In the mid-1970s, the Italian Communist Party (PCI) almost succeeded in entering the national government; however, by the end of the decade its popularity had dramatically declined. Providing a first-hand view of the turbulent period from 1975 to 1980, this book explains the roots of the party's crisis. First looking at local conditions, the author studies a number of major developments in the city of Turin, from Red Brigade terrorism to the historic defeat of the unions at Fiat in 1980, and then sets these local events within the broader national strategy. Hellman, who has been studying the PCI since the late 1960s, systematically interviewed the entire full-time leadership of the Turinese Federation of the party, and attended regular meetings and activities from the grass roots to the summit of local organization. An unprecedented eyewitness account, Italian Communism in Transition is a complete history of the PCI's response to the crises and challenges of the 1970s.

Stephen Hellman's profile page

Stephen Hellman is at York University.

"The research is solid and thorough; the knowledge of the subject outstanding; the final product excellent."--Gianfranco Pasquino, The Johns Hopkins University Bologna Center

"Helmann's intensive fieldwork provides an unusually penetrating glimpse of a political party in crisis."--Problems of Communism

"Hellmann's study is a model of carefully crafted scholarship that draws on an extensive and intensive familiarity with the object of study, the Communist party in Turin."--American Historical Review

"This excellent work provides us with incomparable insights into the PCI's organization and its more general problems."--Canadian Journal of Political Science

"A splendid book, which should become required reading for anyone interested in Italian politics, European Communism, and European political parties generally. Its broad context gives the book a paradoxical and dramatic flavor that transcends the limits of the usual scholarly monograph. It manages also to be the single most illuminating study to date of the general crisis confronting the Italian Communist Party--and other European Communist parties--in the past decade."--Donald L.M. Blackmer, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

"A conceptually rich, analytically acute case study of the Italian Communist party (PCI) at Turin...with important implications for Italy and Western Europe....Highly recommended for undergraduates and graduates, as well as specialists, in history and the social sciences."--Choice

"A fascinating study."--International Affairs