Italian Critics of Capitalism

Over the last hundred years the history of capitalism hardly supports the idea of a dynamic equilibrium between democracy and capitalism. The unprecedented triumph of global capitalism and its stronger power of transformation are changing the nature of political community and its institutions, transforming the conditions of democratic politics and governance. The writings collected in this volume present leading statements of theories or democracy and capitalism in Italy starting with Vilfredo Pareto, who first focused on the transformation of democracy into a plutocracy in which vested interests use the government as a tool for their own profit, through Norberto Bobbio, who expressed a strong defense of democracy and a deep critique of capitalism.

Lorella Cedroni is an associate professor of political philosophy at the University of Rome.