Abstract

The article aims to analyze the introduction and application in the Italian legal system of the compulsory social insurance against involuntary unemployment, during the period between the Great War and the fascist Labour Charter (Carta del lavoro). The essay focuses on the institutional and political features of the unemployment insurance program, drawing attention both to the establishment of an adequate bureaucratic system for managing the insurance scheme and to the cultural and political criticism of the new form of social protection. The text attempts to highlight, in an international perspective, the background of social insurance against unemployment, focusing on the Italian case, since Italy was the first European State to issue such a comprehensive law on the matter. The article develops in three sections, emphasizing the main turning points: the Great War (1915-1918), the postwar period (1919-1922) and the beginning of the fascist dictatorship (1922-1927). In particular, taking into account the ideas expressed by the various actors (government, employers, trade unions), the text aims to assess the characteristics of the insurance scheme against the risk of unemployment during this period. Combining analysis both of the legal sources (decrees, circulars) and of archival ones, the essays aims to offer a contribution to the history of the Italian Welfare State, filling a void left by scholarship.