Regenerating bodies, shaping minds: school colonies in Italy between the First World War and the postwar years

Abstract

This article examines the development and transformation of school colonies within the Italian child welfare system between the First World War and the immediate postwar period. Originally conceived as prophylactic institutions aimed at strengthening the bodies of frail and undernourished children, these colonies gradually assumed broader functions, becoming spaces shaped by new political and social imperatives. The article focuses on the impact of wartime mobilisation, the reconfiguration of welfare networks involving public authorities, voluntary organisations, and humanitarian agencies, as well as the growing role of doctors and teachers in structuring the daily life of these institutions. In particular, the text analyses how health prevention practices became intertwined with moral education and forms of political mobilisation. The result is a complex picture that highlights the emergence of a hybrid model which anticipated the subsequent welfare and educational policies of Fascist totalitarian pedagogy.