GIORGIO BORSA

Riflessioni sul secolo che muore

N. 188

Summary - In sketching an historical outline of the century that is about to come to an end, the author begins by noting three principles which he judges fundamental for all historical reflection: the importance of the longue durée, the value-neutrality of historical judgement, and the distinction between weak and strong revisionism. By 'strong revisionism', the author means an historiographical revolution that is comparable to what Kuhn calls a scientific revolution: that is, the adoption on the part of the historian of a new paradigm, of a completely new angle from which to reconsider events. It is from such a new angle that the author presents a re-reading of the main events of the century, relating them to a process of transformation of the civilisation matérielle, that is, of man's way of life, which began with the industrial revolution and which he calls the process of modernization.