The History of Knowledge and Power Relations: Metamorphoses of Administrative Science in Italy (1875-1935)

Résumé 0

This article contributes to the history of knowledge by analyzing power relations at the intersection of the academic and political fields. It focuses on the evolution of Italian administrative science (AS) from its introduction into the legal curriculum in 1875 to its temporary removal from law faculties in 1935. The article begins by describing the naissance of the Italian university model and its foreign influences. It then analyzes the controversy surrounding the epistemological foundations and boundaries of an emerging and contested AS, tracing debates linked to political issues of state sovereignty and the legitimacy of welfare policies. The teaching of AS flourished into the 1880s. However, regulatory changes affected the balance of power in the recruitment of professors, and the field began to decline. This is illustrated by a reconstruction of the links between coparticipants in recruitment juries, based on network analysis. Combined with biographical data, these results show how defenders of a highly formalist legal method imposed their vision on the definition and classification of administrative disciplines. Finally, a study of representative individual trajectories contrasts the ongoing marginalization of those who favored an interventionist AS with the legitimation of its detractors: supporters of the liberal state, who nevertheless adopted disparate positions in the face of the rising tide of Fascism.