In an essay I came across two political concepts that I'm incapable of distinguishing. What is difference between corporatism and craft unionism? I have read somewhere that the idea of corporatism was vital to Mussolini's Italy. How can it be? How did Mussolini use corporatism to underpin its fascist government? The Blackwell Encyclopedia of Sociology has defined it so:
'..in recent usage in the social sciences, the concept of corporatism has shrugged off its earlier association with authoritarian and fascist regimes, and has come to be deployed as a means for analyzing the role of organized interests in present- day liberal democracies. Corporatism has also passed into common political usage as a shorthand for the involvement of trade unions, together with organizations representing the interests of capital in bargaining with governments over economic policies. In public debate corporatism has come to be seen as the antithesis of neoliberalism, in which governments seek to use competition rather than negotiation as the dynamic of policy-making..'
Also, what kind of role did craft unionism play before The US New Deal? Why does the leftist author of this text chide craft unionism?
May Day began on the streets of Chicago in 1886, and was celebrated in Havana and other Latin American cities as early as 1890. Organized labour proved to be an important force in the Americas, even if it was usually kept subordinate. The US New Deal marked a confluence between enlightened liberalism and the industrial working class, which succeeded in organizing itself during the Depression years through heroic struggles. Samuel Gompers may have epitomized the parochial craft unionism which preceded the New Deal, but he was a formidable negotiator on behalf of the skilled workers that his movement represented, and was honoured with a monument in Washington that exceeded any bestowed upon a workers’ leader in Paris, London or Berlin.
