Burn Out and Fade Away: Marxism in Italian International Legal Scholarship

Against the prevailing opinion, the present chapter argues that the impact of Marxism on Italian international legal scholarship, although quantitatively marginal, has been important and fruitful, so much so that its rediscovery should not be seen as merely a matter of antiquarian interest. This minor tradition of legal studies failed to take root in the first quarter of a century after World War II, despite the endorsement of a powerful communist party. Cultural changes that took place in the 1960s reverberated throughout international legal scholarship only during the 1970s. Although Marxist international legal studies subsided within the space of a few years they produced a significant body of work whose pioneering character and unsurpassed subtlety should be acknowledged in the context of current revivals of Marxist legal studies.