Il corporativismo nel pensiero economico italiano: una rilettura critica[Corporatism in Italian Economic Thought: A Reinterpretation]

The paper deals with the problem of the critical appraisal of the economic theory of fascist corporatism and of the place such doctrine should be allowed in the history of Italian economic thought. The ideological, political and economic beliefs of the various tendencies of corporatism are discussed and compared, in the light of both the historical conditions of the country and the theoretical knowledge of the Thirties. The direct link of continuity fascists claimed on ethical grounds between corporatism and an important part of the Italian tradition of economic thought is questioned and denied. But no attempt is made to represent corporatism as a purely extemporary and inconsistent historical project. One of the conclusions of the paper is that corporatism was neither a "historical error" (a simple parenthesis in the intellectual history of modern Italy) nor a "mystification" aiming at the unconfessed protection of vested interests. It was, rather, an attempt to reconcile an obsolete theoretical framework with the emergence of new social and political instances, made und