Popular culture and totalitarianism. Accounting for propaganda in Italy under the Fascist regime (1934–1945)

Throughout history, both democratic and totalitarian States have sought to take advantage of the possible political contributions of art and culture. This chapter presents the first in-depth historical study of the relationship between accounting and culture in a totalitarian State; the Fascist State in Italy between 1934 and 1945. Accounting documents in the form of budgets and reports provided by the Fascist government, along with other accounts prepared by the Fascists, were used to build a narrative that identified the ways in which the Fascist regime sought to rally the Italian people around new values such as nationalism and hatred for the “Other”, which led to the persecution of Jews. Accounting documents and the cultural activities to which they relate show the ways in which the Fascists developed their own conception of popular culture and sought control of cultural organisations and intellectuals in spreading their values and beliefs through cultural artefacts.