Concurrently to the development of global markets and the IT revolution, Italy, like other countries, is undergoing far-reaching changes: increasing automation of industry, maturation of the tertiary sector, and a steady increase in exchanges with other countries. These clearly observable trends are now common knowledge. On the other hand, we do not know as much about the process of the last 100 years that has transformed the distinctive features of Italy from a traditional agricultural society into an advanced industrial society, thus laying the foundations for Italy’s current scenario and future prospects.
To carry out their work, historians must rely upon a mass of “raw materials” usually called “sources”. For researchers of economic history, company records and correspondence provide the bulk of their raw material. However, up to a few years ago, few well-organized business archives were to be found in Italy, (except for some outstanding cases such as that of Ansaldo), in contrast to other Western countries.
This sad state of affairs, of records’ dispersion and destruction, wasn’t only due to war, to changes in company ownership or other misfortunes. It was also the result of the negligence and indifference of many entrepreneurs towards the records of their past activity, as well as prejudice and fear of anything new. The fact is that entrepreneurs denied access to those records that had been preserved and could be used for research.
Luckily, things have changed. On the one hand, Departments for archives as well as individual researchers and cultural institutions have been carrying out a campaign of sensitization. On the other hand, companies have become more open to scientific research, understanding the links between past and present, between heritage and future development.
Consequently, systematic efforts for retrieval and valorization of business records are now possible. Moreover, “business history” has taken its place among university subjects; several associations work at re-ordering business archives, organize didactic and research activities and meetings in the field of industrial, banking, services and trade associations history, and keep contacts with foreign scholars and institutes working on the same issues.
Numerous companies have included the inventory and restoration to the original order of their records among the tasks of the department for external public relations. Researchers, on the other hand, have been able to widen their perspective thanks to the creation of large complex business archives. As a result, we are currently able to analyse not only past general production trends and economic outcomes, but also financial and investing policies, technical innovation, market choices, organization of the production line, work culture and personnel training, relations with trade unions and public institutions. Also pictures and movies are often collected together with paper records. In some cases, the “cultural mine” created this way becomes an invaluable source of data, information and ideas.
This explains why Italian enterprise, which had kept itself apart from a historical culture linked to a strong literary and humanistic tradition, has more recently become the object of studies that provides new aids for understanding and evaluating Italian history – enough to gain increasing attention in the fields of science, information, and publishing.
This new sensitivity towards Italy’s economic development is even more significant if we consider that a modern industrial democracy is not based solely on its economic progress, but also on a genuine culture of work and innovation and a heritage of values and collective models.
Historical records enhance the sense of belonging to a society in common, as well as the learning experience of each individual. They facilitate the analysis of the myriad factors that have influenced Italy’s modernization process, and provide the framework for future scenarios.
