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Social cohesion and economic development: some reflections on the Italian case

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 May 2016

Sandro Busso  and
Luca Storti
Sandro Busso*
Affiliation:
Department of Cultures, Politics and Society, University of Turin, Turin, Italy Centro de investigação e Estudos de Sociologia (CIES-IUL), Instituto Universitário de Lisboa (ISCTE-IUL), Lisboa, Portugal
Luca Storti
Affiliation:
Department of Cultures, Politics and Society, University of Turin, Turin, Italy
*
∗Corresponding author. Email: sandro.busso@unito.it
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Abstract

The processes of globalisation, market deregulation and the retreat of the welfare state in advanced capitalist societies have revitalised the debate about how to reconcile economic development and social cohesion. This debate has been widespread in Italy, where great differences occur between local contexts as regards economic performance, the level of inequality and, more generally, the cohesion of the social fabric. Within this framework, this paper explores the level of both economic development and social cohesion in Italian provinces, through the analysis of secondary data. With particular reference to the Italian situation, the article therefore contributes to the debate on the focalisation and operationalisation of the two concepts. Finally, the complex relation between economic development and social cohesion is analysed, and its non-linear trend is outlined.

Keywords

Economic developmentsocial cohesioninequalitiesNorth–South divideMezzogiornoTerza ItaliaThird Italy
Type
Article
Information
Modern Italy , Volume 18 , Issue 2: Special Issue: The Cult of Mussolini in Twentieth-Century Italy Guest Editors: Christopher Duggan, Stephen Gundle and Giuliana Pieri , May 2013 , pp. 197 - 217
Copyright
Copyright © Association for the study of Modern Italy 

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