Abstract

The role of the Italian Left must be analyzed in terms of the causes of the Italian crisis. There are three main accounts of the economic crisis. It can be seen as a result of: (a) labor struggles and subsequent rises in labor cost; (b) the growing instability of the Italian economy caused by inadequate planning; and (c) Italy becoming an underdeveloped country.

(a) Strangely enough, both reformists and ouvrieristes share the first interpretation. Allegedly, after 1969 the working class made demands that the system could not meet. Why did this happen in 1969? And why is the system in crisis now, while it successfully met a similar challenge in 1962-63?