“The cleanest, neatest, most effectively operating piece of social machinery I’ve ever seen”: On the reception of Fascist corporatism in the USA

Abstract

In the era between the two world wars, the spread of corporatist laws and institutions in many countries, flourishing mostly in the 1930s, was marked by a transnational hybridization of projects and experiences. Against this background, the Italian corporatist state became a milestone for many intellectuals and politicians not only in Europe but also on the American continent. This article deals with the transatlantic influence of the corporatist Fascist laboratory, focusing on the reception of this political option and the debate about it in New Deal's United States. In particular, some case studies will be considered to observe how corporatism was a key factor in legitimizing Fascism even in democratic circles, despite the criticisms of the Italian regime from anti-fascists in exile. In USA, in fact, the impact of the Great Depression increased the popularity of this alternative, partly because Italy seemed less affected by the economic crisis than other states. While in the 1920s the Fascist corporatist experiment had drawn the attention of some secondary intellectuals, in the 1930s it became a matter of reflection even within President Franklin Roosevelt's progressive entourage. For example, economist Rexford Tugwell wrote in his diary that Italian corporatist order was “The cleanest, neatest, most effectively operating piece of social machinery I’ve ever seen. It makes me envious.”