The years from 1958 to 1963 saw unprecedented economic growth commonly described in Italian history books as the 'economic miracle'. They also signalled the revival of labour unrest. Throughout the 1940s and 1950s, high unemployment rates combined with heavy repression of union activism inside factories-especially directed against the Communist and Socialist union CGIL (Confederazione Generale Italiana del Lavoro)-had secured a long period of workers' acquiescence and refrain from protest. However, by the early 1960s full employment was almost reached and the increased bargaining power and strength of unions meant that workers were now in a position to claim better salaries and improved working conditions, particularly in dynamic and highly profitable sectors such as the electronic and car industries. Although workers' wages had grown throughout the 1950s, they had done so at a rate slower than productivity and had remained far below the European average for the whole decade. Italian factories had also an exceptionally poor record with regards to workers' safety and basic rights. 1 During the electronics sector strikes of 1960-62 almost 70.000 workers (60 per cent of them in the Milan area) mobilised for months under the slogan 'resist one minute longer than the boss'. 2 This was just the beginning. The 1960s and the 1970s would be a time of almost incessant turmoil. Disruption escalated in the second half of the 1960s, particularly during the 1966 contract renewal negotiations, and peaked in 1968-69, the most protracted period of industrial conflict in postwar Many thanks to the anonymous readers of Past and Present and to Steve Smith for their precious comments and feedback. I am also grateful to Filippo de Vivo, Marco Fincardi, Ottavia Niccoli and Donald Sassoon for the wealth of suggestions and advice they have offered me throughout the making of the article.
The purpose of this article (based on archival material from the National Archives, Kew, and the Labour archive in Manchester) is to explore the relationship between the British Labour Party and the Italian Socialist Party during the Wilson governments and the Italian centre-left coalitions between 1964 and 1970. The inclusion of the PSI within the Italian government was very much appreciated (and promoted) by Labour as it was expected it would be of great help with regard to issues such as the Multilateral Force or Britain’s second application to join the EEC. For this reason, the British Labour government did its best to support the success of the centre-left formula and was similarly very active in promoting socialist reunification, which was eventually achieved in 1966. As regards the PSI’s occasional radical departures in foreign policy matters - as, for instance, in relation to Vietnam - the Italian socialists’ ‘filial admiration’ for their British counterparts enabled Labour on more than one occasion to bring Nenni’s party into line
In the wake of the collapse of 'really-existing' socialism and against a background of the growing influence of neo-liberal political thought, European socialist partiesand especially the former communist parties -have found it crucially important to reassert their liberal credentials. This explains the interest displayed by the Italian Left in liberal socialism, Dahrendorf 's New Liberalism and American liberalism, and especially in what is now called the 'Third Way'. In Italy, these developments have resulted in a genuine example of 'history's revenge'. The political ideas associated with the Action Party (PdA), which long played a Cinderella role in Italian politics and culture, have moved back to centre stage. This article examines how Italian leftist parties like the Democrats of the Left (DS) have been realigned to take into account the ideas of liberal socialism proposed by thinkers like Carlo Rosselli. It also explores how, since 1989, parties of the Italian Left have tried to appropriate the Actionist past and its mission, and why, after a long period of deliberate neglect, the Actionist agenda has again become the subject of lively debate.
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