The Role of the State in the Uneven Spatial Development of Italy: The Case of the Mezzogiorno

The continuing underdevelopment of Southern Italy is analyzed as a result of deliberate state policy, rather than as a failed attempt at development. Before 1945, the State supported the Southern landowning oligarchies. Since then, it has supplanted their power with that of a new state bourgeoisie — privi leged revenue recipients supported by public expenditure. This has been done to respond to social tensions and to strengthen the Christian Democratic regime, as well as to create markets for Northern industry's durable goods. The result has been impoverishment and rural depopulation in the South.