Year XXXVIII, Number 3, November 2025

Luca Alfieri 

Postdoc Politecnico of Milano, Lecturer in Econometrics. Advisor of Jef Estonia and YWF, member UEF and WFM.

Gideon Ong

YWF member and co-host of the YWF book club. Student at the University of Tulsa.

Altiero Spinelli
The United States of Europe and the Various
Political Tendencies Marxist Politics and
Federalist Politics
https://www.ywf.world/post/altiero-spinelli-essays

With the collaboration of other federalists belonging to the Young World Federalists (YWF), we have undertaken the translation of the two essays "The United States of Europe and the Various Political Tendencies" and"Marxist Politics and Federalist Politics" , written by Altiero Spinelli and added to the 1944 edition of the Manifesto of Ventotene. These texts are now available for the first time online in English on the YWF website and social media channels.

These texts, previously accessible only to Italian-speaking audiences, contain fundamental reflections on European unity and federalism whose relevance remains strikingly intact. Current historical circumstances make it urgent to make federalist writings available to a wider audience, without waiting for official translations that might still take years to appear.

Our use of artificial intelligence tools on the translating process was systematically complemented by revisions and cross-checks carried out by other federalists, ensuring an outcome of decent quality. We are nevertheless open to receiving comments and suggestions for possible improvements.

Of particular significance is the supplementary set of explanatory notes accompanying the texts, which we designed for readers who may not be familiar with Italian and European political history.

At the same time, we have openly pursued an additional objective: to address and counter certain recent distortions that have emerged in public debates concerning Spinellis thought In this respect, the essay on Marxism and federalism is especially valuable, as it enables readers to clearly understand the profound theoretical and political differences between these two approaches to the social and political transformations of our time.

These writings serve as a reminder that federalism is grounded in rigorous theoretical reflection rather than arising solely from pragmatic or contingent necessities. Making them accessible to the world through today's international lingua franca means allowing this reflection to contribute to current debates on the future of Europe and the world – at a time when European integration and international institutions are under attack from forces that seek not their improvement but their destruction.

This project also demonstrates a practical approach that could be applied to other untranslated federalist writings. Beyond Italian texts, important works in German, French, and other languages remain inaccessible to English- speaking audiences. For larger projects, such as complete books, the experience we’ve gained here suggests that organizing teams or groups of collaborators would be essential. Throughout this process, we learned that successful collaborative translation requires a careful balance in scheduling. Deadlines cannot be overly rigid, as participants typically have their own jobs or studies to manage, but neither can they be too loose, as this risks projects becoming endless. The approach we adopted – working incrementally, section by section – allowed contributors to perceive tangible results while maintaining momentum toward completion, followed by a comprehensive final review.

Finally, it is essential to emphasize that such projects require more than the involvement of native English speakers alone. The extensive explanatory notes accompanying these essays demonstrate the importance of including contributors capable of elucidating historical, political, and cultural references for readers unfamiliar with the original context. This combination of linguistic competence and contextual expertise ensures that translated texts become not merely available, but genuinely accessible.

We express the hope that these unofficial versions will pave the way for future professional editions – and perhaps inspire similar collaborative efforts to unlock the broader federalist intellectual tradition for a global audience.