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AbstractIn recent years the family has taken central stage within the Italian political debate, as a privileged instrument of political confrontation and propaganda. In itself, this is not a new phenomenon. The legal definition of what constitutes a family has represented a major terrain of political confrontation throughout the post-war years, and any reform carried out or attempted in this area has provoked highly divisive reactions. Moving from the debates that have surrounded the 2004 law on medically assisted procreation (Legge 40/2004) and the plan for the regulation of unmarried stable cohabitations presented by the Prodi government in January 2007, this article analyses the use of the family and reproduction in contemporary Italian political discourse. The argument suggested is that after the critical engagement over the family promoted by the social movements of the late 1960s -whose effects in terms of policy making could be observed throughout the 1970s and early 1980s -an ideological approach has prevailed in Italy throughout the 1990s. Increasingly within the 'second republic' the reference to the family has become a privileged instrument of political confrontation, with little attention given to the actual transformations (and continuities) that characterize contemporary family life.
SummaryAt the end of the Second World War, politicians and social observers apprehensively considered the condition of the family and its destiny and role in post-war Italy. As well as informing political discourses and sociological examinations, the family became a privileged terrain for medical and psychological enquiry, with particular attention given to parenthood and the maternal role of women. The article explores the role played by religious and medical authorities in shaping narratives of parental responsibilities during the post-war years. The interplay of biology and morality in medical discourse and Catholic teaching is discussed in the context of debates about motherhood and the management of childbirth. Particular attention is given to discussions about the use of pain relief in labour and the reception by Italian Catholic gynaecologists of the so-called ‘natural childbirth method’, advocated during the post-war period by a number of European and American practitioners.
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