Strukturbrüche : Historisch-soziologische Perspektiven auf den Wandel des italienischen Kapitalismus

Since the end of the 1980s, Italian capitalism has been struggling. Low growth rates, increasing inequalities and relative impoverishment are compromising the pursuit of happiness and fuelling political discontent. Against this background of crumbling economic and social structures, the article explores historical and sociological perspectives on Italian capitalism’s contemporary dynamics. To this end, it first summarises some central lines of development and then maps existing explanatory approaches onto them. Third, it discusses what a historical contribution to these debates might look like. Finally, it recalls the promise of the Italian case within theoretical debates centred on the political economy of modernity.