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A New World in the Making.
English, Italian (translation)
328 pages, Hardcover
First published February 1, 1976
About the author
Danilo Dolci
70 books9 followersDanilo Dolci (June 28, 1924 – December 30, 1997) was an Italian social activist, sociologist, popular educator and poet. He is best known for his opposition to poverty, social exclusion and the Mafia on Sicily, and is considered to be one of the protagonists of the non-violence movement in Italy. He became known as the "Gandhi of Sicily".
In the 1950s and 1960s, Dolci published a series of books (notably, in their English translations, To Feed the Hungry, 1955, and Waste, 1960) that stunned the outside world with their emotional force and the detail with which he depicted the desperate conditions of the Sicilian countryside and the power of the Mafia. Dolci became a kind of cult hero in the United States and Northern Europe; he was idolised, in particular by idealistic youngsters, and support committees were formed to raise funds for his projects.
In 1958 he was awarded the Lenin Peace Prize, despite being an explicit non-Communist. He was twice nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize by the American Friends Service Committee (AFSC), which in 1947 received the Nobel Peace Prize along with the British Friends Service Council, now called Quaker Peace and Social Witness, on behalf of all Quakers worldwide. Among those who publicly voiced support for his efforts were Carlo Levi, Erich Fromm, Bertrand Russell, Jean Piaget, Aldous Huxley, Jean-Paul Sartre and Ernst Bloch. In Sicily, Leonardo Sciascia advocated many of his ideas. In the United States his proto-Christian idealism was absurdly confused with Communism. He was also a recipient of the 1989 Jamnalal Bajaj International Award of the Jamnalal Bajaj Foundation of India.
In the 1950s and 1960s, Dolci published a series of books (notably, in their English translations, To Feed the Hungry, 1955, and Waste, 1960) that stunned the outside world with their emotional force and the detail with which he depicted the desperate conditions of the Sicilian countryside and the power of the Mafia. Dolci became a kind of cult hero in the United States and Northern Europe; he was idolised, in particular by idealistic youngsters, and support committees were formed to raise funds for his projects.
In 1958 he was awarded the Lenin Peace Prize, despite being an explicit non-Communist. He was twice nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize by the American Friends Service Committee (AFSC), which in 1947 received the Nobel Peace Prize along with the British Friends Service Council, now called Quaker Peace and Social Witness, on behalf of all Quakers worldwide. Among those who publicly voiced support for his efforts were Carlo Levi, Erich Fromm, Bertrand Russell, Jean Piaget, Aldous Huxley, Jean-Paul Sartre and Ernst Bloch. In Sicily, Leonardo Sciascia advocated many of his ideas. In the United States his proto-Christian idealism was absurdly confused with Communism. He was also a recipient of the 1989 Jamnalal Bajaj International Award of the Jamnalal Bajaj Foundation of India.
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
July 20, 2022
Very earnest reportage at `naive' dot com
For me, there's no doubt that Danilo Dolci resembled some of the great men of the 20th century---Gandhi, Bhave, Kagawa, King, Camara, or Mandela. He lived in the poorest parts of Sicily for years, trying his best to bring about change in living conditions for the common man, without resorting to the violence which has always been the easier (but not often successful) alternative in the face of oppression. He faced constant opposition and threats. He persevered. He maintained his belief in the right of all people to have a decent life and their right to organize to achieve it. Ultimately he was recognized and invited to many parts of the world. Whether he succeeded or not; whether he was too unworldly or not--these are questions better left behind. What do great religious figures actually achieve ? So far, we're on track for a great book.
Dolci wanted to know how people managed to plan to achieve a better future. He had the chance to look at some other societies. Being a great man and a rock of resistance against oppression in your own society, where you speak the language and things are familiar, does not mean you will be an expert in another place. Nor does it mean that you will even understand what is going on there. That is why A NEW WORLD IN THE MAKING is a very idealistic but unsuccessful book, not worth reading forty odd years after its publication. For one thing, the four societies which it concerns have all changed--the USSR, Yugoslavia, Senegal and Ghana. The very names of the first two have disappeared and the nations broken into smaller units. The Communist system that governed both of them has crumbled, if tyranny still remains in places. The two African countries have gone through many vicissitudes and have lost the innocence, but maybe not the difficulties that marked their condition immediately after independence. Secondly, Dolci was fed the official line every time. Though he seems to have wondered, he still put it all down, even though it did not represent much of the real situation. His nature was such that he trusted people who seemed to speak in good faith. They had no choice but to spout official propaganda. Why anyone would want to read this, many decades on, is a question. In Africa, Dolci was indeed struck by the total lack of planning and the lack of organization which would enable the governments to plan. He wrote politely, but one senses his dismay. He didn't know any of these societies and there is no background information on any of them. Hence, readers are left to fill it all in themselves. The book's end and beginning are full of general prescriptions about planning for a "new world", "avoiding violence", and "bringing individuals together". A work that has not withstood the test of time.
For me, there's no doubt that Danilo Dolci resembled some of the great men of the 20th century---Gandhi, Bhave, Kagawa, King, Camara, or Mandela. He lived in the poorest parts of Sicily for years, trying his best to bring about change in living conditions for the common man, without resorting to the violence which has always been the easier (but not often successful) alternative in the face of oppression. He faced constant opposition and threats. He persevered. He maintained his belief in the right of all people to have a decent life and their right to organize to achieve it. Ultimately he was recognized and invited to many parts of the world. Whether he succeeded or not; whether he was too unworldly or not--these are questions better left behind. What do great religious figures actually achieve ? So far, we're on track for a great book.
Dolci wanted to know how people managed to plan to achieve a better future. He had the chance to look at some other societies. Being a great man and a rock of resistance against oppression in your own society, where you speak the language and things are familiar, does not mean you will be an expert in another place. Nor does it mean that you will even understand what is going on there. That is why A NEW WORLD IN THE MAKING is a very idealistic but unsuccessful book, not worth reading forty odd years after its publication. For one thing, the four societies which it concerns have all changed--the USSR, Yugoslavia, Senegal and Ghana. The very names of the first two have disappeared and the nations broken into smaller units. The Communist system that governed both of them has crumbled, if tyranny still remains in places. The two African countries have gone through many vicissitudes and have lost the innocence, but maybe not the difficulties that marked their condition immediately after independence. Secondly, Dolci was fed the official line every time. Though he seems to have wondered, he still put it all down, even though it did not represent much of the real situation. His nature was such that he trusted people who seemed to speak in good faith. They had no choice but to spout official propaganda. Why anyone would want to read this, many decades on, is a question. In Africa, Dolci was indeed struck by the total lack of planning and the lack of organization which would enable the governments to plan. He wrote politely, but one senses his dismay. He didn't know any of these societies and there is no background information on any of them. Hence, readers are left to fill it all in themselves. The book's end and beginning are full of general prescriptions about planning for a "new world", "avoiding violence", and "bringing individuals together". A work that has not withstood the test of time.
Displaying 1 of 1 review