The Political Economy of Shopkeeping in Milan, 1886-1922

• Introduction: Shopkeeping as a historical problem; 1. The business of shopkeeping in Milan 1859–1915; 2. The context of shopkeeping: trades and techniques; 3. The economic geography of shopkeeping: the role of the dazio consumo; 4. The esercenti enter the political arena; 5. Constructing the esercenti movement 1886–1890; 6. The esercenti and the Depression 1890–1897; 7. Shopkeepers, cooperatives and the politics of privilege; 8. Milan and the national small business movement 1886–1898; 9. The allargamento debate 1895–1897; 10. The end of century crisis and the enlargement of the dazio belt; 11. Shopkeeping in the new century; 12. Labour relations and class politics; 13. The esercenti and the centre-left administration 1900–1905; 14. Shopkeepers and socialists; Conclusion: Identity and autonomy.

'… provides a wealth of information not just on shopkeeping , but on local government, socialism and the Italian cooperative movement. Morris's book - exhaustively researched and excellently produced - shows us for the first time, the difficult, tortured and contradictory road towards some sort of shopkeeper unity and self-identity.' John Foot, Association for the Study of Modern Italy