Mixt Agriculture and Diffused Industrialization. Aspects of North – Eastern Italy Economic Development Path

The paper discusses relations between early modern rural structures, and industrialisation paths taking a selected territory of the Veneto region as a case study. It questions, in particular, the influence of the system of mixed farming (coltura promiscua) performed by independent peasant family (famiglia appoderata) on the so-called 'diffused industrialisation processes' that occurred in Italy from the 1960s onwards. It verifies if mixed farming can explain through its social, economic, and territorial structures the specific modernisation path that stays at the origins of current economic configuration. The article contributes to the analysis of the incidence of rural contexts on local development and, in particular, on the emergence of an industrial structure widely based on little and medium firms. Methodological approach unites critical analysis of selected scientific publications statistical reconstruction of relevant economic trends, and empirical study of a territory at municipality level.