States of Emergency Cultures of Revolt in Italy from 1968 to 1978 ----------------♦ --------------- ROBERT LUMLEY V VERSO London • New York First published by Verso 1990 ! © R o bert Lumley 1990 All rights reserved Verso UK: 6 Meard Street, London W1V 3HR USA: 29 West 35th Street, New York, NY 10001-2291 Verso is the imprint of New Left Books British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data Lumley, Robert States of emergency : cultures of revolt in Italy from 1968 to 1978. 1. Italy. Social movements, history I. Title 30 3 .4 '8 4 ISBN 0-86091-254-X ISBN 0-86091-969-2 pbk Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Lumley, Robert, 1951 — States of emergency : cultures of revolt in Italy ( O 1 9 6 8 -1 9 7 8 / Robert Lumley. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references. ISBN 0-86091-254-X. - ISBN 0-86091-969-2 (pbk.) 1. Italy—Politics and government-1945-1976. 2. Italy—Politics and government-1976- 3. Students-ltaly-Political activity- History-20th century. 4. Working class-ltaly-Political activity-History-20th century. 5. Social movements-italy- History-20th century. 6. Italy-Social conditions-1945-1976. 7. Italy-Social conditions-1976- I. Title. DG577.5.L86 1990 945.092'6-dc20 Typeset in September by Leaper &C Gard Ltd, Bristol Printed in Great Britain by Bookcraft (Bath) Ltd acknowledgements The bulk of this book was first written as a Ph.D. thesis (finished in 1983 with the title ‘Social Movements in Italy, 1 9 6 8 -7 8 ’) at the Centre for Contemporary Cultural Studies, at the University of Birmingham. The research work was done in Milan in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Although that work has been revised and updated, my debts go back to my time in Birmingham and Milan. It was the support and good company of Charlotte Brunsdon, Myra Connell and Janice Winship which made it possible to sustain momentum when writing. I want also to thank Paul Ginsborg, who gave me invaluable help and advice when it was most needed, Liliana Grilli for her kind hospitality in Milan, and Antonietta Torchi for continuous encouragement and ideas. Whatever the value of the book for others, for me the experience of writing it has been important in introducing me to Italian people and their culture. For this I am deeply grateful to Italian friends, and to all those who helped me so generously with my research. Finally, I’d like to say how much I owe to Richard Johnson, who was a stimulating and caring supervisor, to members of the Magpie discussion group, especially Martin Chalmers and John Solomos, and to Malcolm Imrie of Verso, without whom this book would probably have remained a thesis. While I am responsible for what has been written (warts and all), I hope that those who have given me a hand will find something in it which will interest them. The author and publishers would like to thank the following for their kind permission to reproduce illustrations: Alfredo Chiappori (‘In the commune . .’, ‘Calm down . .’, ‘Culture must be defended’); Altan/ Quipos (‘The cost of living . .’, ‘Hello . .’); Giorgio Forattini (‘I was white . .’, Marx crucified); and Elfo (‘Identities, Secrets’). Every effort acknowledgements has been made to trace the copyright holders of illustrations: apologize to those we have been unable to contact. contents Acknowledgements vii Glossary of Organizations xi Introduction 1 Part I: Origins of the Crisis of 1968-9 9 1 A Distrusted State 11 2 Civil Society and its Discontents 19 3 The Agitators and Moral Outrage 33 Part II: The Student Movement 47 4 From Mass Schooling to Mass Protest: Failures of the Education System 49 5 The End of Respectability: The Student Movement in the Universities 63 6 Religion and Student Politics: The Catholic University 77 7 The Spread of Student Protest: The State University, Schools and Institutes 87 8 A Lost Opportunity? The Education System after ’68 101 9 Going to the People: Students and Workers 109 10 Dreaming of a Cultural Revolution 11 The Story in Pictures 14 Part III: The Workers’ Movement 16 11 Breaking the Ice: Spring-Summer 1968 16 12 Pirelli: A Case of Permanent Conflict 18 13 Technicians and Clerical Workers Awake 19' 14 The Hot Autumn: From Corso Traiano to Piazza Fontana 20' 15 The Hot Autumn in Milan 21' 16 The New Rules of the Game: The Unions and Industrial Relations 24' 17 Institutionalization from Below: The Unions and Social Movements 25' Part IV: Social Movements and Protest in the 1970s 271 18 Residual and Emergent Political Forms T il 19 The Red Brigades: Sons and Daughters of ’68? 27S 20 The Generation of Year Nine: Youth Revolt and the Movement of ’77 295 21 Feminism and a New Politics 313 22 Some Conclusions: The Difficulties of Keywords 337 Bibliography 353 Index 369 glossary of organizations Since the reader may not be familiar with the trade unions and political organizations in Italy, which are often referred to in the text using abbrevi­ ations (e.g. PCI, instead of Italian Communist Party), this glossary provides a brief guide. It is not comprehensive, but covers those organiz­ ations most frequently mentioned. The Unions Italian unions are divided into three confederations: Confederazione Generate Italiana dei Lavoratori (CGIL) Confederazione Italiana dei Sindacati Liberi (CISL) Unione Italiana del Lavoro (UIL) Each of these in turn is divided into ‘categories’ according to industry (hence FILTEA-CGIL is the textile workers’ ‘category’). CGIL is the biggest trade union organization, with 2 Vi million members in 1968. Communist and Socialist parties (% and respectively) are heavily, though not exclusively, represented at all levels. CISL is the second union organization with about IV2 million members in 1968. It was formed as a result of a breakaway from the CGIL in 1948 and for many years it was dominated by the Christian Democrats, though its basis is not confessional. UIL is the third union, with about half a million members in 1968. It includes Socialists (45%), Social Democrats (30%) and Republicans (25%) in its leadership. glossary In the engineering sector attempts to overcome this tripartite structure sav the establishment of the Federazione Lavoratori Metalmeccanici (FLM) ì j 1972, but the majority of members belong first to an affiliate ‘category and those who only hold cards of the FLM are a minority. The affiliati categories are: FIOM (Federazione Impiegati Operai Metallurgici) is composed of engineerinj manual and white-collar workers and is part of the CGIL. In 1968 it ha< 271,000 members. FIM (Federazione Italiana della Metallurgia) is part of the CISL. In 1968 i had 170,000 members. UILM ( Unione Italiana dei Lavoratori della Metallurgia ) is part of the UIL. It 1968 it had 103,000 members. ACLI (Associazioni Cristiane Lavoratori Italiani) was founded in 1944 tc organize Catholic workers separately from the CGIL. Dominated b) Vatican and Christian Democrat Party influences, the ACLI becamc more independent in the late 1960s. MO (Movimento Operaio) is the generic term meaning the official workers' movement. Its British equivalent would be the ‘labour movement’. Workplace Representation Internal Commission (Commissione Interna) factory-based representative bodies elected by all workers irrespective of union membership. Their bargaining role was heavily circumscribed and by the late 1960s they were often out of touch with shopfloor opinion. Hence their replacement by Factory Councils post 1969. Delegates (Delegati) the nearest British equivalent is the shop steward, but they do not in the Italian case necessarily belong to a union. They are elected representatives who came into being during the Hot Autumn mobilizations, and were later made official. Factory Council (Consiglio di Fabbrica) the successor to the Internal Commission, it is composed of delegates and represents all workers in a workplace. Set up in the wake of the Hot Autumn, it was, however, much more firmly based on the shopfloor. CUB (Comitati Unitari di Base) rank-and-file workers’ organizations set up independently of the unions in 1968-9, mainly in large factories in the North. After 1969 they were increasingly dominated by political organizations. Zone Council (Consiglio di Zona) set up in the early seventies as part of the unions’ campaign for social reforms. They were composed largely of glossary delegates from Factory Councils in an area. However, the Zone Councils remained on the drawing-boards, and never took root. Employers’ Associations Confindustria (Confederazione dell’industria Italiana) is the organization of private employers, although up until 1969 it also represented the state sector. Intersind is the body representing state sector employers. Political Parties DC (Democrazia Cristiana) has been the party of government since 1948. Its membership is almost exclusively Catholic and its support comes from different classes, although its policies have favoured free enterprise capitalism. In May 1968 it won 39% of the vote, and 266 seats in the Chamber of Deputies. PCI (Partito Comunista Italiano) the largest working-class party with a membership of IV2 million in 1968, and 27% of the vote and 177 seats in the May 1968 election. It was in the government from 1945 to 1947, but otherwise represented the main opposition force. The party paper is L’Unità. PSI (Partito Socialista Italiano ) the first workers’ party in Italy, was greatly weakened by fascism. In 1947 a social democratic grouping broke away, rejoined the party in 1966 and then left again in 1969. In 1968 it got 15% of the vote and 91 seats in combination with the PSDI. The PSI participated in government from 1963 to 1972. The party paper is V Avanti. MSI (Movimento Sociale Italiano) a fascist party. It got 4% of the vote in 1968, and 24 seats. PRI (Partito Repubblicano Italiano) a historic lay centre party which took part in the Centre-Left government from 1963.