IPW-Kolloquium From Movement-Party Hybrid to Party Boundary-Crossing: Direct Action and the Movimento sociale italiano (1947-1968)

Instead of denoting a category of political organization, in this study the movement-party hybrid is treated as a state of affairs, namely when a party or movement has crossed the boundary between institutional non-institutional politics. With the movement-party hybrid so reframed, travel back and forth between institutional and non-institutional arenas becomes a dynamic object of analysis. Between 1947 and 1968 the Movimento sociale italiano (MSI) travelled back and forth across this boundary. To explain the neo-Fascist party's transition from direct action (1947-1956) to demobilization (1957-1967) and its return to direct action (starting in 1968), this study assesses the role of (1) supply-side factors and (2) demand-side factors (as posited in the literature on movement-party hybrids) and adds consideration of (3) the opening and closing of the political opportunity structure within Italian neo-Fascism and (4) the internal unity/disunity of the MSI. The analysis draws on evidence in archival sources and the secondary literature.