The Struggle for Happiness

01/10/2026

2 min.

Alfonso Molina’s autobiographical account, covering his life from Pinochet’s Chile through exile to his commitment to social innovation, is in bookshops from 6 October

What does it mean to struggle for happiness? And what is the connection between the trials we face, the people we meet and our ability to keep imagining the future?
From Tuesday 6 October, The Struggle and Two or Three Other Things About Happiness, the new book by Alfonso Molina, co-founder and scientific director of the Fondazione Mondo Digitale, published by FrancoAngeli, will be available in bookshops.
It is an autobiographical book, but the personal narrative soon becomes a broader subject for reflection. Molina looks back on the years of Pinochet’s dictatorship in Chile, his experience as a refugee, his studies and academic career in the United Kingdom, right through to the encounters, choices and events that led to the founding of the Fondazione Mondo Digitale and over twenty-five years of commitment to social and educational innovation.

The thread that ties such diverse experiences together is the struggle. A word which, in the book, takes on the meaning of an attitude towards life: the ability to respond to circumstances, to recognise possibilities even in the most difficult times, and to turn hope into action. Happiness thus emerges from a web of relationships, decisions, responsibilities and changes. And hope for the future takes on a concrete dimension: it becomes a force capable of guiding the way in which each person shapes their own life and contributes to the lives of others. This is why The Struggle and Two or Three Other Things About Happiness speaks particularly to the younger generations, but also to parents, teachers and educators. Individual stories provide an opportunity to reflect on one’s ability to plan for the future, face uncertainty, learn from experiences and recognise the role others play in shaping one’s own path. It also provides a key to a deeper understanding of the philosophy that has underpinned the history of the Fondazione Mondo Digitale: trust in people, in lifelong learning, and in the potential to transform knowledge and innovation into tools for human and social development.

The book
The Struggle and Two or Three Other Things About Happiness
by Alfonso Molina
FrancoAngeli, 2026
Available in bookshops from 6 October 2026

The book is also available on the publisher’s website.

Alfonso Molina

Alfonso Molina was a political activist with the MAPU in Salvador Allende’s Chile and, following his experience in exile, a full professor for over twenty years at the University of Edinburgh, where he held a Personal Chair in Technology Strategy.

He is the originator of the theory of Sociotechnical Constituencies, which since the 1990s has helped to revitalise the debate on the relationship between society and technology. In 2001, he was one of the founders of the Consorzio Gioventù Digitale, now the Fondazione Mondo Digitale, of which he has always been scientific director.

Over the years, he has developed models, concepts and tools that intertwine education, social innovation and human development: the Education for Life model, the concept of firtuality, the Innovation Gyms, the Real-time Evaluation methodology, the theory of Personal Ecosystems and the Personal Ecosystem Canvas. He is an Ashoka Fellow.

Tullio De Mauro, who chaired the Fondazione Mondo Digitale for over ten years, wrote of him:

‘Drawing on his experience of very diverse historical and social contexts, and through his active involvement in international study and initiative groups, Molina has developed insights that have led him to perceive, explore and carefully describe the general innovative potential of the educational and training applications of the rapid advance of information and communication technologies.’

The Struggle for Happiness