sign in sign up
<<
Home , CasaPound, Ezra Pound, Gianni Alemanno, Luigi Fabbri

as a style of life Community life and violence in a neofascist movement in

Maddalena Gretel Cammelli

Abstract: In the European context, where the rise of right-wing movements and parties indicates the emergence of an integral Europe, Italy represents a country where the past grants these political formations signifi cant identitarian se- curity. Drawing on ethnographic research conducted with a contemporary neo- fascist movement called CasaPound active in Italy, this article proposes to take seriously the activists’ defi nition of themselves as “third-millennium fascists.” Th is article examines the network that CasaPound has built around its movement to an- alyze the presence fascist political culture currently maintains. Following militants’ interpretations of fascist ideology and practice, which oscillates between violence and death on one side and emotions and community on the other, third-millen- nium fascism appears to be a style of life deeply rooted in violent acts and death. Keywords: community, fascism, integralism, , neofascism, violence

“Neofascism” generally defi nes the political and fascism is dynamic and mercurial” (2016: 2) ideological groups and parties that have been and that the extremism we are facing nowadays active in Europe aft er 1945, inspired by the “should be understood as a fascism of and in our history of Italy and Germany between the two time” (1; emphasis in original), not necessarily a World Wars (Cento Bull 2009: 586). While there replication of historical forms. is no consensus on one single defi nition of fas- In the contemporary European context char- cism, scholars do largely agree that this legacy acterized by the resurgence of right-wing move- did not end in April 1945. Roger Griffi n suggests ments and parties, I seek to move beyond this that “fascism continues to inspire” present-day defi nition in order to bring fascism back to the movements (1991: xii) and, moreover, that fas- center of analysis. In Italy, the cism is presently characterized by “groupusco- CasaPound defi nes itself as “third-millennium larity” and what he calls a “rizhomic” political fascist,” thus giving shape to and performing the structure (Griffi n et al. 2006: 55), creating a “cel- fascist legacy in contemporary society. Th is arti- lular, capillary network” capable of transform- cle focuses on the political project of CasaPound ing this ideology into a “faceless force” (59). and aims to provide ethnographic evidence of the Douglas Holmes has stated that “contemporary meaning of this form of contemporary fascism.

Focaal—Journal of Global and Historical Anthropology 79 (2017): 89–101 © Stichting Focaal and Berghahn Books doi:10.3167/fcl.2017.790108 90 | Maddalena Gretel Cammelli

A vast debate has erupted around the politi- engender social formations that are caught up cal and historical phenomenon of fascism in an with cultural identities and processes of identity eff ort to grasp its inner logic. Besides its rela- radicalization, where history and territoriality tionship with the capitalist system, as stressed come to play a primary role in the search for sig- by Marxist analyses, fascism has been explained nifi cance (see also Friedman and Chase-Dunn as a “political religion” (E. Gentile 2005: 35), a 2005; Friedman and Friedman 2008). “revolutionary form of nationalism” (Griffi n Th is article opens with a description of the 1991: xi), a “new political style” (Mosse 1975: CasaPound neofascist movement in contempo- 8) and a “cultural phenomenon” (Sternhell et rary Italy. Linking this movement to the history al. 1989: 444) in which violence is “a means to to which militants themselves claim to belong, I achieve the transformation of the society” (Grif- am able to shed light on the current fl ourishing fi n 2005: 21). Scholarship about nationalism de- of fascism as a political culture and religion of fi nes it as a “social phenomenon” (Gingrich and death. Drawing on an ethnography conducted Banks 2006: 2) and a cultural and dynamic pro- within this movement in in 2010,1 I ex- cess involving a shared imagination (Anderson amine its activists’ self-representation as a com- 1983). However, since “not all are munity and the prominent role played by certain the same” (Kapferer 2012: xiv), Holmes delves sites in Rome as well as the importance of the into the new shapes European nationalism takes group’s leader and the music he plays. I then on as they “are being recast by those forces en- show how, considering fascist history and neo- compassed by advanced European integration” fascist Italian networks, CasaPound is neither (2006: 385). He proposes the term “integralism” an isolated nor a groupuscular phenomenon; to refer to those political and cultural phenom- rather, these factors reveal it as a political for- ena that draw directly on the Counter-Enlight- mation compatible with the democratic arena. enment as a specifi c European tradition in four Based on activists’ statements about the meaning registers: “as a framework of meaning, as a prac- they grant to fascism, this article seeks to grasp tice of everyday life, as an idiom of solidarity, the inner logic and sense of this movement, an and, above all, as a consciousness of belonging analysis that reveals “third-millennium fascism” linked to a specifi c cultural milieu” (2000: 3). to be mainly a lifestyle. As such, it is not a pro- Th e term “integralism” enables Holmes to in- gram that leads participants to engage with the vestigate a broader phenomenon that “can, but community but rather a prerational experience: need not, follow a trajectory toward fascism.” a lifestyle best represented by violence and the Nevertheless, he states that “fascism is a form of ability to face death. integralism” (14). According to Holmes, the project of Euro- pean integration has a direct eff ect on processes CasaPound in Rome and community of meaning making and signifying social real- ity. Holmes calls “fast-” not “a sys- Near the Termini train station in Rome, we fi nd tem of production or exchange” but a cultural the Esquilino neighborhood, a multiethnic area phenomenon that “degrades moral claims, sub- populated mainly by Chinese and Bengali peo- verts social consensus, and challenges various ple. On the columns of Vittorio Square, there are forms of political authority” (10). In this con- several posters celebrating the Chinese New Year text, he analyzes the spread of integralist po- and some holy Hindu saints written in several litical formations and discourses. In a similar languages. Th e only Italian-language posters are manner, Jonathan Friedman’s (1994) global from CasaPound: fl yers celebrating the day ded- anthropology perspective suggests that periods icated to a special fascist fi gure or inviting pass- of hegemonic decline and shift s in processes of ersby to attend conferences at CasaPound or, as accumulating and distributing forms of capital militants love to call it, the Italian Embassy. In Fascism as a style of life | 91 fact, present-day CasaPound began life as sev- of the building from the state using funds be- en-story apartment building in this multieth- longing to the City of Rome (11.8 million eu- nic area that hosted several militants from the ros), an operation that ultimately failed because movement and their . Th e building is of the opposition posed by left ist members of still easily recognizable today, as it bears marble parliament. letters on the facade over the main door spelling Th e Italian Embassy is the main site in Rome’s out CASAPOVND. topography related to CasaPound, but it is not Th e political movement CasaPound was born the only one. Since the 2000s, Esquilino has in 2003 following the occupation of this build- also hosted Cutty Sark, “Italy’s most hated pub,” ing in Esquilino. At fi rst it was a movement as- where militants oft en meet up to drink beer and sociated with the right-wing Fiamma Tricolore hold discussions. Th e door is always closed; party and active mainly in Rome.2 In 2008, it cut you need to ring the bell and show a registered ties with the party to become an independent, card to gain access. In the same area, near the legally recognized association with a presence in Church of Santa Maria Maggiore, there is the multiple Italian cities. In 2013, it shift ed again, bookstore Testa di Ferro. Th is site, also requir- this time to become an independent political ing visitors to ring the bell to get inside, con- party, participating in local elections. In Rome, tains a large collection of the main publications it earned 0.69 percent of the overall vote. In related to fascist ideology and history, as well 2014, it initiated a collaboration with the Lega as the magazine issued by CasaPound, T-shirts, Nord party led by , helping it fi rst and music CDs. to gain support among voters in the district of Th e CasaPound building itself is always Rome within the elections closed, with a large, solid wooden door at the and second, in 2015, establishing a new political front and a 24-hour guard on the fi rst fl oor. subject called Sovranità, thus defi ning the alli- In order to go inside, somebody called out my ance with the and supporting Matteo name from a window on the fi rst fl oor to verify Salvini’s leadership. In 2016, fi nally, CasaPound my identity and then came down to let me in. At participated in elections as an independent Area 19 enemy emplacement,4 the other space party, earning a surprising 8.6 percent in the lo- central to CasaPound’s topography in the capi- cal elections in Bolzano, a city in northern Italy tal, there were security guards at every corner, a near the Austrian border, and 1.14 percent, the force of more than 30 individuals, on the night equivalent of 14,711 votes, in the local elections of a big concert. Recently, a restaurant called Da in Rome. Angelino was also opened to foster the life of Squatted on 26 December 2003, the Casa- the community in Rome. Pound building is still being illegally occupied CasaPound is mainly experienced by its mil- since the intervention by police forces the day itants as a community, as it is not a question of aft er the occupation was not followed by an political program or formal decisions but rather eviction (Di Tullio 2006: 148), despite the usual a phenomenon centered on lived experience: appeals to “legality” touted by Italian political “the community is something that everybody institutions. In 2007, the former , feels in CasaPound. Th is is also the sense of be- (socialist coalition, Partito Dem- ing in CasaPound and not in a party. We are not ocratico), passed resolution no. 206/2007 guar- a party.”5 Another militant I spoke with, the fi rst anteeing that the families living at CasaPound woman to have the turtle—the symbol of the would be provided with other accommodations movement—tattooed on her arm and who also should an eviction take place between 2007 and wears a necklace with the same turtle symbol, 2011.3 Gianni Alemanno (right-wing coalition, told me that CasaPound is not only a political Partito Delle Libertà), mayor of Rome from movement: it is “a very strong existential expe- 2008 to 2013, then tried to acquire ownership rience.” Th is community was born inside the 92 | Maddalena Gretel Cammelli building in Esquilino. Here, each of the fl oors lives. In remembering the rise of , Se- hosts a living in one of the apartments bastian Haff ner describes how it was not simply while the top fl oor, clearly representing the hi- a “political” phenomenon; rather, it was inter- erarchy characterizing the movement, holds the woven with the private lives of all people (2002: offi ce of Gianluca Iannone, the leader of the 327). Th e symbol of CasaPound is tattooed on movement and community as a whole: it was militants’ bodies, the music of Zeta Zero Alfa Iannone who opened the Cutty Sark pub at plays at high volume in their cars as they weave the end of the 1990s; now he manages both the through the traffi c of Rome, and they buy homes restaurant Da Angelino and a record company, in the Esquilino neighborhood so they can be and he is the singer and front man of Zeta Zero near the Italian Embassy. Alfa, the rock band at the core of the commu- Bruce Kapferer (2012) argues that national- nity. He is also the person capable of setting ism as a political phenomenon is characterized the scene in concerts, acting as the offi ciant of by a “totalitarian tendency”; on the other hand, a new form of ritual: when he takes the stage Francesco Alberoni (1981) highlights some singing, everybody rushes to the stage and be- similarities between the logics militants experi- gins singing, like a chorus, following the word ence as part of a movement in the condition of of the leader. Iannone thus enacts a process of “statu nascente” and the experience of falling in power sharing similar to those of the fascist era love. I would argue that CasaPound expresses a in Italy and Germany, where rituals and cere- contemporary form of fascist political style that monies became central events through which is well described by some of its main ideologists the “new ” established its “popular” sov- in the . Th ese authors theorized society ereignty (Mosse 1975: 7–15). As in other Eu- as an “organism” in which the lives of individ- ropean right-wing movements (Fangen 1998: uals were merely tools for pursuing the inter- 207; Loow 1998; Shaff er 2013: 467), CasaPound ests of society (Rocco [1938] 2001: 237–239), has granted music a preeminent position in and humankind and the state were considered structuring its identity. Music is the means that a single entity (G. Gentile [1927] 2001: 267). spreads the message and allows it to reach new In militants’ perceptions of their belonging to people. “I knew it was a group from the area, the movement, neither CasaPound’s political but I didn’t know who Gianluca was, who they program nor its public statements hold any real were … but, since the fi rst time, I understood signifi cance. Rather, music, rituals, and commu- that somewhere in the world there were people nity appear to hold a more important place in that I would meet one day, sooner or later.” Ian- structuring the reasons people become involved none plays a fundamental role in creating what in the movement. Th is form of involvement is participants experience as a community, as he more emotional, they say, making them feel that is the ideal image of a charismatic personality, they are part of a bigger entity. similar to other such fi gures in historical fascist As I have noted, CasaPound is perceived as political formations (Dumont 1991; Gingrich a community and the existential experience of 2006; Wolf 1999). taking part in this community is interwoven As in hierarchical societies as defi ned by Louis with militants’ lives in multiple ways. For in- Dumont, in CasaPound, value is attributed to stance, CasaPound is also a professional net- the community as a whole as if it were a “col- work that complements existing neofascist net- lective man” (1991: 23): “for all of us the com- works in Rome. As militants themselves noted, munity is a priority as compared to us … it’s a CasaPound merchandise and Zeta Zero Alfa priority to preserve a community of destiny.” T-shirts, CDs, and concerts represent an import- CasaPound is experienced as a community; it is ant source of income for the movement. Th e im- essentialized and its hierarchy naturalized while age of CasaPound appears to be that of a closed its scent permeates every aspect of militants’ and isolated movement, with security guards, Fascism as a style of life | 93 large closed doors, and a community structured in the middle of the hall. A militant explicitly around the personality of the leader. Exploring told me about the importance of a “mythical the relationships that militants have established past” that they draw on in order to eff ectively either politically or personally with former neo- mobilize participants and create new myths by fascist politicians, the movement might appear invoking the eras of imperial Rome and the fas- more open. Some militants have been able to cist regime. In the Esquilino building, there is fi nd work thanks to historical neofascist net- a photo exposition about women’s roles during works in Rome, for instance at Il Secolo d’Italia, the fascist era displayed in the stairway winding the newspaper founded by Pino Rauti in 1952 up through all seven fl oors. History comes to that is the offi cial publication of the Movimento play an important role in CasaPound, just as in Sociale Italiano (MSI) party. Others have been other integral movements, becoming a site for employed at the Adnkronos agency press, an producing specifi c collective identities (Fried- important Italian agency press directed by a man 1994: 118). In the Italian context, the fas- former executive of the Fronte Universitario di cist memory represents and satisfi es this need Azione Nazionale (FUAN), the MSI’s university by providing a source of founding myths and group. CasaPound’s network in Rome includes legitimation. Many of the points in the politi- direct relationships with former neofascist mil- cal program CasaPound presented at the 2013 itants. Gabriele Adinolfi , the leader of the neo- administrative elections echoed traditional fas- fascist group Terza Posizione in the 1970s who cist elements: attention to births and women’s was involved in the violent events of the period, roles in a state, an aversion to international and came back to Italy aft er spending 20 years in En- fi nancial banking systems, the desire to nation- gland just before the emergence of CasaPound alize many aspects of the political and economic in 2002. He is the well-known “spiritual leader” life of the country. In addition, this program in- of the movement, and his son manages the book- cluded a highly conspicuous passage copied and store Testa di Ferro. Gianni Alemanno, major of pasted from the Manifesto of Verona, written the City of Rome (2008–2013), is the husband of in 1943 by Mussolini, featuring the exact same Isabella Rauti, daughter of Pino Rauti, who co- words and sentences.6 founded the MSI party in 1946 and then Ordine CasaPound represents an emotional stance Nuovo, a neofascist radical group that was active for militants; for them, it provides a commu- in the 1950s and 1960s outside the MSI party nity and shared identity based on following the and played a signifi cant role in the strategy of will of the leader. Th is community is structured tension. Th eir son, Manfredi Alemanno, ran for around music and concerts as well as many student representative in the student elections community spaces in Rome where militants can in Rome in 2011 under the banner of Blocco gather: it meets specifi c needs in terms of iden- Studentesco, the student group associated with tity. At the same time, the movement seems to CasaPound. In other words, there is a direct line be an integral part of an Italian historical tradi- uniting the CasaPound movement to neofascist tion, calling for the fascist legacy to be granted a and former fascist militants. renewed place in the new millennium. Integral Italian history, and the fascist tradition in movements such as those described by Holmes particular, plays a foundational role in the Casa- are political movements that act as a “frame- Pound movement. At the Italian Embassy, the work of meaning,” an “idiom of solidarity,” a entrance is painted with the names of the peo- “consciousness of belonging linked to a specifi c ple CasaPound claims as its founding members: cultural milieu” (2000: 3), and indeed Casa- Ernst Jünger, , Friedrich Nietzsche, Pound seems to meet these kinds of needs in its and , among others. In Area militants—not programs or political discourses 19 enemy emplacement, there is an enormous but networks, places where you can go and meet reproduction of a fascist monument standing people, a community to be part of, a leader to 94 | Maddalena Gretel Cammelli follow, an identity to take on. As part of this (Cento Bull 2009; Conti 2013; Loperfi do 2011). process, as Friedman notes, history represents Nonetheless, CasaPound’s public claim to be a prominent source to draw on in seeking a se- third-millennium fascists represents an import- cure and solid sense of identity. ant point of renewal for investigating the place CasaPound therefore appears to be a politi- this political culture has acquired in Italy. cal movement capable of meeting certain spe- I asked militants to explain the reasons for cifi c exigencies of young people in Rome and this self-defi nition and their understanding of renewing long-standing, traditional networks, the word “fascism.” Th ere was no one consistent thus giving life to the fascist legacy in what ap- answer, but in explaining why they felt this com- pears to be a new shape. mitment, they did stress the role of CasaPound as a community: “Fascism for me is CasaPound; it’s fascism that goes beyond fascism: what I love Fascism as a style of life and death is this approach to life, this way of facing life, to live and to be.” Similarly, another militant CasaPound militants love to call themselves advised me to take care that my terminology “third-millennium fascists,” a defi nition that has refl ected their contemporary character: “Yes, come to identify this group in the Italian press fascists, but of the third-millennium as well,” and public sphere. It is appropriate to clarify that stressing the necessity to make the myth present the Italian Republic was established aft er the in and for the present moment rather than an end of World War II, integrating “antifascism” outdated fetish. Nevertheless, the most expres- and the memory of the Resistance Movement as sive position was expressed by a militant who primary elements of its Constitution. One of the held a “cultural place” in the organization. He country’s main public holidays is the celebration explained the meaning fascism has for him and of Liberation every 25 April, a day for remem- for CasaPound: bering the end of the fascist period and freedom from the Nazi occupation. A specifi c article of Before any theory of the state, before any the Constitution prohibits the “reconstitution of kind of legislation, there’s a feeling of the the fascist party,” and this injunction is echoed world, there’s a style of life, and that is by the Scelba law7 which defi nes the “apology what fascinates us from that historical pe- of fascism” as a crime. Nevertheless, since 1946 riod. Th ere is a style of life, typical of that there has always been a party claiming to be heir revolution, and that we feel to be strictly to that legacy, namely the MSI and its multiple ours. … One doesn’t become a fascist for factions (Conti 2013; Ignazi 1989, 1994). Nev- having read a program, one becomes a ertheless, for most of its existence the MSI had fascist fi rst because he is attracted by a set been mainly concerned with distancing its con- of symbols … it’s something more sub- temporary image from that historical heritage, a tle than simple political stuff , you know, process that fi nally resulted in its secretary Gi- that’s why I use the expression “feeling of anfranco Fini changing the name of the party to the word,” ’cause it’s an expression that I Alleanza Nazionale (AN) in 1994, a shift known think explains the idea well … Because it as the “Fiuggi turn,” thereby offi cially making is something prerational that is rational- the MSI a national party rather than simply a ized aft erward. … symbol of nostalgia and minority interests. A beautiful book was recently pub- Th e history of the MSI is far from linear and lished, Th e Death of the Fascists by Giano straightforward, as the history of the 1970s re- Accame [2010]. Among other things, in minds us: this period is known for the strategy this book he describes the relationship of tension, with public bombings and murders fascists have with the death, with their involving neofascists factions linked to the MSI death, and thus the way many fascists face Fascism as a style of life | 95

death. And, you see, there is always this , but shortly aft erward Casseri’s writings idea of going to die smiling, and it is not were removed from movement websites and a slogan: it is something that most black only the leader was authorized to speak. Casa- shirts do: to donate oneself … But, well, Pound repudiated Casseri and its leader, Ian- fascism isn’t the fi rst doctrine to seek the none, distanced the movement from Casseri as sacrifi ce of militants up to death … Yet, it a person and from his actions. Along the same is the only doctrine to do so while smiling. lines, politicians and the media were united in And this is a really beautiful thing. Th ere describing a “racist act” committed by a “crazy are some images of young guys, about to man” who was framed as completely outside of be shot, who are there, standing with a mainstream society. CasaPound’s leader, Ian- cigarette in their mouth and smiling, fac- none, declared that Casseri was nothing more ing the fi ring squad … and when you see than a crazy man, and Matteo Renzi, at the time these kinds of images you understand that mayor of Florence, mirrored this idea when he … there is something enchanting your denounced the episode as the actions of a crazy heart, something attracting you … In my person, a foreign element in relation to Italian opinion, these images, of the young guys civil society. No legal proceedings were initiated going to die smiling, is the best expression following the tragic episode; it was stigmatized of the fascist style of life. as madness and an inexplicable event, the action of one single man, racist and lonely. Th ere was Fascism from this standpoint is perceived fi rst a generalized refusal to engage in a deeper anal- as a feeling of the world, as a style of life, best ysis of the event, similar to the reaction in Nor- represented by death and by the capacity to face way in the aft ermath of Anders Breivik’s attack death with a smile. Th e sacrifi ce of the militant’s in July 2011 (Eriksen 2014). own life for the growth of the community is On the contrary, if we consider the militant’s perceived as a positive value in which death and statement presented above about fascism as a violence are closely linked. It is something pre- style of life best represented by the capacity to rational, an idea that is rationalized aft erward. face death, then the Casseri episode appears On 13 December 2011, 50-year-old Gianluca in a totally diff erent light. As I have explained, Casseri, a CasaPound militant and full member for militants the community is more important of the community who wrote and contributed than their individual lives, and fascism as a style to the movement’s website, left his house in Pis- of life is well represented by the capacity to face toia and drove to Florence. It was still morning death with a smile. Th is is because militants do when, in Dalmazia Square, he pulled out a gun not actually die when they leave this world: they and shot several African workers he encoun- feel that they are part of a community of des- tered there. Two of them were killed, the third tiny, which means they live in a timeless pres- injured. Th e bystanders who witnessed the ent that is not located in the future; rather, they scene and tried to stop him were intimidated identify with the entire fascist legacy. Every year into leaving. Casseri got back into his car and they gather to celebrate militants’ deaths, and the disappeared among the streets of Florence. He main rituals involve everyone in the community emerged again in the aft ernoon, near San Lo- raising their right hands into the air—the “ro- renzo market, where he met two more Africans man greeting” shared by fascists and Nazis—and and shot them. Th ey were injured. He ran from saying “Present!” aft er the name of the militant the scene, trying to reach his car once again, but is pronounced. Th eir T-shirts and songs repeat this time the police followed him. He decided to the slogan “Boia chi molla!” (Th e hangman who shoot himself. quits!), thus celebrating “resistance until death, Th e fi rst reactions to this event by Casa- the absolute refusal to surrender” (Jesi 2011: 97), Pound militants online celebrated Casseri as a an idea embodied in Casseri’s actions. 96 | Maddalena Gretel Cammelli

At the core of this tragic event lies the issue iron bar,” “beating,” living in a “trench war,” and of whether or to what extent ideological, polit- “waiting to move forward with the attack.” ical, and cultural movements can give rise to Despite these images of aggression, Casa- concrete practices through the violence they Pound militants claim that they only use vio- profess. Considering the relationship between lence for defensive purposes. Militants explain myths and reality, Michel Wieviorka (2004: 224) that they need to defend their space against suggests that violence comes to play a role when “antifascist prejudice”: “In case somebody tries militants fi nd themselves face-to-face with the to deny our political space, we are always ready contradictory character of their statements, to defend our position.” At the same time, a referencing the position held by Georges Sorel militant who was found guilty of having beaten and his revision of , which was so im- and injured several young people, aft er having portant in the initial development of fascism. declared himself a “political prisoner” during Sorel (1926) argued that class is insuffi cient to the trial, was released from jail at the end of his drive people to action and therefore mytholog- one-year sentence and became a candidate on ical value becomes necessary (Sternhell et al. the CasaPound lists for the 2013 elections. 1989: 112). Furio Jesi (2011), like Franco Fer- For CasaPound, conceptualizations of vi- raresi (1995), talks explicitly about fascism as a olence seem to oscillate between two diff erent “religion of death” in describing the role death and opposite necessities: on the one hand, the plays in fascist cosmology. Meanwhile, this need to protect the credibility of the movement episode represents another historical example in the eyes of the public; on the other hand, the of the totalitarian tendency of political ideol- rhetoric of fascism “justifying the use of any ogies—such as nationalism and fascism—to kind of violence against its opponents” (Gat- shape human actions through the use of vio- tinara and Froio 2014: 163). Violence is thus lence against other humans as a tool of political central in building the identity of the group, realization (Kapferer 2012; Wolf 1999). In light especially in cases such as this in which “the of this insight, fascism appears to be a style destruction of the other is simultaneously the of life in which death and violence prevail in production of the self” (Friedman 2003: 23–24): their capacity to ensure militants’ support for “As long as there is one antifascist, I will be a the cause, given that this support is something fascist,” states Gianluca Iannone (Cosmelli and prerational. Matthieu 2009: 138). Th e Italian word squadrismo refers to the We might ask what kind of violence is licit fascist violence committed in the 1920s by Mus- and what kind is not, both within CasaPound solini’s earliest followers. Th e fascists killed and as well as in Italian institutions and democratic tortured thousands of people—mainly polit- society. David Graeber reveals the role media ical opponents—in order to aid fascism in its played in shaping the image of the “anti-global- rise to power (Franzinelli 2009). CasaPound isation movement” as violent by describing any has decided to assert this identitarian legacy large action that took place as a “violent pro- through a range of actions they defi ne as “me- test” (2002: 66) even though not a single person dia squadrism” (squadrismo mediatico). Th ese suff ered physical injury in two years of move- include making T-shirts referring to this legacy, ment actions and political demonstrations. In writing public statements, and carrying out vi- the Italian context, similar violent descriptions olent actions, including raids on the offi ces of are used to frame all “anticapitalist demonstra- the national television broadcasting company in tions,” from in 2001 to the No TAV (No Rome in 2008, a radio station in Milan in 2009, to the High-Speed Train) movement in 2013, and a few high schools in Rome in 2012. Similar even though no acts of physical violence against ideas are repeated in the lyrics of Zeta Zero Alfa human beings occurred. Conversely, both me- songs, which feature lines about “hitting with an dia and political institutions in Italy reserve Fascism as a style of life | 97 much diff erent treatment for the CasaPound recognize CasaPound’s “right to have political movement notwithstanding the occurrence activity.” In cases where violence is not cloaked this specifi c form of violence explicitly directed in silence, there is an interesting proximity be- against human beings. Demonstrations held by tween statements by the minister of the interior the African community following the Dalma- and those by CasaPound: both assert that vio- zia episode to demand justice and the closure lence is only used for defensive purposes. Even of CasaPound were silently put down without more relevant, however, are the shared values any concrete consequences. A few months later expressed by the CasaPound statements and CasaPound opened a new offi ce in Florence, commemoration of the fascist legacy and the and one year later it became a political party, ministry’s position: both appear to view fascism taking part in the 2013 administrative elections. as a legitimate legacy of Italian history with no Th e general silence surrounding the violence mention of its being forbidden by the Scelba law enacted by the CasaPound militants prompts us or the Italian Constitution. to explore how violence becomes an ordinary For CasaPound militants, fascism is mainly event and how words sometimes give way to si- a lifestyle in which death and violence are just lence in expressing violence (Das 2007), even at as present and legitimate as the feeling of being an institutional level. part of a community. Moreover, this contem- Considering the links CasaPound maintains porary form of fascism does not seem to be a with Italian society both inside and outside tra- “faceless force” (Griffi n et al. 2006: 59): on the ditional neofascist networks, it would also make contrary, now as in the past it appears to move sense to interrogate the proximity of fascist val- through networks and relationships that are em- ues to broader Italian society. Illustrative of this bedded in Italian institutions and democratic connection is the legal case brought by Mary de society, shaping events such as those described Rachewiltz, who took CasaPound to court for above and rendering them possible and licit. As misappropriating the name of her father, the Eric Wolf notes, “the processes through which well-known American poet Ezra Pound. In June ideologies are constructed take place in historic 2016, Judge Bianchini handed down a verdict, time and under defi nable circumstances” (1982: ending a trial that started in January 2012, just 388). a few weeks aft er the tragic events in Florence. Th e judge found that the name “CasaPound is diff erent from the name ‘Ezra Pound,’ and that Fascism’s legacy and present the Association operates in a legitimate manner, and it did not legitimate the use of violence un- Th is article has described how CasaPound is der the poet’s name.”8 Th e verdict was sustained mainly experienced by its militants as a com- by a quote from an appendix supplied by Do- munity, “something prerational that is ratio- menico Di Tullio, the lawyer for CasaPound, nalized aft erward,” as one militant said. Th e signed by the Prefect of Police Mario Papa on community is perceived as permeating every 11 April 2015.9 Th e note describes CasaPound’s aspect of activists’ lives, as an emotional, ex- militants as “characterized by an active and dy- istential, and collective phenomenon that, as namic style, … a manifest and declared wish to such, meets a specifi c identitarian need. Th e support a reappraisal of fascism’s most innova- CasaPound community is structured around tive aspects, and a social promotion of the fas- the leader’s will, reproducing collective rituals cist period” within a “primary engagement for typical of the “new political style” described by protecting the poor.” Th e note ends by stating George Mosse (1975), thus stressing the direct that a few episodes of violence have occurred link between this movement and the historical over the years, but these were because of “so- fascist era that is perceived as its foundational called militant antifascism,” which refused to mythological past. 98 | Maddalena Gretel Cammelli

CasaPound is not an isolated entity in the 2012: 183), and I have outlined the networks, Italian political and cultural landscape, however. relations, and institutional fi gures that take part It maintains direct links with neofascist former in this violence. In a way, silence can be a tool politicians, institutional fi gures, and political for making violence “descend into the ordinary” leaders. Th ese networks help the movement to (Das 2007); on the other hand, the similarity fi nd employment for its activists, but they also between institutional understandings of such help preserve its legitimate status no matter violence and CasaPound’s position lead us to what violent actions its participants commit. question fascism’s “proximity” to conventional CasaPound is part of a legacy that places it di- values (Holmes 2016: 1). No matter how it is rectly within the tradition of Mussolini, grant- viewed, fascism does not appear to represent an ing historical fascism new life as a founding isolated or groupuscolar phenomenon. myth across its actions and political program. CasaPound is an expression of what the fas- Historically, fascism as a political party and cist legacy can become in the third millennium. political culture was not alone in its quest for Performed and experienced as a community, power. In mapping the rise of fascism in Italy the political program expressed by this contem- in the 1920s, Luigi Fabbri fi nds that Mussolini’s porary form of fascism does not explain partici- squads were relatively few, but it was “the soli- pants’ involvement in such a movement. Rather, darity, the direct and indirect help, the complic- the political program as such gives way to what ity of the other political forces that made them activists feel is more important: lived experi- strong” (1975: 14). Along the same lines, Eric ence, the emotional stance of a shared identity, Wolf recalls how in 1933 Germany, Hitler was community. Th ird-millennium fascism is lived brought to power “through the manipulation as a prerational experience, described as a style of a conservative clique, and it always required of life capable of grasping people’s inner reason the use of force and violence to maintain its and meeting their need for identity. Violence grip on society” (1999: 272). In contemporary and death are claimed, performed, and enacted Italy, a movement claiming to be part of the as concrete tools for linking contemporary fas- fascist legacy has succeeded in gaining institu- cism with its historical manifestations. tional and democratic legitimation, with direct Th ird-millennium fascism illustrates the ca- support from two mayors of the City of Rome, pacity of an historically rooted political iden- long-standing neofascist politicians and state- tity to renew itself in order to keep pace with ments by the minister of the interior and a sit- the times, fi nding a way to overcome histori- ting judge, despite what the Constitution and cal condemnation through the law and norms. Scelba law decree. Th ird-millennium fascism illustrates the inti- In light of activists’ claims that fascism is a mate relationship between fascist political cul- style of life, fascism can be seen as a political ture, violence, and death, showing the concrete culture and historical legacy that is capable of trajectories of a prerational political lifestyle in comprising the present-day political moment of which life gives way to death in order to satisfy the new millennium through its ability to grasp a need for identity. people’s needs, a political culture in which par- ticipants assert the use of violence as a political and identitarian act. Fascism as a style of life in Acknowledgments which emotional and prerational elements pre- vail over any political program, but a style of life A fi rst draft of this article was presented at the best represented by death and the individual’s Integration and Confl ict Departmental Collo- ability to die for his community. quium at the Max Planck Institute for Social And yet violence is not an isolated phenom- Anthropology of Halle (Saale). I thank all the enon; rather, it is part of a syndrome (Fromm participants for their comments, especially Nina Fascism as a style of life | 99

Glick Schiller for acting as discussant. Th e arti- of the physical and moral personality of men cle was written during my stay at the Max Planck through the exploitation of their labor. In the Institute for Social Anthropology thanks to the national economy, everything that in terms of Fondation Maison des Sciences de l’Homme either size or function goes beyond the individ- (FMSH) scholarship for postdoctoral mobility. I ual to enter the collective interest belongs to the sphere of action, which is the proper domain further thank the two anonymous peer review- of the state.” By the same token, the Manifesto ers for their extensive comments. of Verona, in the paragraph dedicated to social matters, affi rms: “9. Work, manual, technical, or intellectual, in all its manifestations, is the Maddalena Gretel Cammelli received her foundation of the and PhD in social anthropology from the Ecole des its primary object. 10. Private property, the fruit Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales (EHESS), of labor and individual savings, and integration ; and the University of Bergamo, with a of the human personality is guaranteed by the thesis about the neofascist CasaPound move- state. Private property must not become a dis- ment in Italy. She is currently a Research Fellow integrator of the physical and moral personality at the University of . She is the author of men through the exploitation of their labor. of Fascisti del terzo millennio: Per un’antropo- 11. In the national economy everything that, in terms of either size or function, goes beyond logia di CasaPound (OmbreCorte, 2015) and the individual to enter the collective interest be- Fascistes du troisième millénaire: Un phénomène longs to the sphere of action which is the proper italien? (Editions Mimésis, 2017). domain of the state” (De Felice 2001: 474– E-mail: [email protected] 475). 7. Law no. 645 of 1952 (Scelba law). 8. Adnkronos, 10 June 2016. Notes 9. Ministero dell’Interno, Dipartimento di Pub- blica Sicurezza, Direzione Centrale della Polizia 1. For an in-depth analysis about the method- di Prevenzione. N.224/SIG.DIV2/Sez.2/4333. ological issue of the ethnography, see Cammelli Rome, 11 April 2015. (2014: 15–34; 2015: 17–23; 2017: 20–28). 2. For a deeper description of the evolution of CasaPound since 2003 and its connection with the neofascist political parties in Italy since the References end of the War World II, see Cammelli (2015: 25–38; 2017: 29–48). Accame, Giano. 2010. La morte dei fascisti. Milano: 3. Resolution 206, relative to the town council Mursia. meeting of 16 May 2007. Alberoni, Francesco. 1981. Movimento e istituzione: 4. On 27 August 2015, police carried out an evic- Teoria generale. Bologna: Il Mulino. tion of Area 19. Nobody was found inside the Anderson, Benedict. 1983. Imagined communities: space to defend the occupation. Refl ections on the origin and spread of national- 5 All are my own unless otherwise ism. : Verso. indicated. Cammelli, Maddalena Gretel. 2014. “Millenial 6. Th e program of CasaPound Italia states the Fascism: Contribution à une anthropologie du following under point 4, “For Work as a Social fascisme du troisième millénaire.” PhD diss., Duty”: “Work, manual, technical, or intellec- Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales. tual, in all its manifestations, must be the basis Cammelli, Maddalena Gretel. 2015. Fascisti del terzo of the state and its primary object. Private prop- millennio: Per un’antropologia di CasaPound. erty, the fruit of labor and individual savings, Verona: Ombre Corte. and the integration of human personality must Cammelli, Maddalena Gretel. 2017. Fascistes du always be guaranteed by the state. Private prop- troisième millénaire: Un phénomène italien? erty, however, must not become a disintegrator Milan: Editions Mimésis. 100 | Maddalena Gretel Cammelli

Cento Bull, Anna. 2009. Neo-Fascism. In Th e Ox- Gattinara, Pietro Castelli, and Caterina Froio. 2014. ford handbook of fascism, ed. R. J. B. Bosworth, Discourse and practice of violence in the Italian 586–605. Oxford: Oxford University Press. extreme right: Frames, symbols, and identity- Conti, Davide. 2013. L’anima nera della repubblica: building in CasaPound Italia. International Jour- Storia del Msi. Roma: Laterza. nal of Confl ict and Violence (8) 1: 154–170. Cosmelli, Alessandro, and Marco Mathieu. 2009. Gentile, Emilio. 2005. Fascism, OltreNero. Nuovi. Fascisti. Italiani. Roma: and political religion: Defi nitions and critical Contrasto. refl ections on criticism of an interpretation. In Das, Veena. 2007. Life and words: Violence and the Fascism, totalitarianism and political religion, ed. descent into the ordinary. Berkeley: University of Roger Griffi n, 32–81. London: Routledge. California Press. Gentile, Giovanni. (1927) 2001. Origini e dottrina De Felice, Renzo. 2001. Autobiografi a del fascismo: del fascismo. In De Felice 2001: 247–271. Antologia dei testi fascisti 1919–1945. Torino: Gingrich, André. 2006. Neo-nationalism and the Einaudi. reconfi guration of Europe. Social Anthropology Di Tullio, Domenico. 2006. Centri sociali di destra: 14 (2): 195–217. Occupazioni e culture non conformi. Roma: Gingrich, André, and Marcus Banks. 2006. Neo- Castelvecchi. nationalism in Europe and beyond: Perspectives Dumont, Louis. 1991. Homo hierarchicus: Il sistema from social anthropology. New York: Berghahn delle caste e le sue implicazioni. Milano: Adelphi. Books. Eriksen, Th omas Hylland. 2014. Who or what Graeber, David. 2002. Th e new anarchists. New Left to blame: Competing interpretations of the Review 13: 61–73. Norwegian terrorist attack. European Journal of Griffi n, Roger. 1991. Th e nature of fascism. London: Sociology 55 (2): 275–294. Routledge. Fabbri, Luigi. 1975. La controrivoluzione preventiva: Griffi n, Roger, ed. 2005. Fascism, totalitarianism and Rifl essioni sul fascismo. Pistoia: Vallera. political religion. London: Routledge. Fangen, Katrine. 1998. Living out our ethnic Griffi n, Roger, Werner Loh, and Andreas Umland, instincts: Ideological beliefs among right-wing eds. 2006. Fascist past and present, West and East: activists in Norway. In Nation and race: Th e An international debate on concepts and cases in developing Euro-American racist subculture, ed. the comparative study of the extreme right. Stutt- Jeff rey Kaplan and Tore Bjorgo, 202–230. Boston: gart: Ibidem-Verlag. Northeastern University Press. Haff ner, Sebastian. 2002. Histoire d’un Allemand: Ferraresi, Franco. 1995. Minacce alla democrazia: Souvenirs 1914–1933. Arles: Editions Babel. La destra radicale e la strategia della tensione in Holmes, Douglas R. 2000. Integral Europe: Fast- Italia nel dopoguerra. Milano: Feltrinelli. capitalism, multiculturalism, neofascism. Prince- Franzinelli, Mimmo. 2009. Squadrism. In Th e Ox- ton, NJ: Princeton University Press. ford handbook of fascism, ed. R. J. B. Bosworth, Holmes, Douglas R. 2006. Supernationalism—inte- 91–108. Oxford: Oxford University Press. gralism—nationalism: Schemata for twenty- Friedman, Jonathan. 1994. Cultural identity and fi rst-century Europe. In Th e Sage handbook of global process. London: Sage. nations and nationalism, ed. Gerard Delanty and Friedman, Jonathan, ed. 2003. Globalization, the Krishan Kumar, 385–399. London: Sage. state, and violence. Walnut Creek, CA: AltaMira Holmes, Douglas R. 2016. Fascism 2. Anthropology Press. Today 32 (2): 1–3. Friedman, Jonathan, and Christopher Chase-Dunn, Ignazi, Piero. 1989. Il polo escluso: Profi lo del Msi. eds. 2005. Hegemonic decline: Present and past. Bologna: Il Mulino. Boulder, CO: Paradigm Publisher. Ignazi, Piero. 1994. Postfascisti? Dal Movimento Friedman, Kajsa Ekholm, and Jonathan Friedman. Sociale Italiano ad Alleanza Nazionale. Bologna: 2008. Historical transformations: Th e anthropol- Il Mulino. ogy of global systems. Lanham, MD: AltaMira Jesi, Furio. 2011. Cultura di destra. Roma: Press. Nottetempo. Fromm, Eric. 2012. Anatomia della distruttività Kapferer, Bruce. (1988) 2012. Legends of people, umana. Milano: Mondadori. myth of state: Violence, intolerance, and political Fascism as a style of life | 101

culture in Sri Lanka and Australia. New York: Shaff er, Ryan. 2013. Th e soundtrack of neo-fascism: Berghahn. Youth and music in the National Front. Pattern Loperfi do, Giacomo. 2011. “Spontanéisme Armée of Prejudice 17 (4–5): 458–482. et les formes Culturelles de la Radicalisation.” Sorel, Georges. 1926. Considerazioni sulla violenza. PhD diss., Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Bari: Laterza. Sociales. Sternhell, Zeev, Sznajder Mario, and Ashéri Maia. Loow, Jeff rey. 1998. White-power rock ’n’ roll: A 1989. Naissance de l’Idéologie Fasciste. Paris: growing industry. In Nation and race: Th e devel- Gallimard. oping Euro-American racist subculture, ed. Jeff rey Wieviorka, Michel. 2004. La violence. Paris: Editions Kaplan and Tore Bjorgo, 126–147. Boston, MA: Balland. Northeastern University Press. Wolf, Eric R. 1982. Europe and the people without Mosse, George L. 1975. La nazionalizzazione delle history. Berkeley: University of California Press. masse: Simbolismo politico e movimenti di massa Wolf, Eric R. 1999. Envisioning power: Ideologies in Germania dalle guerre napoleoniche al Terzo of dominance and crisis. Berkeley: University of Reich. Bologna: Il Mulino. California Press. Rocco, Alfredo. (1938) 2001. La dottrina politica del Fascismo. In De Felice 2001: 230–247.