This essay examines the initial decade of the existence of the Enal (National Workers’ Assistance Agency) in postwar Italy, highlighting the inherent tensions between the Christian Democratic government forces and the parties of the left ‐ the Communist Party (PCI) and the Socialist Party (PSI) ‐ as well as difference within the left. Additionally, it delves into the Communist and Socialist parties’ endeavours to effect genuine democratisation within the institution, which, over its thirty-year history, remained under the regime of a commissioner. It also discusses trade union activities in relation to leisure and sport undertaken by the CGIL, the principal union associated with the left. It draws on extant scholarly literature and archival sources from the Central State Archives, the Archives of the Sturzo Institute, and the CGIL Archives; as well as a study of global social-communist periodicals, contributing to a comprehensive understanding of the historical dynamics at play.
Matteo Monaco (Thu,) studied this question.