La fabbrica tra economia, società e politica. Il controverso bilancio dell’Ilva di Taranto

The factory between economy, society and politics. The controversial history of the Taranto Steelworks. Taranto steelworks has a great importance in the history of Italian industry. The factory has been thoroughly studied. In this note, looking at the researches and at the most recent historical essays on the Italian State owned enterprises and IRI, the author offers some considerations on the role of the steel industry in the Italian economy, on the experience of the State owned enterprises and on their relations with the political sphere, on the policies pursued in the post war period in order to reduce the existing gap between Northern and Southern Italy. The author looks also at the public discussion on these topics. The choices and the decisions made will be examined in their historical context. This history raises questions to which we have still no answer.