DOCSLIB.ORG

The Challenge of the Five Star Movement

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
The Challenge of the Five Star Movement 2 The Challenge of The five STar MoveMenT Rinaldo Vignati If you were to determine who the main Italian political character of 2012 was, the choice could only fall on Beppe Grillo. Until the local elections in May, his political presence had aroused scant attention, and he had been reduced to an essentially folkloric phenomenon. Grillo was considered a “troublemaker” who was in a position to influence the electoral results. This was the case in the regional elec- tions in Piedmont in 2010, where the grillino candidate drew away votes from the candidate of the center-left, Mercedes Bresso. However, Grillo was not given chances to become a powerful and long-lasting political heavyweight. Following the local elections in May, the sub- sequent rise in polls, and the Sicilian regional elections of October, Grillo’s Movimento 5 Stelle (M5S, Five Star Movement) has become a leading figure of the political confrontation. It is able to interpret the consensus of a large chunk of the electorate and can therefore influ- ence the political strategies of other actors. The Local Elections of 2012: Where Did the Votes for the Five Star Movement Come From? The path that led today’s M5S to the position of a prominent political actor—from the founding of Grillo’s blog to the creation of Meetup Groups, from the two “V-Days” to the birth of the civic lists1—raises Italian Politics: Technocrats in Office 28 (2013): 78–94 © Berghahn Books doi:10.3167/ip.2013.280105 The Challenge of the Five Star Movement 79 one question: is this a project that has had from the beginning the goal to create a list able to compete nationally, or has the M5S established itself randomly, opportunistically exploiting the spaces that a politi- cal system in deep crisis has from time to time provided? On the one hand, it is hard to imagine that, at the beginning of the path, Grillo and his companion Gianroberto Casaleggio2 had the ambition to form a political force able to compete with the major parties on the scene.3 On the other hand, if we think back to the collection of signatures on the “V-Days” (both unsuccessful), the “citizen primaries” (ignored by the government), and the candidacy of Grillo in the primaries of the Democratic Party (obstructed),4 they seem like plugs to a “plan.” This plan demonstrates how to use the doors that the political sys- tem reserves for popular participation and to highlight, through its “losses,” the fictional character of these same opportunities. This cre- ates a growing distrust of traditional political forces and a “mythology” to justify the increasing direct involvement of the Movement within the political institutions, replacing parties that have proved unable to listen to citizens.5 In addition to these “demonstrative” activities, the party’s entry into the electoral arena followed strategic timing, not a mere desire to make a point. To illustrate, in 2009, Grillo chose not to participate in the European elections, and the M5S’s participation in the local elections was announced only after political support had been consolidated. It is certainly an exaggeration to assume the existence of a step-by- step comprehensive strategy diligently executed from the beginning, yet the success of the M5S is definitely the result of a long preparation process. Nevertheless, the outcome of the 2012 administrative elec- tions have surprised most observers. Some have also denied that the results were even relevant. This was the case with the president of the Republic, Giorgio Napolitano, who, when interviewed after the elec- tions, denied with a smile that there had been any “boom” of consen- sus for Grillo’s lists. In the following weeks, the polls confirmed that the ballot box of 6 and 7 May had produced something extraordinary. The M5S contested seats in 101 municipalities and received almost 200,000 votes, that is, 8.7 percent of the valid votes cast in those municipalities. Where it is possible to make a comparison with the results of 2010, the 2012 data show a strong growth: in Alessandria the votes almost quadrupled; in Verona they almost tripled; in Parma, Monza, Cuneo, and Belluno they more than doubled. The results, however, are not geographically uniform: as in previous elections, the South proves to be a weak point. In fact, between the North and the “red zone,” the M5S presents lists in as many as 77 municipalities, while in the Center-South it is present in only 24 centers. Also, when 80 Rinaldo Vignati in the North and the “red zone,” the percentages of votes are often in double digits (and never less than 3 percent), whereas in the Center- South, the overall percentage stops at 3 percent and in some cases does not exceed 1.1 percent.6 The growth of the party’s support pushed politicians and com- mentators to question the origin of the M5S’s votes. The calculations carried out by the Istituto Cattaneo—through the so-called Good- man model—on the regional flows between 2010 and the last com- munal elections in the main cities showed that the component from the People of Freedom (PdL) is almost non-existent.7 There are two sources from which the M5S drew its electoral strength. One is the Northern League (LN), which in Monza, Piacenza, and Parma con- stitutes approximately a quarter of the vote and in Verona and Genoa a little less. It is plausible to argue—even if there is no data to sup- port it—that the transfer of votes from the League has intensified particularly after the outbreak of the scandal involving the LN’s trea- surer, Francesco Belsito, and the organizational problems that have hit Umberto Bossi’s party.8 The other source—the center-left—is even more substantial. From this camp, adding the votes that in 2010 had gone to the Democratic Party (PD), the Radical Left, the only presi- dential candidate of the Center, and Italy of Values (IdV), comes a component of the M5S electorate ranging from 24 percent in Piacenza to 71 percent in Genoa, exceeding 37 percent in Parma and Verona, and 42 percent in Monza. This data can be read in several ways. One could simply highlight the “protesting” component that is in opposition to the political estab- lishment, which has also been expressed by the League and the IdV, and stress that there is a certain similarity between themes of the M5S and the topics used in previous political phases by these two parties. This would reduce the success of the M5S to the periodic high tide of a protesting and anti-political component that is always present in the Italian electorate and that, in different political phases, has assumed differentiated identities. More tempting, in my opinion, is to argue instead that there has been a transfer of votes from the center- left bloc.9 One might ask, in this regard, if the present success of the M5S does not tell us something interesting about the transformations that have affected the electorate of the center-left in recent decades— changes that may have escaped the notice of researchers due to the tendency to associate “populism” with “the right.”10 In this regard, it is perhaps worth examining the M5S’s relationship with previous movements born on the left side of the political spec- trum—the girotondi (roundabouts), the Purple People (Popolo Viola), the rallies at the Palasharp arena promoted by Freedom and Justice The Challenge of the Five Star Movement 81 (Libertà e Giustizia), and so on—as well as the characteristics of these movements. Was the success of the M5S favored by these movements, or should we speak of discontinuities? Several leaders of the above- mentioned movements have clearly put distance between themselves and the Five Star Movement. And there is a huge difference between the rhetoric of, for example, Gustavo Zagrebelsky, with his learned quotations and calm voice, and the shouting rallies of Grillo. Yet I submit that, in the perception of ordinary citizens, there is continuity. These movements, I would argue, are going beyond even the inten- tions of their promoters, helping to fuel and legitimize in the center-left electorate a general lack of confidence in the political class, in politics in general, and in the need to compromise that follows. Thanks to technological and organizational tools, and to his unquestionable skills and unscrupulous rhetoric, Grillo has been able to take advantage of all this and become a political entrepreneur.11 Arguably, some elements that make implicit reference to the usual practices of “anti-politics” (unwillingness to compromise, tendency to see political competition in terms of good and bad, generalized distrust of the political class) have in the last 20 years spread through the center-left electorate. This may have contributed to the loss of votes by historically center-left parties in favor of the political forces—the IdV previously and the M5S today— that have approached these issues with greater resolve and have been more vigorously opposed to the “privileges” of the political class. The current success of the M5S, I argue, can therefore be indicative of deeper cultural transformations that have not yet been appraised. The Five Star Movement to the Parma Government The result of the administrative elections of May is important not only due to the amount of the votes collected by the M5S, but also due to the capture of four municipalities, of which one is Parma. This Emilian city, which came out of a disastrous administrative experience (the Vignali administration having left a budget in deep distress), saw in the second round of elections the confrontation of Vincenzo Bernazzoli, the center- left candidate, against the grillino Federico Pizzarotti, with the first hav- ing a distinct advantage (starting at 39.2 percent against 19.4 percent).
Load more

Recommended publications
  • The Party of European Socialists, European Greens and European Left Party Respond to the Crisis1
    All anti-neo-liberal now? The Party of European Socialists, European Greens and European Left Party respond to the crisis1 Luke March University of Edinburgh [email protected] Paper for PSA 2013 Draft version 1.0. Work very much in progress. Please do not quote without author’s permission. Why has the left failed to benefit from the post-2008 economic crisis? This is a common, but perhaps slightly unfair question. It is difficult to see any one political family as a unique beneficiary, and indeed the right’s apparent earlier ideological hegemony has become unstuck with the ‘austerity medicine’ having consistently failed to revive the European patient. Nevertheless, there is still something remarkable about socio-economic conditions that should be a ‘perfect storm’ for left-wing politics regularly failing to produce anything like a clear boon for the left. The February 2013 Italian elections are just the latest that may mark a ‘no- confidence’ vote in the Centre-Left (McDonnell and Bobba 2013). The social democratic Democratic Party (PD) and its more leftist ally, the post-communist Left Ecology Freedom threw away an apparently unassailable lead to squeak ahead of the right and Beppe Grillo’s Five-Star Movement. This paper aims to contribute to answering this overarching question by comparing the policy and ideological response to the crisis undertaken by the three ‘left’ transnational party federations (TNPs) at European level, the Party of European Socialists (PES), European Green Party (EGP) and European Left Party (EL).2 Comparing the three TNPs is an apposite approach. Although TNPs are ‘timidly rising actors’, relatively weak formations that fall far short of being fully integrated parties, they at the very least aspire to a minimal level of ideological and policy co-ordination (Bardi 2004; cf.
    [Show full text]
  • Face Attack in Italian Politics: Beppe Grillo's Insulting Epithets
    1 Face attack in Italian politics: Beppe Grillo’s insulting epithets for other politicians1 ABSTRACT The second largest party in the Italian Parliament, the “5-Star Movement” is led by comedian-turned-politician Beppe Grillo. Grillo is well-known for a distinctive and often inflammatory rhetoric, which includes the regular use of humorous but insulting epithets for other politicians, such as Psiconano (“Psychodwarf”) for Silvio Berlusconi. This paper discusses a selection of epithets used by Grillo on his blog between 2008 and 2015 to refer to Berlusconi and three successive centre-left leaders. We account for the functions of the epithets in terms of Spencer-Oatey’s (2002, 2008) multi- level model of “face” and of Culpeper’s (2011) “entertaining” and “coercive” functions of impoliteness. We suggest that our study has implications for existing models of face and impoliteness and for an understanding of the evolving role of verbal aggression in Italian politics. 1. Introduction In the 2013 Italian general election, just under a quarter of the votes went to Il Movimento Cinque Stelle (The 5-Star Movement, or M5S) – a new political entity which had been founded four years before by comedian- turned-politician Beppe Grillo. One of the distinctive characteristics of Grillo’s language as leader of M5S is the coinage of humorous but insulting epithets for other politicians. Below is an extract from an online ‘political communiqué’ written by Grillo shortly after the 2008 general election: I partiti erano uno e bino, psiconano e Topo Gigio. PDL e PD-meno- elle […].(Grillo, n.d., Communiqué number 13) “The parties were one and two-in-one, psychodwarf and Gigio Mouse.
    [Show full text]
  • Italy and Possible Implications for Eurozone Stability
    ITALY IMPLICATIONS Italy and possible implications for eurozone stability After Italy’s unsuccessful push for reform at the EU Summit last month, many of its European partners may be tempted to write-off the country’s concerns. However, this somewhat complacent stance may be dangerous in that it underestimates the recent shift in Italian political dynamics that culminated in the formation of an unexpected coalition government and the extent to which this may impact financial markets and potentially EU stability. Erik Jones Abstract: Italy’s recent election surprised many are not natural political allies. While there are observers who expected a hung parliament areas of policy overlap, the diverse nature of and who were subsequently caught off guard the M5S’s political movement, its relatively by the success of the right-wing Lega and the more expensive policy agenda, and Lega’s populist Five Star Movement (M5S). This growing strength all suggest maintaining a outcome can be attributed to an increasingly united front may prove difficult. Nevertheless, volatile Italian electorate and a shift in political this unexpected political partnership ought dynamics brought about by the economic and not to be written-off by European partners. financial crisis. As the protracted coalition Finding ways to interact with Italy’s new negotiations demonstrated, the Lega and M5S government poses a considerable challenge 81 to EU leaders and, subsequently, the outlook Conte’s success with this complex agenda for EU macroeconomic governance reforms was not obvious. Moreover, there is nothing and financial markets’ stability. However, surprising in this lack of accomplishment. such efforts will be necessary to stabilize the Few heads of state or government achieve all eurozone and contain anti-EU sentiment.
    [Show full text]
  • Senza Titolo 2
    Open Letter to Beppe Grillo from Professor Paul Connett and Rossano Ercolini, dated Nov 4, 2016 Dear Beppe, I hope this finds you well in health and spirits. Rossano Ercolini and I are writing to you today because we have been very concerned about the disturbing information emanating from Rome and Turin where newly elected Five Star Movement mayors are making statements - and worse - making appointments, which appear to suggest that they are turning their backs on a genuine zero waste strategy and instead indicate they favor the discredited use of landfills and incinerators. The purpose of this letter is the hope that you will use your good offices to get one of the key planks of many 5 star activists back on track. As you know Paul has been to Italy many times working pro bono with Rossano and others fighting against incineration and also promoting a Zero Waste strategy. This has involved working many times with members of both Amici di Beppe Grillo and the Movimento Cinque Stelle. One story Paul loves re-telling in public is how a few years ago a delegation from the Amici di Beppe Grillo (there were about 600 groups at that time) went to you and said that “they loved what you were saying but what did you want them to do?” Your reply “Go home to your communities and improve them.” In our opinion this advice changed Italian politics from a lot of “talking” at the top to “doing” at the grass roots level. One result was that many pushed for Zero Waste in their communities.
    [Show full text]
  • The Bright Side of Populism: Beppe Grillo As Promoter of Political Change and Reform
    XXVII Convegno della Società italiana di Scienza politica Università di Firenze 12 - 14 September 2013 The bright side of populism: Beppe Grillo as promoter of political change and reform Jana Edelmann. Research Assistant at Universität Siegen/ Ph.D Student at Ludwig- Maximilians-Universität München First Draft – please do not cite or quote, comments are welcome Abstract With his irresponsible simplifications and unsustainable political demands, populist Beppe Grillo poses a serious danger for the Italian democracy and its institutions, as the widespread opinion goes. However, this negative interpretation falls short of taking into account two crucial aspects: Firstly, Grillo and his MoVimento 5 Stelle are caused by, respond to and intend to change the political system’s and its actors’ uncontested inefficiencies and encrusted structures, woes that the established political elite – so far unsuccessfully – has been trying to change for decades. Secondly, populism as a neutral analytical concept indeed allows for its potential to positively influence the political system, namely by addressing taboo subjects and putting them on the political agenda. As argued in this paper, Beppe Grillo’s populist approach provides Italy with a variety of well-founded stimuli for political and institutional change as he and his movement openly address, expose and criticize structures and procedures that lie at the very heart of the Italian political system’s difficulties. I. Introduction: Beppe Grillo - political clown and democratic catastrophe? This year’s Italian national parliament’s election provided the political system with a clear and unexpected winner: Beppe Grillo’s MoVimento Cinque Stelle (M5S), campaigning for the first time on the national level and founded just around three and a half years before (2009), from scratch achieved 23.79 per cent of the votes in the Senato and 25.55 per cent in the Camera, by this becoming the most successful single party (cf.
    [Show full text]
  • Syriza, M5S and Podemos: the Three Champions of the Angry Southern European Voter 105
    Syriza, M5S and Podemos: The Three Champions of the Angry Southern European Voter 105 SYRIZA, M5S AND PODEMOS: THE THREE CHAMPIONS OF THE ANGRY SOUTHERN EUROPEAN VOTER SYRIZA, M5S Y PODEMOS: LOS TRES CAMPEONES DEL VOTANTE ENFADADO EN EL SUR DE EUROPA* G C, L O E T** Abstract: The article examines the profi le of the electoral basis of the three most successful examples of anti-establishment parties in Southern Europe, namely the Coalition of Radical Left (SYRIZA) in Greece, the Movimento Cinque Stelle (M5S) in Italy and Podemos in Spain. These parties share the implementation of a non-right populist discourse rooted in the social-protest mo- vements in each country. Using data from the European Election Study 2014, our analysis reveals that despite the fact that these voters have been described as ‘euro-critical’ and ‘non-ideological’, our main fi nding is that their electoral support mostly rests on ideology and on the distrust and disapproval of the national establishment. Keywords: economic crisis; anti-establishment parties; euroscepticism; populism; left-wing parties Resumen: El artículo examina el perfi l de las bases electorales de los tres ejemplos más exito- sos de partidos “antiélite” de izquierda en el Sur de Europa: la Coalición de Izquierda Radical (SYRIZA) en Grecia, el Movimiento Cinco Estrellas (M5S) en Italia y Podemos en España. Estos partidos tienen en común la implementación de un discurso populista no de derechas con conexiones en los movimientos de protesta de cada uno de sus países. Utilizando datos de la Eu- ropean Elections Study 2014, nuestro análisis revela que a pesar del hecho de que estos votantes han sido descritos como “eurocríticos” y “desideologizados”, nuestro principal hallazgo es que su apoyo electoral descansa principalmente en la ideología y en la desconfi anza y falta de apoyo a las élites nacionales.
    [Show full text]
  • Beppe Grillo's Five Star Movement
    PA rtecipazione e CO nflitto * The Open Journal of Sociopolitical Studies http://siba-ese.unisalento.it/index.php/paco ISSN: 1972-7623 (print version) ISSN: 2035-6609 (electronic version) PACO, Issue 8(3) 2015: 944-952 DOI: 10.1285/i20356609v8i3p944 Published in November 15, 2015 Work licensed under a Creative Commons At- tribution-Non commercial-Share alike 3.0 Italian License BOOK REVIEWS BEPPE GRILLO’S FIVE STAR MOVEMENT Organisation, Communication and Ideology edited by Filippo Tronconi, Ashgate, Farnham, 2015, 254 pp., €65.00, ISBN 978- 1-4724-3663-4 Fabio Bordignon Università di Urbino Carlo Bo The resounding debut of the Five Star Movement (M5S) at the 2013 Italian General Election marks the «most successful party entry in the history of post-war Western Eu- ropean democracies». Less than five years after its official foundation, the political movement led by the (former) comedian Beppe Grillo was able to become the first Ital- ian party. How could this astonishing result have been achieved? Is this new political actor here to stay? The book edited by Filippo Tronconi revolves around these two main questions, presenting the results of a research project launched in 2012 by the Istituto Carlo Cattaneo. The contributions of a pool of Italian scholars offer different perspectives and different methods and sources: election results, survey data, qualitative interviews with activists and elected representatives. The book provides an analytical framework that helps to identify the factors underly- ing this unprecedented (and largely unexpected) electoral breakthrough. Moreover, in the concluding section, Tronconi poses questions about the stability of the position that PACO, ISSN: 2035-6609 - Copyright © 2015 - University of Salento, SIBA: http://siba-ese.unisalento.it PACO – BOOK REVIEWS the M5S has acquired in the Italian party system, and about the sustainability of its party model, given the peculiar features of its ideological profile and organisational arrange- ment.
    [Show full text]
  • An Uncertain Italy
    Geographical Overview | EU’s Mediterranean Countries Panorama An Uncertain Italy Marc Lazar has submitted his resignation in the wake of this dis- Professor of History and Political Sociology at aster. In fact, the PD’s defeat is yet another example Sciences Po, Paris of the deep crisis of the entire continental European President, School of Government, Libera Università left. For its part, Silvio Berlusconi’s Forza Italia, with Internazionale degli Studi Sociali Guido Carli (LUISS), 14% of the votes, has obtained its lowest election Rome results since it was founded in 1994. Il Cavaliere, at 81 years of age, no longer mobilizes anyone but his most diehard followers and no longer aggregates an The results of the 4 March 2018 Italian elections are arc of broader forces behind him ranging from the paradoxical. On the one hand, they clearly show extreme right to the centre. He has thus been great- Geographical Overview Mediterranean | EU’s Countries three winners and three losers. On the other hand, ly weakened by the results of this election. The ex- they have made Italy enter a stage of extreme politi- haustion of his party, which exists nearly exclusively cal uncertainty. for and by him, attests to a more generalized phe- The losers are, first and foremost, the two main po- nomenon, that of the difficulties of the European 192 litical parties that had been attempting to impose right, as can be seen, for instance, in France, Ger- their hegemony for years on their respective ends of many, Austria and Spain. In Italy, as elsewhere, the the political spectrum.
    [Show full text]
  • Measuring Populism Worldwide Faculty Research Working Paper Series
    Measuring Populism Worldwide Faculty Research Working Paper Series Pippa Norris Harvard Kennedy School February 2020 RWP20-002 Visit the HKS Faculty Research Working Paper Series at: https://www.hks.harvard.edu/research-insights/publications?f%5B0%5D=publication_types%3A121 The views expressed in the HKS Faculty Research Working Paper Series are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect those of the John F. Kennedy School of Government or of Harvard University. Faculty Research Working Papers have not undergone formal review and approval. Such papers are included in this series to elicit feedback and to encourage debate on important public policy challenges. Copyright belongs to the author(s). Papers may be downloaded for personal use only. www.hks.harvard.edu Measuring Populism Worldwide: Norris 1/8/20 8:50 PM Measuring Populism Worldwide Pippa Norris McGuire Lecturer in Comparative Politics John F. Kennedy School of Government Harvard University Cambridge, MA 02138 [email protected] www.pippanorris.com @PippaN15 www.GlobalPartySurvey.org Data: https://dataverse.harvard.edu/dataverse/GlobalPartySurvey. Synopsis: Populism studies have rapidly burgeoned but nevertheless systematic cross-national evidence about this phenomenon has lagged far behind. How can populism be measured in ways which are consistent, valid, and reliable? To address this issue, Part I outlines the minimalist concept of populism used in the study. Part II summarizes the pros and cons of previous attempts at gauging and classifying party ideological values and issue positions in general, as well as recent studies seeking to classify populists as a distinct party family. Part III describes the research design employed to construct the Global Party Survey, replicating the methods of previous expert surveys but expanding coverage worldwide and including innovative measures of populist rhetoric.
    [Show full text]
  • Does the Five Star Movement Deviate from Its 'Democratic Formula'?
    Innovative Politics: Does The Five Star Movement Deviate from its ‘Democratic Formula’? Anna Grazia Napoletano S4609301 16 November 2017 Comparative Politics Master thesis Supervisor: Dr. Maurits J. Meijers Nijmegen School of Management Radboud University Nijmegen Word count. 33, 759 Table of Contents 1. Introduction…………………………………………………………………. 3 1.1 Innovative politics: from a minimalist concept of democracy to a complex one……….. 8 1.2 Innovative politics: Pirate Party, Geenpeil and the Five Star Movement……………….. 12 2.The Five Star Movement: History and organization……………………………………... 15 2.1 Italian political context:……………………………………………………………… 15 2.2 From a website to a Movement: The Five Star Movement’s embryo stage………….. 18 2.2.1 Anti-media………………………………………………………………………….. 19 2.2.2 Meetup……………………………………………………………………………… 21 2.3 From a Movement to a party…………………………………………………………. 24 2.3.1 Current structure……………………………………………………………………… 27 2.3.2 The Five Star Movement manifesto and its system of checks and balances…………. 28 2.3.3 Staff…………………………………………………………………………………… 30 2.3.4 Financing……………………………………………………………………………… 30 3. Divergence from the Five Star Movement’s Democratic Formula………………………. 31 3.1 The FiveStar Movement democratic formula: direct-participatory, transparent and deliberative………………………………………………………………….. 31 3.2 Direct and Participatory Democracy……………………………………………………. 32 3.3 Transparent Democracy…………………………………………………………………. 35 3.4 Deliberative Democracy………………………………………………………………… 35 3.5 Deviations from the Five Star Movement’s democratic formula……………………….. 36 3.6 Expectations regarding the Five Star Movement’s divergence from its “democratic formula”……………………………………………………………………………………… 38 3.6.1 The massive organization of internal democracy and “the Iron Law of Oligarchy”….… 38 3.6.2.The Lack of ideology: Delegation Vs. Representation and Taggart’s protest politics….. 41 4. Methodology……………………………………………………………………………… 46 4.1 Exploring the world of the Five Star Movement………………………………………….
    [Show full text]
  • The (D)Evolution of Political Communication in Italy: Beppe
    ACTAACTA UNIVERSITATIS UNIVERSITATIS LODZIENSIS LODZIENSIS ACTA UNIVERSITATIS LODZIENSIS FoliaFolia Litteraria Litteraria Polonica Polonica 3(58) 2(57) 2020 2020 Folia Litteraria Polonica 2(57) 2020 http://dx.doi.org/10.18778/1505-9057.58.27http://dx.doi.org/10.18778/1505-9057.57.01 http://dx.doi.org/10.18778/1505-9057.57.01 ACTA UNIVERSITATIS LODZIENSIS Folia Litteraria Polonica 2(57) 2020 * Marcin Kępiński* Łukasz Marcinhttp://dx.doi.org/10.18778/1505-9057.57.01 JKępińskian Berezowski* https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4367-3224 https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4367-3224https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5312-5451 ArturMarcin Gałkowski** Kępiński* The Thehttps://orcid.org/0000-0003-4367-3224https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2471-0886 wall wall of of silence silence surrounding surrounding literatureliterature and and remembrance: remembrance: TheVarlamVarlam (d)evolutionwallS halamov’sofShalamov’s silence of ArtificialsurroundingpoliticalArtificial Limbs, Limbs, Etc. Etc. communicationasliteratureasaa m metaphoretaphor and remembrance: of inof the Italy: the soviet soviet empire empire BeppeVarlam Grillo’sShalamov’s case Artificial Limbs, Etc. The camp solitary confinement block was old and decrepit. It looked as if a wall The camp solitary confinement block was old and decrepit. It looked as if a wall as amight m falletaphor down, the whole of block the crumble, soviet and the beams empire collapse, if you just In themight 21st fall century, down, togetherthe whole with block the crumble, rapid widespread and the beams of social collapse, media if andyou justdigital knocked against a wooden cell wall. But the solitary confinement block wasn’t go- communication,knocked against political a wooden parties cell wall.
    [Show full text]
  • Populism in Italy
    CICERO FOUNDATION GREAT DEBATE PAPER No. 19/05 December 2019 POPULISM IN ITALY EXPLORING THE IDEOLOGICAL ROOTS OF LEGA AND THE FIVE STAR MOVEMENT DR. LUCA MANUCCI University of Lisbon Institute of Social Sciences Cicero Foundation Great Debate Paper No. 19/05 © Luca Manucci, 2019. All rights reserved The Cicero Foundation is an independent pro-Atlantic and pro-EU think tank, founded in 1992 in Maastricht at the signing of the Maastricht Treaty. www.cicerofoundation.org The views expressed in Cicero Foundation Great Debate Papers do not necessarily express the opinion of the Cicero Foundation, but they are considered interesting and thought-provoking enough to be published. Permission to make digital or hard copies of any information contained in these web publications is granted for personal use, without fee and without formal request. Full citation and copyright notice must appear on the first page. Copies may not be made or distributed for profit or commercial advantage. 2 Populism in Italy Exploring the Ideological Roots of Lega and the Five Star Movement Luca Manucci The League (Lega) and Five Star Movement (M5S) are quite different from an ideological point of view, but something ties them together: their populist vision of society. The League is now a classic far right party fighting immigration, the ‘cultural hegemony’ of the Left, and the economic ‘dictatorship’ of the European institutions, while claiming to defend the Christian roots of Europe. M5S is a very different type of party, since it lacks a clear ideology and scholars struggle to position it on a classic left-right divide.
    [Show full text]