Rivista Meridiana

Meridiana is a four-monthly journal founded in 1987 as an intellectual experience by a group of scholars – historians, sociologists, economists, anthropologists, and political scientists – sharing a vision of the Italian South as a plural reality to be analyzed using the methodologies of different disciplines in order to deconstruct, deideologize and critique cultural representations and stereotypes inspired by misleading and abstract uniformities. From the beginning, the interdisciplinary analysis of a single monographic theme has been the distinctive trait of the journal. Published up to number 45 from the publisher Donzelli and then from Viella, Meridiana has been directed by Piero Bevilacqua and Carmine Donzelli, and then by Maurizio Franzini and Salvatore Lupo
Over the last few years, although the problems of the development of the Italian South have remained a central focus for Meridiana, the journal has broadened its scope to encompass themes such as inequalities, political and social regulation, environmental issues, social representations, and differences between geographical areas, not necessarily in the Italian southern regions.
Meridiana is thus a multidisciplinary instrument for the interpretation of the major themes animating the national and international public debate. Its readers include not only the community of scholars, but also school teachers, students, public officials, journalists, politicians and administrators. From this community comes a demand for a form of knowledge capable of combining scientific rigor with public usefulness.
Besides the articles in the monographic section and single essays, the journal also includes sections with book and film reviews, reflections on interpretive categories, methodological analyses, critiques, interviews and round tables. All the articles are anonymously peer reviewed to assess both their academic excellence and their accessibility to a broader readership.