La Izquierda postcomunista italiana en los años de Berlusconi

The essay deals with the story of the main party of the Italian left in the last twenty five years. From the "turning point" of 1989-1991 in which the Italian Communist Party becomes the Democratic Party of the Left, the article discusses the different steps towards the constitution of the Democratic Party in 2007 and the rise of Matteo Renzi. The focus is on the complex relationship with its own history that the post-communist leadership manifested at each significant step of the life of the party, the frequent shifts between different strategic options and the difficulties encountered in performing a leading role in center-left governments. What emerges is the profile of a political force that has been unable to effectively counteract the cultural hegemony of Berlusconi and a leadership that finally has lost control of the party in favor of Matteo Renzi: the first secretary of the party that does not come from the history of the PCI-PDS.