Le basi sociali dello sviluppo economico. Resistenze e prospettive degli abitanti della provincia di Savona

The age of consumption as we have experienced it is coming to a turning point. Consumption is still very important, however: a pervasive process that concerns our lives, our present, as important as it goes to the point that it has almost obscured our future. One of the changes is that we are starting to perceive the territory itself as a place of consumption. A place where we feel good, can enjoy ourselves, use services and comforts, almost like we were tourists at home. These dynamics have relevant implications for economic development: as new economic sociology taught us, in fact, development has important social basis (culture, social capital, social conflicts etc.) showing the socially-embedded nature of market.

The article presents a case study based on a survey carried out in the province of Savona. The area seems to choose present wellbeing rather then economic and industrial development. The failures of the past seems to weigh out so much that people considers industry and science as opportunities that can be profited only somewhere else.