Abstract
The article analyses the so-called ‘Polanyi moment’ with particular attention to the Italian debate. Several authors link Polanyi to an alleged need for protection, generated by the effects of neo-liberalism, to which left and right-wing populisms could respond. Since this is a political use, criticism of the implicit assumptions of this reading cannot be linked solely to a philological reconstruction of Polanyi’s thought. However, in order to read the current political-economic conjuncture, the analysis of Polanyi’s work can show the inadequacy of certain simplifications and open a different use of his thought. Other issues underlying the ‘Polanyi moment’ concern the inability to question the limits of the political community one would like to defend and unjustified assumptions about the ‘threat’ of migrations. Thus, the implicit subject of the ‘Polanyi moment’ seems to have the contours of the so-called white working class. The article therefore offers a critique of both the use of Polanyi by some authors who advocate a ‘left-wing populism’ and of the subject that these authors would like to defend.