This book examines the historical process that led to the foundation of the Italian Republic and its constitution, viewed through the personal experiences and political reflections of Adriano Olivetti (between 1919 and 1960), general manager and president of the well-known typewriter manufacturer Ing. C. Olivetti & C. An unbroken line of reasoning linked his maturing political reflections during the two post-war periods. The historical context of the 1950s did not prove to be very propitious, but the guidelines dispersed throughout the Italian cultural and political world from the movement that Olivetti founded were certainly seminal generating a legacy of ideas that has only in part been recognized. What makes this study distinctive is the original approach to reading the history of Italy through Adriano Olivetti's eyes and thoughts, far from the more common Christian Democratic or Communist perspective of those years. It is simply another view of what the Italian Republiccould be and was not.

Examines the political writings and intellectual commitments of Adriano Olivetti Argues for Olivetti as a seminal figure in modern Italian politics Uncovers alternate visions of twentieth-century Italian politics

Autorentext

Davide Cadeddu is Associate Professor of History of Political Theory at the University of Milan, Italy. He is author of Reimagining Democracy: On the Political Project of Adriano Olivetti (Springer, 2012) and editor of several Olivetti's books, such as L'ordine politico delle Comunità (Edizioni di Comunità, 2021) and Società Stato Comunità (Edizioni di Comunità, 2021).

Inhalt

Chapter 1: Introduction: A View of the Intellectual Biography.- Chapter 2: Gaetano Salvemini and the United States of America.- Chapter 3: Among Antifascists and Secret Services.- Chapter 4: Self-Government in Constitutional Projects.- Chapter 5: A New Political Movement?.- Chapter 6: The Misunderstood Legacy.