The Interstitial Elites of the Italian Foundations of Banking Origin

Abstract

The foundations of banking origin (Fobs) are a consequence of the 1990s reform of the Italian banking system and one of the main places where political, economic, and financial power is concentrated. This chapter focuses on the elites that can be observed in the Compagnia di San Paolo in Turin. In particular, it shows how a group of people, already powerful in other areas, constitute themselves as a new political elite through their membership in this foundation. The study identifies a distinct elite group that is mobile, broker-like, located in interstitial spaces between different fields, and institutionally ‘capricious’ but paradoxically also solid. Against a backdrop of radical institutional change, this civil society elite is playing a role in public policymaking, replacing mechanisms of representation with mechanisms of funding and philanthropy.