CEU Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2015
| Author | Elward, Zane Richard |
|---|---|
| Title | Fascist Corporativism and the Myth of the New State: The Construction of the Totalitarian State in Italy |
| Summary | This thesis approaches the corporative state in Fascist Italy as a case study of the attempt to construct a totalitarian state. In past analyses, corporativism has been interpreted as a façade for an authoritarian dictatorship, content with sharing power with the traditional economic elite and thus not representative of Fascist ideology or a totalitarian orientation. This, however, is a reductionist perspective, analyzing it through its failures instead of how it fit into the wider ambitions of the regime. The purpose of this thesis is to provide a more complete understanding of corporativism’s significance by employing the culturalist methodology of taking Fascist ideology seriously. This will be applied in the analysis of their rhetoric and policies, particularly the Carta del Lavoro and the legal framework of corporativism. This essay will argue that corporativism was shaped by Fascist ideology, that it served a purpose in the regime, and that it furthered and reinforced its totalitarian ambitions. Corporativism not only suppressed the workers’ movement, but was meant to marginalize the influence of the economic elite, subordinating them as organs of the state. Together, this was intended to grant Fascism an unchallengeable monopoly on politic power, simultaneously extending it into the economic sphere. Moreover, corporativism legitimized the regime and mobilized support; through promises of genuine social harmony and direct representation, corporativism formed the cornerstone of the myth of the new state, essential in forming consensus for the regime. Used as it was by the Fascists, corporativism fulfilled a role in the Fascist effort to construct a totalitarian state, and its examination provides a case study by analyzing the regimes’ totalitarian intentions, how the regime made compromises yet strove to overcome them, Fascism’s desire to create a new man, and its compromises and the gradualist approach ultimately prevented Fascism from achieving its totalitarian ambitions. |
| Supervisor | Iordachi, Constantin; Casanova, Julian |
| Department | History MA |
| Full text | https://www.etd.ceu.edu/2015/elward_zane.pdf |
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