Was « Capitalist » Always a Tainted Word: The Case of Italy

Abstract

Today the term “capitalism” is largely used to frame the market economy as a system designed to advance the interests of only capitalists. Before this use of the term “capitalism” gained traction, the word “capitalist” was already in circulation, however. The word was not tainted; it did not refer to a system of exploitation. In this paper, I will document the use of the word “capitalist” in the Italian language, through a search of the archives of the newspaper La Stampa in the period before the word “capitalism” came into common use. The evidence suggests that the word was a term that owners of the means of production used to refer to themselves, unlike today. The word was used positively in a process of self-identification by the Italian bourgeoisie as Italy slowly began to embrace a modern economy.