Seminario From movement-party hybrid to party boundary-crossing: Direct action and the Movimento Sociale Italiano (1947-1968)

Instead of denoting a category of political organization, in this study the movement-party hybrid is treated as a state of affairs, namely when a party or movement has crossed the boundary between institutional non-institutional politics. With the movement-party hybrid so reframed, travel back and forth between institutional and non-institutional arenas becomes a dynamic object of analysis. Between 1947 and 1968 the Movimento Sociale Italiano (MSI) travelled back and forth across this boundary. To explain the neo-Fascist party's transition from direct action (1947-1956) to demobilization (1957-1967) and its return to direct action (starting in 1968), this study assesses the role of (1) supply-side factors and (2) demand-side factors (as posited in the literature on movement-party hybrids) and adds consideration of (3) the opening and closing of the political opportunity structure within Italian neo-Fascism and (4) the internal unity/disunity of the MSI. The analysis draws on evidence in archival sources and the secondary literature.

Questions and suggestions from participants on April 22 will help in checking, revising, and strengthening the empirical and theoretical claims made in this paper.

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