Annals of the Fondazione Luigi Einaudi

An Interdisciplinary Journal of Economics, History and Political Science

The Annals is a forum for the free exchange of ideas
among scholars working in the field of social sciences
Volume LV 2 - 2021

A “United States of Europe” – An Idea Whose Time Has Come (or Gone)? The Insecurity Cycle in Europe and America

Suzanne J. Konzelmann and Marc Fovargue-Davies,
pp. 243-282
10.26331/1160,
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ABSTRACT

Our starting point is the resonance between the economic and social conditions and policies of the interwar years and those of today, with a view to understanding not only the forces that gave rise to extreme nationalist tendencies – especially in Italy and Germany, but also in Britain and America. During the 1920s and 1930s, these ultimately gave rise to dictators and another world war. But perhaps more importantly, we are interested in understanding the forces that helped to prevent such tendencies from taking hold in Britain and America. Revisiting the ideas about the economic role, social purpose and relationship between the state and both sides of industry, which informed the interwar debate about corporatism, in the light of social, economic and political developments since, has the potential to offer some much-needed perspective for today.