Biographical research in Italy

The chapter presents a short history of biographical methods in Italy, mainly with an educational viewpoint but with an interest to demonstrate the connections between biographical research and the birth of disciplines. It starts by establishing an epistemological frame based on critical reflexivity, that requires positioning the author, to avoid any claim to objectivity or completeness. The narrative of biographical methods is then articulated in three phases: the proto-disciplinary origins, the birth of disciplines and socially engaged empirical research, the discours of biographical research in adult education. In the end, the author reflects on the present and future of these methods.