Peregrinations of a Corporatist Economist

Abstract

This article examines François Perroux’s corporatist thought from the interwar period to the Vichy period, in the light of his travels in Italy, Germany, Austria, and Portugal from 1934 to 1935. We will show that Perroux’s critical analysis of what he called “fascist”—politically authoritarian and economically corporatist—regimes is central to grasp his intellectual and institutional trajectory. To do so, we reconstruct Perroux’s original diagnostic regarding these regimes, stressing the way he distinguished the totalitarian model of Italy and Germany from the national-Catholic model outlined by Austria and Portugal. Then, we show that Perroux’s travels influenced his economic thought, both theoretically and methodologically. Eventually, the diagnostic he drew from his mid-1930s tour within foreign experiences will also help shed light on the way he welcomed and tried to guide Vichy France’s socio-economic reforms.