"For the sake of these hard-working and somewhat neglected populations": images and refraction effects of the 'mountain question' (1877-1936) in the Italian Western Alps

Abstract

This article deals with the institutional and public gaze on mountain territories in Italy. In particular, it explores how – in the period between the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century – mountains emerged as a “public” issue. Presenting historiographical materials and archival documents, the article focuses on how within the “mountain question” different ways of conceiving Alpine and Apennine societies and the role of public action in them can be founded. In particular, the article observes
the way in which these discourses moved between different political, philanthropic and intellectual fields, and describes tensions and coexistence between these different visions, and account for by resorting to the concept of refraction. Finally, in considering the growing role played by scientific knowledge, it aims to explain continuities and changes within the “mountain question” in the period from the liberal era to the advent of fascism.