While much has been written about the race to modernize industry and agriculture in fascist Italy, the history of animal husbandry during this period has largely been overlooked by scholars. The "Battle of Zootechnics"—the Italian project to centralize and modernize animal husbandry practices and thereby maximize the yield of animal products—was a key element in the state's plan for achieving economic self-sufficiency. A new article in Isis: A Journal of the History of Science Society examines how the Italian fascist state employed zootechnics to further its aims and reflects upon an important chapter in the tangled history of fascism and science.
In " The Battle of Zootechnics: Incorporating Race, Technology, and Ideology in Cattle Breeding Practices During Fascism in Italy, 1922–1945 ," author Daniele Valisena introduces zootechnics: a nascent science of animal husbandry that offered new possibilities for agricultural productivity in the 1920s and 1930s. In fascist Italy, the project of zootechnics was tied not only to the production of animal products, but also to their consumption. While many Italians were not heavy consumers of meat, dairy, and eggs in the 1920s, state officials and prominent zootechnicians advanced the view that eating animal products was a marker of power, masculinity, and health. In this way, controlling the diet of Italian citizens was linked to the state's quest for cultural, military, and economic power.
The scientification of animal husbandry was a key agroecological and technological driver of modernization in all industrializing countries at the turn of the twentieth century. As a science focused on selecting the most productive animals, zootechnics employed the language and logic of race and lineage in its pursuit of idealized breeds. Cattle breeders were required by the state to keep herdbooks and breed their cows only with approved bulls at public bull stations. Among the peculiarities of its implementation in Fascist Italy, zootechnics was concerned with the idea of "purifying" Italian cattle types and reclaiming so-called "original races"—a logic that echoed the rhetoric of fascist political propaganda and coeval eugenic discourses in other countries. Valisena argues that zootechnics advanced a racial categorization of the world that fit the fascist project of reclaiming a "pure" Italian nationalism. In practice, however, Valisena shows that breeding practices did not always align with these supposed values—in fact, zootechnics reflected a tension between returning breeds to their supposed ancient origins and a competing impulse toward modernization and improvement.
Ultimately, the Battle of Zootechnics was not a success. Insufficient economic support from the Italian state coupled with farmers' reluctance to adopt new breeding practices led to a failed project and low rates of meat consumption by the middle of the 1930s. As Valisena lays out in the article's conclusion, studying the history of zootechnics sheds light on the frailty of fascist propaganda and allows us to trace the roots of a fascist vision of nature that has persisted even after the collapse of Mussolini's regime.
Since its inception in 1912, Isis has featured scholarly articles, research notes, and commentary on the history of science, medicine, and technology and their cultural influences. Review essays and book reviews on new contributions to the discipline are also included. An official publication of the History of Science Society, Isis is the oldest English-language journal in the field.
Founded in 1924, the History of Science Society is the world's largest society dedicated to understanding science, technology, medicine, and their interactions with society in historical context.
