Matrix Activism: Media, Neoliberalism, and Social Action in Italy
International Journal of Communication 9(2015), 1072–1089 1932–8036/20150005 Matrix Activism: Media, Neoliberalism, and Social Action in Italy MICHELA ARDIZZONI University of Colorado, Boulder, USA Using the case of the Rome-based media group ZaLab, this article examines the articulations that shape and define the multiple dynamics of connected activism in contemporary societies. The first section engages the existing literature on convergence, commodity activism, and connectivity as theoretical frameworks of my analysis of ZaLab. The second section provides some context on the Italian mainstream and activist mediascapes, both of which shape ZaLab’s media practices. The last section examines a few specific examples of ZaLab’s productions and the activist campaign created to promote them. I conclude with some reflections on the nature of contemporary media practices as part of what I call “matrix activism.” Keywords: activism, Italy, documentary, social change, new media, matrix On August 30, 2008, former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi and Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi signed a Treaty on Friendship, Partnership, and Cooperation between the two countries that was meant to normalize Italian-Libyan relations and settle the cultural and economic disputes resulting from the Italian colonial experience in Libya.1 Part of the agreement required Italy to pay $5 billion over the course of 25 years as restitution for its military occupation between 1912 and 1947. In exchange, Libya committed to monitoring illegal migratory flows to Italy and taking charge of those migrants who were pushed back by the Italian Coast Guard. Although the “push-back policy” resulting from this treaty decreased the number of illegal migrants who succeeded in crossing the Mediterranean, the fate of (mostly sub-Saharan African) refugees in Libyan prisons was abominable and violated basic human rights (Manrique, Barna, Hakala, Rey, & Claros, 2014).
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