L’attualità di Vilfredo Pareto per la comprensione dei fenomeni politici contemporanei. Una proposta teorica

Abstract

In this contribution, we will address the relevance of Vilfredo Pareto’s sociological thinking for understanding contemporary political phenomena, analysed through a reading of his Treatise on General Sociology. Starting from Pareto’s concept of the elite and transposing it to the present day, we will first try to assess its relevance and understand how it can still be useful for interpreting current political and social dynamics and in what ways it is beginning to show signs of wear and tear. Based on the findings in the previous point, we will then illustrate how the categories of “residues” and “derivations” can still be applied to the dynamics underlying contemporary political processes.
Then, we will relate the categories of residues and derivations to a specific dynamic of contemporary democratic political systems, namely the alternation in government between left-wing or centre-left political forces and right-wing or centre-right political forces. In other words, we will attempt to provide a theoretical response to the hypothesis that, in democratic political systems, residues of the first type are more prevalent among left-wing politicians and voters, while residues of the second type are more prevalent among right-wing politicians and voters.Finally, we will indicate some possible perspectives for interpreting social change, for the understanding of which, once again, Pareto’s concepts and categories can be extremely useful.