Bruno Rizzi
Encyclopedia
Bruno Rizzi was an Italian
unorthodox political theorist.
in 1918 but among others, left in 1921 to be among the founders of the Communist Party of Italy
(PCI) in 1921. He left the PCI in 1930.
Due to persecution by the Fascist regime
, Rizzi emigrated to France
. During the later 1930s he intervened in the debates involving Leon Trotsky
, James Burnham
and Yvan Craipeau
concerning the nature of the Soviet Union
.
in 1939, but most copies were seized by the French government. In it he stated that Fascism and Stalinism
were developing similar political methods. Although Trotsky also expressed these ideas, he criticized other claims in Rizzi's work.
It would be more than 30 years before an abridged version of this work would be published in Italy. In the original text he argued for common cause by the totalitarian
regimes of Germany, Italy and the Soviet Union:
Following the fall of France in 1940, he published the pamphlet Ecoute Citoyen! ("Listen, Citizen!"), in which he repeated these claims.
Rizzi returned to Italy in 1943, but withdrew to private life, working as a shoe salesman. He contributed irregularly to Critica Sociale, Tempi Moderni and Rassegna di Sociologia. He died in Bussolengo.
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
unorthodox political theorist.
Early activities
Born in Porto Mantovano, he joined the Italian Socialist PartyItalian Socialist Party
The Italian Socialist Party was a socialist and later social-democratic political party in Italy founded in Genoa in 1892.Once the dominant leftist party in Italy, it was eclipsed in status by the Italian Communist Party following World War II...
in 1918 but among others, left in 1921 to be among the founders of the Communist Party of Italy
Communist Party of Italy
The Communist Party of Italy was a communist political party in Italy which existed from 1921 to 1926. That year it was outlawed by Benito Mussolini's fascist regime. In 1943, the name was changed to the Italian Communist Party.-Foundation:The forerunner of the party was the Communist Faction...
(PCI) in 1921. He left the PCI in 1930.
Due to persecution by the Fascist regime
Fascism
Fascism is a radical authoritarian nationalist political ideology. Fascists seek to rejuvenate their nation based on commitment to the national community as an organic entity, in which individuals are bound together in national identity by suprapersonal connections of ancestry, culture, and blood...
, Rizzi emigrated to France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
. During the later 1930s he intervened in the debates involving Leon Trotsky
Leon Trotsky
Leon Trotsky , born Lev Davidovich Bronshtein, was a Russian Marxist revolutionary and theorist, Soviet politician, and the founder and first leader of the Red Army....
, James Burnham
James Burnham
James Burnham was an American popular political theorist, best known for his influential work The Managerial Revolution, published in 1941. Burnham was a radical activist in the 1930s and an important factional leader of the American Trotskyist movement. In later years he left Marxism and produced...
and Yvan Craipeau
Yvan Craipeau
Yvan Craipeau was a French Trotskyist activist.Born in La Roche-sur-Yon, he helped found a local independent Marxist organisation while still in his teens. Expelled from school, he moved to Paris and became associated with the Trotskyist group around La Verité. In 1930 this group founded the...
concerning the nature of the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
.
Writings on Bureaucratic States and later life
His most important work, La Bureaucratisation du Monde ("Bureaucratisation of the World"), was published in ParisParis
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
in 1939, but most copies were seized by the French government. In it he stated that Fascism and Stalinism
Stalinism
Stalinism refers to the ideology that Joseph Stalin conceived and implemented in the Soviet Union, and is generally considered a branch of Marxist–Leninist ideology but considered by some historians to be a significant deviation from this philosophy...
were developing similar political methods. Although Trotsky also expressed these ideas, he criticized other claims in Rizzi's work.
It would be more than 30 years before an abridged version of this work would be published in Italy. In the original text he argued for common cause by the totalitarian
Totalitarianism
Totalitarianism is a political system where the state recognizes no limits to its authority and strives to regulate every aspect of public and private life wherever feasible...
regimes of Germany, Italy and the Soviet Union:
The racistRacismRacism is the belief that inherent different traits in human racial groups justify discrimination. In the modern English language, the term "racism" is used predominantly as a pejorative epithet. It is applied especially to the practice or advocacy of racial discrimination of a pernicious nature...
struggles of national socialismNazismNazism, the common short form name of National Socialism was the ideology and practice of the Nazi Party and of Nazi Germany...
and fascism, fundamentally, are nothing but an anti-capitalistAnti-capitalismAnti-capitalism describes a wide variety of movements, ideas, and attitudes which oppose capitalism. Anti-capitalists, in the strict sense of the word, are those who wish to completely replace capitalism with another system....
campaign led by a new social synthesis, theoretically erroneous but practically just (La question juive in the 1939 edition, omitted from later editions).
Following the fall of France in 1940, he published the pamphlet Ecoute Citoyen! ("Listen, Citizen!"), in which he repeated these claims.
Rizzi returned to Italy in 1943, but withdrew to private life, working as a shoe salesman. He contributed irregularly to Critica Sociale, Tempi Moderni and Rassegna di Sociologia. He died in Bussolengo.