What is it about?
Illegal food trade was a phenomenon of enormous scale and impact during the WWII in Italy, as in other countries. The article explains how Italian Fascism facilitated and at the same time fought the black market. Through the reading of two wartime diaries, it then presents the perspectives of two women of different political views who, by necessity were obliged to resort to the black market for their daily living. The articles contends that political beliefs influenced women's perception of the black market. In so doing, the analysis carried out in this article contributes to the depiction of people's interaction with or opposition to Fascism.
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Why is it important?
The black market has received very little scholarly attention in comparison to its scale and impact on people's daily life during WWII.
Perspectives
When researching this article, it was great to find archival materials never used before. I hope the article will shed light on a phenomenon that deserves much more scholarly attention and that illuminates much of women's daily lives.
Patrizia Sambuco
University of London
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Dynamics, experiences and political meaning of the black market in Second World War Italy, Modern Italy, October 2023, Cambridge University Press,
DOI: 10.1017/mit.2023.56.
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