The Theoretical Basis of the Extraordinary Intervention in the Italian Mezzogiorno (1950–1993)

This paper aims at (i) presenting a reconstruction of the theoretical framework under- lying the so-called extraordinary intervention in the Mezzogiorno; (ii) analysing the ways this was translated into economic policy; (iii) providing a tentative assessment of that experience. Myrdal’s scheme, which attributes regional gaps to cumulative circular causation mechanisms, is reconstructed, as well as the contribution on depen- dency theory by CEPAL economists. The way these ideas were translated into the framework of the new meridionalism is then examined, and concluding remarks made on the interpretation of that experience.