There are about 6 thousand volumes in the German Fund of Social Sciences, History and Comparative Studies in depth, the Luigi Sturzo Institute acquired from the Gino Germani Institute of Social Sciences and Strategic Studies. In addition to representing a valuable resource for scholars, the user and students, the rich and prestigious library heritage, Gino Germani’s harvest during his academic career in South America, the United States and Italy, opens new and interesting perspectives of research.

One of the most prestigious and original figures in contemporary sociology, Gino Germani was a scientist of the crisis, who analyzed for all his life the relationship between modernity and authoritarianism, the problematic connection on which his research revolved, and which is still today the fundamental knot , and more dramatic, than our difficult present. Hence his constant criticism of the sociology of the land registry, and the characterization of the discipline as a systematic intervention on the political problems of the present, as part of the public life of a country and of its public debate. On the occasion of the inauguration of the Gino Germani fund, the Luigi Sturzo Institute starts a reflection on the topicality of the thought of the study and of the Italian sociologist.