Politics and Rhetoric of Italian State Steel Privatisation: A Gramscian Analysis

The privatization of the steel industry in Italy in the 1990s was influenced by local interests, political relations, and ideological formations, according to this book. It proposes a hegemony theory of privatization and describes a model that explains how political and cultural dynamics give rise to idiosyncratic local variations in globally spreading policies.

Format: Hardback
Length: 200 pages
Publication date: 18 May 2022
Publisher: Taylor & Francis Ltd

The privatization wave that swept across the globe in the 1990s brought about a profound transformation in the structure of economic institutions worldwide. This seismic shift not only affected economic entities but also impacted shared cultural and societal institutions. This book is the culmination of an in-depth investigation into the history of steel privatization in Italy, conducted between 1994 and 1995. By examining the intricate interplay of local interwoven interests, political relations, and ideological formations, the book delves into the history of the Italian steel industry. Rather than stigmatizing this pattern as a legacy of provincialism, the authors employ Gramsci's theory of hegemony to explain how the Italian privatization process unfolded, accommodating economic pressures, political interests, and ideological constraints of a dominant social group or aggregation of social groups. Thus, in reconstructing the privatization of Italian steel, this book offers a hegemony theory of privatization and presents a model that elucidates how political and cultural dynamics give rise to idiosyncratic local variations in globally spreading policies.

This book will be of immense interest to researchers, academics, and students specializing in business history, economics, sociology, and political science.

Dimension: 229 x 152 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781138344433