The Anomaly and Exemplariness of the Italian Welfare State

In many respects, the experiences of the Italian Welfare State represent a particular case. The comparatively late industrial development, the continuity of the workers' struggles and social movements, the high levels of Mafia activity and political corruption, and above all the radical division between the northern and southern parts of the country all make Italy an anomaly with respect to the rest of the developed capitalist countries. Precisely because of these anomolous conditions, however, the Italian experience may paradoxically prove to be exemplary for the future of all welfare systems. The need to manage an internal relationship between North and South, for example, has now become a generalized condition for all capitalist economies. Most important, the Italian experiences, especially those emanating from the social movements of the 1970s, show the possibilities of alternative forms of welfare in which systems of aid and socialization are separated from State control and situated, instead in autonomous social networks. These alternative experiments may show how systems of social welfare will survive the crisis of the Welfare State.