Der Norden und der Süden: die Rolle des Staates bei der wirtschaftlichen und sozialen Spaltung Italien.

Abstract

The dominating role of the state in the failed economic and social integration of the Mezzogiorno into the modern and developed northern part of the country since the creation of the Italian union is analysed. The mutation of the 'southern' to the'northern question' constitutes one of the most recent phenomena in Italian history which threatens the concept of national unity. Therefore, a new contract between the North and the South is necessary to combat the backwardness of the Mezzogiorno. This also requires a new quality of state and not its withdrawal from social life.