Saturday, April 16, 2016
Assembly C (DoubleTree by Hilton Philadelphia Center City)
This paper examines the ways in which ex-Fascist politicians negotiated a space for themselves and their clients in the economic, cultural, and political life of post-World War II Italy. During the transition from Fascism to democracy in 1944-6, the anti-Fascists in power attempted to remove Fascist influence from the Italian state through a purge of the bureaucracy and former Fascist political class. This project achieved only limited success and by 1948 most ex-Fascist politicians were free and Fascist-era bureaucrats returned to their positions in the Italian administration. While many have lamented this fact, few have studied its consequences. Informed by work from anthropology on patron-client relations, this paper examines the participation of ex-Fascist political elites in networks of influence that spanned postwar Italy’s bureaucracy, cultural sphere, anti-Fascist political class, and even the Vatican. Because these patron-client relationships depended on loyalty accrued over time, association with the defunct regime often worked in the ex-Fascists’ favor in these interactions, despite the official condemnation of Fascism by the governing elite. In a society like Italy’s where one’s personal and professional success depended greatly on one’s access to influential individuals, the ability of ex-Fascists to work successfully in favor of their clients gives concrete evidence of the consequences of a limited purge of Italy’s political and bureaucratic class. Moreover it provides a glimpse into the ways in which individuals of varying degrees of social and political influence negotiate regime change on a daily basis.
