The Struggle for Democracy

The Peasant Movement in Puglia, 1949–1951

Abstract

This article focuses on the participation of peasants from Italy’s Puglia region in the construction of a democratic and republican Italy. Hope in decisive social change was reinforced among peasants by the end of Fascism and the birth of the Italian Republic. Trade unionists played a fundamental role in raising consciousness among peasants of their rights. Peasants themselves became promoters of new democratic values and challenged the attitudes of patronage which has hindered their acceptance as legitimate social subjects. The peasant movement met violent repression by the police. The link between conflict and democracy could not have been stronger. Peasants’ consciousness raising was coupled with the capacity to direct social conflict in institutional channels and to secure the support of the community. The democratic value of these occupations was defended by antifascist political leaders who formed part of the constituent assembly such as the Minister of Agriculture Fausto Gullo and the Senator Lelio Basso. Gullo and Basso also acted as lawyers in defence of peasants and trade unionists from Puglia. Therefore, what is at stake here is a double democratic phenomenon, with peasants on one side and southern Italian institutions on the other.