Martina Salvante's book provides an all-round analysis of paternity in Fascist Italy. The book is divided into three parts, each addressing a specific aspect of the topic. Each part is divided into chapters, and chapters into sections, offering an organisation of the material that is easy to navigate. The book's subtitle – Simboli, esperienze e norme – describes well the focus of this work, which covers the 20 years of Fascist rule, from 1922 to 1943.
The first part, ‘Padri immaginati’, comprises two chapters, one on Mussolini as a family member, and the other on Catholicism and paternity. The first chapter, ‘Mussolini familiare’, examines how Mussolini's family of origin and its domestic dynamics impacted and shaped his role as a patriarch and, later on, as a political leader. The second chapter explores the role of Catholicism in paternity, providing a short but effective introduction to the Catholic Church's public intervention on matters of reproduction – and, more generally, the family's societal role and structure – and then focusing on the complex relationship between the Church and the Fascist regime. This first part functions as an introduction to the topic of patriarchy in Italy, addressing two core themes that directly influenced the development of the policies on paternity in Fascist Italy: the figure of Mussolini and that of the Catholic Church.
The second part, ‘Leggi e sussidi’, is divided into two chapters. The first addresses the impact of the First and the Second World Wars as a driving force for the development of state support to soldiers’ families and, more generally, of family law. The second explores the codification of paternity into the national law. While at first the connections between these two chapters may seem unclear, the analysis of the creation of a socio-economic support system for the families of fallen soldiers shows Salvante's perspective on the matter. The chapters demonstrate how war shaped the legislation and how the role of the man within the family was progressively codified in the Kingdom of Italy. The main legislative steps are retraced and quoted in the second chapter, ‘La paternità codificata’, which outlines well how the legislation on the family, and specifically on paternity, evolved and changed during the years of Fascist rule. Particularly interesting is section 4, ‘Padri alla sbarra’, addressing violations of paternal obligations such as family support, and illustrated with compelling examples.
The third and final part, ‘All'ombra della dittatura’, focuses specifically on paternity under the Fascist regime. It addresses many different aspects, from the discrimination and repression of certain practices and categories of men (‘Maschilità da censurare’), to the demographic campaign and the role of paternity in Italian society (‘Il padre prolifico’), and the role of the paterfamilias (‘Il capofamiglia nello Stato totalitario’). The first chapter is well structured and divided into clear categories of analysis – ‘gli oppositori politici relegate al confino, i coloni italiani che allacciavano rapport con le donne autoctone e, infine, gli ebrei’; (‘political opponents who were condemned to internal exile, Italian settlers who formed relationships with native women, and finally, Jews’, p. 127). Particularly interesting is the use of letters sent to the authorities and archive material, which provide insights into the impact of Fascist policies on real life and families. The final two sections (‘Il padre ebreo’ and ‘Censimenti e discriminazioni’) open questions that for the most part remain unanswered. It is unclear why the author includes the policies against Jewish men and fathers in Nazi Germany (p. 154) and what is the significance of the census that concludes the first chapter of the final part of the book. While overall Salvante's final analysis of paternity under the Fascist authoritarian rule enriches the book's contribution to the study of the family under the Fascist regime, more information on these aspects – the parallel with Nazi Germany and the use and/or role of the census – would have strengthened the argument of this section. Although under-explored, these topics open a research path that could potentially lead to new interpretations and additional perspectives on such a crucial topic for the understanding of the development of modern Italian society.
The second chapter of part three, ‘Il padre prolifico’, explores the demographic campaign from the male perspective, and specifically the impact it had on Italian men and their role within society as fertile men. This offers a good overview of the topic, which contributes well to the overall image of paternity in Fascist Italy. The final chapter focuses on the man as the head of the family and on how the totalitarian state shaped his role within the family and society. It offers a detailed progression on how the role of the father changed within the Fascist state and how it was influenced by Catholicism, connecting the elements explored in the first part of the book.
Salvante's work offers a well-researched and structured analysis of paternity in Fascist Italy that would have benefited from an expansion of some sections that lack the depth that characterises most of her research. Perhaps this has more to do with the structure chosen than the research itself, with some sections resembling paragraphs whose inclusion in the table of contents creates expectations that are not fully met. This flaw is, however, compensated for by the solid research and archive material that provide new insights on the evolution of the roles of men and paternity in Fascist Italy, whose impact in shaping modern Italy is still visible today.
