The ‘community factory’, regulations and possibilities
A legal analysis of the Olivetti experiment is published
The aim of ‘L’impegno di Olivetti per il Mezzogiorno: il diritto e la “Comunità’, la pianificazione e la fabbrica di Pozzuoli’ (Olivetti’s commitment to Southern Italy: the law and the “Community”, planning and the Pozzuoli factory), a study by Andrea Zauri (University of Salerno) recently published in Iura & Legal Systems, is to examine Adriano Olivetti’s corporate culture and experience in Southern Italy from historical, economic and legal perspectives. This provides an interesting point of view and is useful for gaining a better understanding of an entrepreneur who is held up as a model by many, yet continues to be rediscovered.
Zauri’s investigation begins, capturing in a few lines the connection to be explored: the relationship between the legal and social dimensions of a significant experience, such as that experienced at Olivetti’s factory. ‘What is this community factory?’ It is ‘a workplace where justice reigns, progress dominates, beauty shines, and love, charity, and tolerance are not just empty words’.
Zauri recalls that, for Olivetti, the concept of ‘community’ formed the core of society and was the foundation for all social experiments. The community and the factory were inseparable, based on the experiences of Ivrea and Pozzuoli. It was not simply a utopia, but a practical result of Olivetti’s actions: an ideal workplace and a reality. Zauri asks himself, ‘What further purpose could be attributed to industrial work? Was it possible to aspire to better conditions, not only economic ones, as a result of time spent in the factory? Could a factory be included among the factors that improve individuals’ lives, as well as their social, industrial and territorial contexts?”
The article therefore analyses the relationship between law and economics through the example of the factory opened in Pozzuoli by Adriano Olivetti, and follows the implementation of the fundamental right set out in our Constitution.
Although Andrea Zauri’s research is not always easy to read, it is important because it offers a fresh perspective on a well-explored subject, providing a unique interpretation of Olivetti’s production culture.
Andrea Zauri
Iura & Legal Systems – 2025/4, B (5): 62-72
A legal analysis of the Olivetti experiment is published
The aim of ‘L’impegno di Olivetti per il Mezzogiorno: il diritto e la “Comunità’, la pianificazione e la fabbrica di Pozzuoli’ (Olivetti’s commitment to Southern Italy: the law and the “Community”, planning and the Pozzuoli factory), a study by Andrea Zauri (University of Salerno) recently published in Iura & Legal Systems, is to examine Adriano Olivetti’s corporate culture and experience in Southern Italy from historical, economic and legal perspectives. This provides an interesting point of view and is useful for gaining a better understanding of an entrepreneur who is held up as a model by many, yet continues to be rediscovered.
Zauri’s investigation begins, capturing in a few lines the connection to be explored: the relationship between the legal and social dimensions of a significant experience, such as that experienced at Olivetti’s factory. ‘What is this community factory?’ It is ‘a workplace where justice reigns, progress dominates, beauty shines, and love, charity, and tolerance are not just empty words’.
Zauri recalls that, for Olivetti, the concept of ‘community’ formed the core of society and was the foundation for all social experiments. The community and the factory were inseparable, based on the experiences of Ivrea and Pozzuoli. It was not simply a utopia, but a practical result of Olivetti’s actions: an ideal workplace and a reality. Zauri asks himself, ‘What further purpose could be attributed to industrial work? Was it possible to aspire to better conditions, not only economic ones, as a result of time spent in the factory? Could a factory be included among the factors that improve individuals’ lives, as well as their social, industrial and territorial contexts?”
The article therefore analyses the relationship between law and economics through the example of the factory opened in Pozzuoli by Adriano Olivetti, and follows the implementation of the fundamental right set out in our Constitution.
Although Andrea Zauri’s research is not always easy to read, it is important because it offers a fresh perspective on a well-explored subject, providing a unique interpretation of Olivetti’s production culture.
Andrea Zauri
Iura & Legal Systems – 2025/4, B (5): 62-72