Fascismo e Mezzogiorno: gli studi sulla Terra d'Otranto

This paper intends to offer an overview of the historiography on "local fascisms", exploring the reasons that led to its emergence, between the Seventies and Nineties of the Twentieth century, and its subsequent developments. At the same time, the main issues that, in the last forty years, have presided over the investigative work on the link between fascism and the South will be examined. Local fascisms in the Mezzogiorno were questioned through the theme of continuity and ruptures between the liberal and fascist ruling classes and that of the internal balances within the "agrarian bloc", whose interpretation was based on the categories of "modernization" and "corporatism". The article closes by illustrating issues and problems posed by the case of the advent of fascism in the Terra d'Otranto and in the province of Lecce.