The Contribution of Barry Commoner to the Renewal of the Italian Left

Abstract

Barry Commoner had a strong positive influence on the ideas and policies of the Italian left since the 1970s. His books were translated, and he was frequently present in the environmental movement His criticism of the “Soviet model” found a favorable echo in the Italian Communist Party, whose autonomy had grown in the post-war period, and helped to include new ideas in its policy. Nowadays, left or center-left parties and alliances, often including “green” forces, lead the governments in thirteen out of fifteen countries belonging to the European Union, as a result of democratic elections. This is a result of both a strong tradition and of a renewal of strategies and programs to which Barry Commoner contributed with his ideas and his political courage.