This article shows how, faced with the social emergencies which developed at the start of the twentieth century, with unemployment and the conflict between capital and labour, people and institutions of different ideological convictions were nonetheless able to work together dialectically to build a general consensus in the area of social reforms. Biographical details PhD, grant-holder in the history department of Turin University. E-mail: cristina.accornero@fastwebnet.it
Keywords: Social reform, social economy, labour exchange, unemployment, welfare