Fascist Modernities: Italy, 1922-1945 (Studies on the History of Society and Culture)

Studies on the History of Society and Culture

by Ruth Ben-Ghiat

Ruth Ben-Ghiat's innovative cultural history of Mussolini's dictatorship is a provocative discussion of the meanings of modernity in interwar Italy. Eloquent, pathbreaking, and deft in its use of a broad range of materials, this work argues that fascism appealed to many Italian intellectuals as a new model of modernity that would resolve the contemporary European crisis as well as long-standing problems of the national past. Ben-Ghiat shows that―at a time of fears over the erosion of national and social identities―Mussolini presented fascism as a movement that would allow economic development without harm to social boundaries and national traditions. She demonstrates that although the regime largely failed in its attempts to remake Italians as paragons of a distinctly fascist model of mass society, twenty years of fascism did alter the landscape of Italian cultural life. Among younger intellectuals in particular, the dictatorship left a legacy of practices and attitudes that often continued under different political rubrics after 1945.

Genres: History, Politics, Nonfiction, Italy, European History, Historical

332 pages, Paperback

First published December 3, 2000

About the author

Ruth Ben-Ghiat is an internationally acclaimed historian, speaker, and political commentator for the Atlantic, CNN, the Washington Post, and other publications. She is a professor of history and Italian studies at New York University and lives in New York City.

Reviews

[Diego Fleitas · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ben-Ghiat really outdid herself with this well-researched, critical, and engaging text. Her ability to contextualize the relationships of a number of dignitaries, writers, and leaders during the Fascist period of Italy is well demonstrated, and she is clearly passionate about what she mentions. Anyone looking for a critical cultural history and is interested to see how it played a role in the burgeoning regime of Mussolini must definitely read this book!

[Martin Chudik · Rating 4 out of 5]

A deserved classic and a must-read for everybody involved in fascist studies.

"This cultural history examines how one project of national regeneration and international conquest developed in Italy in the decades following World War I. I argue that fascism appealed to many Italian intellectuals as a new model of modernity that would resolve both the contemporary European crisis and long-standing problems of the national past."

[Brooke Salaz · Rating 4 out of 5]

Scholarly and insightful analysis of fascist Italy with particular focus on how artists, filmmakers, writers, navigated this era with varying degrees of ethicism. Some degree of cooptation was extremely hard if not impossible to avoid. I felt this had a great deal of relevance for what we are experiencing today. Worthy of close study.

[Lee Barry · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent research and writing. I'm looking forward to her book on Strongmen.

[Andrew · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wide ranging discussion. When theory is engaged it is delivered lightly and adroitly. I wish the author had been more clear about the empirical data from the beginning, the original analytical contribution of the book wasn't clear until about halfway through. Three main data sources are used: films, novels, and youth periodicals.