Description
Book SynopsisUses the lens of state-mandated youth culture to analyse the evolution of official racism in Fascist Italy. Eden K. McLean assembles evidence from state policies, elementary textbooks, pedagogical journals, and other educational materials to illustrate the contours of a Fascist racial ideology as it evolved over eighteen years.
Trade Review"Eden McLean's
Mussolini’s Children is the most comprehensive treatment in English of the Italian fascist project to make 'new Italians' through the formation of the young."—David G. Horn,
Journal of Modern History"McLean's book engages readers with an innovative approach and engaging narrative. It is highly recommended to those who seek a more comprehensive understanding of Fascist racism and the evolution of elementary education during the Fascist regime."—Stephanie De Paola, H-Italy
"[An] extensively researched, clearly written, and carefully argued study."—Maria Truglio,
Journal of Modern Italian Studies“
Mussolini’s Children will become the authoritative study of elementary education and race in Fascist Italy. . . . McLean convincingly argues that, from the 1920s onward, primary schools, youth groups, children’s radio broadcasts, and other media focused on the health of the ‘race’ or ‘stock,’ laying the groundwork for official racism and anti-Semitism.”—Michael R. Ebner, associate professor of history at the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs, Syracuse University
“A vivid illustration of how hegemony works in transmitting the ideas of high culture to society at large. The great strength of the book lies in Eden McLean’s indefatigable research on the Fascist educational organizations, published materials, and the pedagogues who translated the regime’s racial theories into classroom practice.”—Richard Drake, Lucile Speer Research Chair in Politics and History at the University of Montana
“Eden McLean draws on new sources and deft historiographical context to create a rich, convincing argument about racism and nationalism under Fascism.”—Mark I. Choate, associate professor of history at Brigham Young University
Table of ContentsList of Illustrations
Acknowledgments
List of Common Acronyms
Introduction
Part 1. Defining Fascist Power and Identity, 1922–29
1. Designing a Fascist Elementary Education
2. “Reawakening the Spirit”
Part 2. “Fascistizing” the Nation and Race, 1929–34
3. From Instruction to Education
4. From Fit to Fascist
Part 3. Resurrecting the Roman Empire, 1934–38
5.
Libro e moschetto, fascista perfetto, 1934–36
6. Educating Rulers for the Second Roman Empire, 1936–38
Part 4. Ensuring the Empire’s Immortality, 1938–40
7. Enforcing the Racial Ideal
8. Enduring Principles of Italian Racial Identity
Conclusion
Notes
Bibliography
Index
