The Clockwork Factory

This work focuses on the history of Magnet Marelli - perhaps the most Americanized firm in Italy during the interwar period in Italy - and its female workers. Fascist ideology called for women to return to home and hearth, yet in Italy millions of women continued to work despite Mussolini's precepts. Perry R. Willson examines the development of the company before and during World War II, and traces its management's decision to increase productivity by emphasizing the "human factor of production". Placing gender relations at the heart of this factory history, Willson explores the factors which shaped women's lives, how they experienced work, leisure, maternity and politics under the fascist state.