Rolf Petri

A Short History of Western Ideology: A Critical Account  ( English : Bloomsbury, 2018;  Portuguese : Bertrand, 2019) This book considers the political variety of different western ideologies only to the extent to which it is necessary for the understanding of the general argument. And its general argument is not variety, it is singularity. Throughout the text, “western ideology” is used in the singular form, in an effort to carve out in the clearest way possible the western credence in redemption through history, whatever the substitutions of specific revelations and utopias with others may have been along the path. The text discusses how Europe, and the West, became committed to fulfilling the historical assignment revealed to them by their own religious and philosophical speculations. First, they did so through a process of “Christianization”, then  “reason” and “civilization”, later “humanization,” “modernization,” the idea of “universal rights,” “globalization,” and s...

Articles and Chapters in Open Access ‘He could not trust this people.’ Interview with Susanna Böhme-Kuby , in  Brave New Europe  April 17, 2026 European Unity and the 'Enemies of Humankind': The French Revolution, Napoleon and Russia , in Waging War and Making Peace , eds M. D'Auria, R. Petri, J. Vermeiren, De Gruyter 2025 pp. 109-133 The ‘Russian Threat’ against European Unity: Variants of an Old Tale , in  Brave New Europe  January 23, 2025 Review of Sebastiano Taccola: Categorie marxiste e storiografia , in  Diacronie  58, 2024/2 Review of Vasileios Petrogiannis: European Mobility and Spatial Belongings , in  Historein  20/2, 2022 Review of David Vincent: A History of Solitude , in  Historein  19/2, 2021 L’Europa tra diritti sociali e diritto internazionale (con Maria Laura Picchio Forlati), in L'Europa a cent’anni dalla Prima guerra mondiale . Torino, Giappichelli, 2020 pp. 11-20 Sulle origini del corporati...