Fascist Italy In The Age Of Corporatism

The interwar period was marked in Europe by the rediscovery of corporatism as a possible solution to the crucial problems of modern mass society. This was the result of general changes across industrialised countries in the relationship between the state and social groups. In Italy, it took on a uniquely authoritarian shape. Fascist regime became the cradle of a new model of corporatism, a “third way” alternative to both capitalism and communism, destined to influence both political, juridical, and economic debate and similar legislative experiments undertaken by other countries, be they democratic or authoritarian. The book offers an overview of corporatism in Fascist Italy. It examines not only the ideology but also the acts and real activities of corporative institutions (corporazioni). It dwells upon internal debates, the political and institutional importance acquired by corporative institutions in the Fascist regime, and the behaviour of entrepreneurial organizations and labour unions. At the same time, the book highlights the role of Italy in the transnational circulation of the corporative ideal by reconstructing both the considerable influence of Mussolini’s regime in a range of different political and geographical contexts and the way in which the authorities in Rome turned to coeval international experiences.

This book examines industrial associations in Italy from 1906 to 1934 as they relate to the crisis in liberalism and the rise of fascism.

Fascist Italy: A Concise Historical Narrative is an informative work which analyzes and brings together the two fundamental aspects of the Fascist Italian experience: its history and its ideology. Author Cristogianni Borsella superbly explains the background of the Fascist movement, revealing in detail its corresponding political nature; this was possible because Borsella has made Benito Mussolini part of the narrative. The reader quickly becomes aware that Fascism is the logical but chaotic brainchild of Mussolini himselfa restless man in search of messianic visions to allay his own insecurities and of those of his nation. Borsella exposes other individuals who were instrumental in forming the ideological foundations of Fascism, namely Sorel, Vilfredo and Gentile. Groups like the syndicalists, interventionists, and neoconservatives influenced Italian politics long before there were American counterparts. The books greatest strength may show how the extreme Left played vital roles in shaping Fascism, as Mussolini himself had been a devout Socialist for many years before attaining power. Vividly trumpeted as a progressive state ideology, Fascism left in its wake a destructive, repressive legacy of a dictatorship. In the final chapters, Borsella compares the modern political climate in the United States to that existing in Italy under Fascism. In his final pages, right or wrong, Borsella draws parallels that should force one to reassess the meaning of what it means to be free in todays America.

This book is the first conceptual and comparative empirical work on the relation between corporatism and dictatorships, bringing both fields under a joint conceptual umbrella. It operationalizes the concepts of social and political corporatism, diffusion and critical junctures and their particular application to the study of Fascist-Era dictatorships. The book’s carefully constructed balance between theory and case studies offers an important contribution to the study of dictatorships and corporatism. Through the development of specific indicators in ‘critical junctures’ of regime change and institutionalization, as well as qualitative data based on different sources such as party manifestos, constitutions and constitutional reforms, expert commissions and the legislation that introduces corporatism, this book traces transnational sources of inspiration in different national contexts. By bringing together a number of both established and new voices from across the field, this book will be of interest to students and scholars of fascism, dictatorship and modern European politics.