Revolutionary Times: A Comparative View of the Long 1960s in Japan and Italy

The ‘long 1960s’, beginning in the mid-1950s and continuing into the mid-1970s, was an epoch defined by social and political upheaval and an international scope that challenged established orders across the globe. The period demonstrated its full disruptive and transformative potential in both Italy and Japan. Both countries experienced an important recovery from the traumatic destruction of the Second World War and social disruption arising from this post-war generational change – even while they faced challenges in coming to terms with their national pasts and integrating into the post-war international order. These parallel contexts produced massive social and political movements, provoking intense reactions from established elites, and sparked pitched battles that shook both countries to their cores.

This volume brings together eight historians from Italy and Japan to compare and contrast the long 1960s in each country, producing a new vision of shared history.

Christopher Craig is Associate Professor of Japanese History at Tohoku University in Japan.

Marco Del Bene is Associate Professor of Japanese History at Sapienza University in Rome, Italy.

Enrico Fongaro is Associate Professor of Italian and Western Aesthetics at Tohoku University in Japan.