JANUS 2018-2019 1.14 • Conjuntura internacional THE CAN OF TUNA FISH IS STILL INTACT. THE RISE OF FIVE STAR MOVEMENT IN TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY ITALY Giuseppe Motta THE RECENT YEARS HAVE WITNESSED the rapid In 2005, the blog supported the birth of local so- ty, sustainable development, connectability, envi- rise of an unconventional political movement/party cial networks to communicate and spread politi- ronment. The main idea was the centralism of the that represents a sore thumb in the European cal messages at the local level through the first citizen, who can become an active part of the po- political scenario, a combination of direct democra- Amici di Beppe Grillo meetups. The political plat- litical system through the instruments of direct cy, populism, euro-scepticism and environmental form of these experiments was focused on tech- democracy.2 battles: the Five Star Movement (Movimento 5 nology and innovation, ethical consumerism, en- As stated by Natale and Ballatore, the movement Stelle, M5S). vironment protection, public transports, but adopted the cyber-utopian discourses from the so- But how has it succeeded in gaining such a posi- obviously could not help denouncing the inability called Californian ideology, and symbolically tion in less than 10 years since its foundation? of the traditional political parties to establish a identified itself with the web. The traditional polit- The history of the Five Star Movement cannot be real alternative to the current political course. ical establishment was associated with “old” me- understood without some information about its In 2007, a national coordination was established dia (television, radio, and the printed press), and founder, the comedian Beppe Grillo, who was a and Beppe Grillo launched the idea of a Fuck-off was a “walking dead,” destined to collapse against real TV celebrity during the first half of the Eight- Day (Vaffanculo Day, V-Day), a public mobilisa- an innovative web-based direct democracy.3 ies, but was later banned from the public space tion in order to protest against the Italian political In 2010-2012 regional and local elections, M5S owing to a gag injuring Bettino Craxi’s Socialist system. The first V-Day was held in Bologna on candidates generally obtained scarce electoral re- Party: in that moment Craxi was a powerful politi- September 8 (a symbolic date reminding of the sults but the first M5S mayors were elected at Par- cian, the protector of Silvio Berlusconi’s media WW2 armistice) and was associated to the initiative ma, Sarego, Mira and Comacchio. empire. Later on, in the early nineties, he became “Clean Parliament” aiming to prevent the nomina- The 2012 regional elections in Sicily, in particular, the symbol of the widespread system of corrup- tion as parliamentary candidates of criminal con- need to be mentioned owing to Grillo’s coup de tion that emerged thanks to the investigations of victed politicians and to limit the membership of theatre: he decided to launch the campaign by Milan magistrates. the parliament to two terms in office. landing in Sicily through the sea, swimming in the After Craxi’s escape to Hammamet, the Italian po- Strait of Messina. It was what he called the third litical context witnessed the rise of former Craxi’s liberation of Sicily after Garibaldi in 1860 and the protégé Silvio Berlusconi, who won the 1994 elec- Allied Forces in 1943. It was a sort of dress re- tions. Berlusconi’s success inaugurated a period In Italy (…) M5S tried to hearsal before the 2013 elections of the Italian of strong dualism, which was structured on the establish a clear political Parliament, which Grillo wanted to open from dichotomy Left/Right and the existence of two dif- strategy: to be a new political within, as a can of tuna fish. ferent and coalitions according to a majority elec- force with no connections The political message of the movement was toral system. based on some key-principles: there is no dif- During those years, Grillo had practically disap- with the historical categories ference between Italian Left and Right as both peared and used to work just in the theatres of Left and Right. proved to be “incapable” to fight corruption (if where his exhibitions started to approach politi- not direct accomplices of illicit private interests); cal, social and economic subjects. Grillo’s life the individual political engagement of the candi- changed after meeting Casaleggio, who convinced Thanks to the signature of 336,000 people, by far dates should be limited and being a politician him of the potentiality of the web and converted exceeding the 50,000 required for the filing of a should not be a profession, just a civic endeavour; Grillo, who destroyed computers in his exhibi- law of popular initiative, the first legal proposal of the press is completely in the hands of the politi- tions, into a sincere devout of the web. Grillo’s meetups was officially delivered to the cal elites and is no more trustworthy, while in the Grillo opened a blog (beppegrillo.it) that be- Prime Minister Roman Prodi but was never dis- digital world everyone is free to access to every came the meeting point of people dissatisfied cussed by the Italian parliament. kind of information and to participate to the with the political and economic course of Italy In 2009, Grillo and the local civic movements as- political debate. and was well-known also at a global level, join- sembled around his blog supported the election The vision of the European Union was quite criti- ing the interventions of scholars such as Joseph of some independent candidates to the European cal, especially towards the monetary system, and a Stiglitz or Dario Fo criticizing globalization, pol- Parliament, Luigi de Magistris and Sonia Alfano, particular insistence emerged when denouncing lution, international finance, political corruption and elected their first communal councillors in the fact that no referendum had been held regard- and in general the lack of a sustainable strategy some municipalities of Emilia Romagna. ing Italy’s adhesion to the monetary union. But of development. In the same period, Grillo theatrically tried to join the movement’s position towards the EU cannot This blog contained vicious attacks against Italian the Democratic Party (PD) in order to candidate be defined as totally euro-sceptical. As stressed by politicians: Silvio Berlusconi was labelled as the himself to the primaries and spread his political Corbetta and Vignati, the approach towards Eu- psycho-dwarf (psiconano) or asphalt head (testa program through a mass party that he openly crit- rope is quite peculiar and contradictory and, d’asfalto, owing to the aspect of his hair after icized and wanted to reform radically. Grillo’s though featuring some affinities, cannot be ana- reconstructive surgery), Piero Fassino who was membership was obviously refused and Piero lysed as an expression of nationalist euro-sceptical called the “breadstick” (grissino) due to his aspect, Fassino, a leader of the Democratic Party, accused tendencies, as in other European countries.4 Romano Prodi was mortadella (after a sort of Grillo for his hostility and lack of seriousness.1 The 2013 national elections registered the great ham of his same region of provenience), Pierluigi In September 2009, together with his friend Gi- unexpected triumph of M5S. The candidates were Bersani was Gargamella (the evil wizard of the anroberto Casaleggio, Grillo consequently an- chosen through online primaries by a limited cartoon Les Schtroumpfs), while recently Renzi nounced the birth of the Five Star Movement number of activists and the reduced numbers of was attacked as the “little idiot from Florence” (M5S). The five stars representing the targets of the votes in these primaries was used by the other par- (ebetino di Firenze). movement were: public water, sustainable mobili- ties to ridicule the M5S deputies, who were all 36 substantially alien to politics. The M5S obtained in 2016, when two M5S Virginia Raggi and Chiara to Southern Italy and the M5S became the first almost nine million votes and elected 108 depu- Appendino were elected as mayors in Rome and political party in Italy (32%). However, owing to the ties and 54 senators. In March 2013, Luigi Di Maio Turin. electoral law that had been hastily approved in was elected Vice President of the Chamber and On that occasion, Grillo appeared at the window 2017, there was not a clear majority in the cham- became the youngest vice president of that house. of his hotel room showing a coat hook, in Italian bers and Italy precipitated in the chaotic situation The hostility and contempt of the institutions an appendino (as the new mayor of Turin), while of today. were clear and Grillo’s supporters were called M5S supporters and Italian alternative press ridi- Once again, M5S proved its “ideological flexibili- grillini, emphasizing their lack of political expe- culed once again Piero Fassino. ty” and showed to make no distinctions between rience, and were consequently treated as dumb As reminded by Marco Travaglio, with his usual Left and Right. The draft of a political contract obedient serfs of the comedian and his acolyte subtle sarcasm, Fassino’s prophecies proved to was proposed both to Salvini’s Lega and to the Casaleggio. When asked what he was thinking be lethal for his own Democratic Party (PD).9 Democratic Party. The latter seemed reluctant about the boom of the M5S, the President of the In 2009, when Grillo tried to participate to the PD and, though the existence of an anti-Renzi faction, Republic Giorgio Napolitano answered that he primaries, Fassino commented on: “If Grillo obediently followed Renzi’s plan while Berlusco- heard no boom. But the fact that a single move- wants to come into politics, why does he not create ni reluctantly let Lega and M5S finally begin a bi- ment composed of some unexperienced people a party and let’s see how many votes he gains”.