ABSTRACT
The post-war generation grew up during a well defined period in Italy's national history. Born with the promise of affluence and modernization, this generation faced the new uncertainties resulting from the energy crisis in the early seventies and the conflicts and tensions brought about by the recent fall of political regimes in the East. In actuality, economic expansion during the sixties neither reduced emigration nor lessened the historical division between north and south in Italy. It is the discrepancy between a partial social and economic modernization and a cultural modernization based on faith in progress that helps us to understand the ambivalence of the post-war generation towards modernity. The post-war generation could not show enthusiasm for the economic world in which it operated, nor could it identify with the urban protest. Even though the post-war generation at present is not as religious as its predecessors, it is not entirely separated from the religious sphere.
