Fascist Italy in the Age of Corporatism: Searching for a Third Way (Routledge Studies in Fascism and the Far Right)

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