolicesimo italiano, che ne considerano le vicende non come realtà estranee o periferiche rispetto alla società italiana nel suo complesso. Analizza il rapporto tra episcopato meridionale, Azione Cattolica Italiana e Democrazia Cristiana tra il 1948 ed il 1954, nel contesto di una società impegnata in una profonda trasformazione. La ricerca ricostruisce alcuni elementi specifici della storia del Mezzogiorno, come l’azione dei vescovi - in particolare con il nuovo corso avviato dalla nascita dell’assemblea dei presidenti delle regioni ecclesiastiche (la futura CEI) -, il ruolo dell’Aci e il progressivo radicamento della Dc nel Mezzogiorno. Ne emerge lo spaccato della progressiva presa di coscienza delle resistenze tipiche della società meridionale ai processi di modernizzazione religiosa, politica e sociale da parte di questi tre diversi soggetti e della loro azione convergente, malgrado differenze e contrasti per una profonda trasformazione del Mezzogiorno. / The thesis is part of historiographic studies Catholic Church and the Italian, who consider the story does not really matter or as compared to the outlying Italian society as a whole. Analyze the relationship between episcopate southern, Azione Cattolica Italiana and Democrazia Cristiana between 1948 and 1954, as part of a company engaged in a profound transformation. The research reconstructs some specific elements of the history of the Mezzogiorno, as the action of the bishops - especially with the new course launched by the birth of the Presidents of the regions of the church (the future CEI) -, the role of Aci and the progressive roots of the Dc in the South. It shows the split of the progressive awareness of resistance typical of southern society in the processes of modernization religious, political and social commitment on the part of these three different actors and their action convergent, despite differences and contrasts for a profound transformation of the South.