{"id":2115,"date":"2018-02-13T14:33:09","date_gmt":"2018-02-13T14:33:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.reading.ac.uk\/the-forum\/?p=2115"},"modified":"2018-02-13T14:33:09","modified_gmt":"2018-02-13T14:33:09","slug":"italian-general-election-2018-the-phantom-menace","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/research-blog\/2018\/02\/13\/italian-general-election-2018-the-phantom-menace\/","title":{"rendered":"Italian General Election 2018: The Phantom Menace"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong><em>By Dr Federico Faloppa, Lecturer in Italian Studies<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_2116\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-2116\" style=\"width: 300px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><a href=\"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/research-blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/72\/2018\/02\/LE_Eithne_Operation_Triton.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-2116 size-medium\" src=\"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/research-blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/72\/2018\/02\/LE_Eithne_Operation_Triton-300x200.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" srcset=\"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/research-blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/72\/2018\/02\/LE_Eithne_Operation_Triton-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/research-blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/72\/2018\/02\/LE_Eithne_Operation_Triton.jpg 640w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-2116\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Irish Naval personnel from the L\u00c9 Eithne (P31) rescuing migrants as part of Operation Triton<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Ahead of the General Election that will take place on 4 March this year, President Sergio Mattarella urged all parties to keep their electoral promises realistic, practical and responsible, and notably, to calm down.<\/p>\n<p>In his <a href=\"https:\/\/uk.reuters.com\/article\/uk-italy-election\/italian-president-calls-for-realistic-proposals-ahead-of-election-idUKKBN1EP0LG\">New Year\u2019s speech<\/a>, Mattarella attempted to remind the campaigning parties, and the general public, that jobs and the economy are \u201cthe primary and most serious social issue, especially for the young.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>However, it seems that the advice has fallen on deaf ears. Not only are Italian election campaigns dominated by <a href=\"http:\/\/www.euronews.com\/2018\/02\/10\/berlusconi-s-forza-italia-courts-youth-vote-in-rome\">unfulfillable promises<\/a>, but they are also <a href=\"https:\/\/in.reuters.com\/article\/italy-election\/opponents-say-berlusconi-to-blame-for-italys-migrant-crisis-idINKBN1FP2QS\">presenting immigration as Italy\u2019s biggest concern<\/a>: the perfect scapegoat not to tackle the real problems of the country, and to cover for main parties\u2019 political failure to offer Italians decent socio-economic prospects.<!--more--><\/p>\n<p>Despite the decline of Italy\u2019s economy, the persistent high unemployment rate (especially in the South), widespread corruption, and the virulence of organised crime; immigration has shot further up the political agenda especially since the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/world\/2018\/feb\/03\/driver-opens-fire-african-migrants-italian-city-macerata\">shooting of six Africans by far-right extremist Luca Traini<\/a> on 3 February in Macerata.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Traini, 28-year old, a candidate for the Northern League in last year\u2019s local elections, went on a two-hour shooting rampage in his car on Saturday 3 Feb. Six people were wounded before he was arrested, \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 giving a fascist salute as police led him away. At his home, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cbsnews.com\/news\/italy-macerata-attack-luca-traini-hitler-nazi-literature-shooting-africans\/\">officers found a copy of Hitler\u2019s Mein Kampf<\/a> and a flag with the Celtic cross, a symbol often used by far-right parties.<\/p>\n<p>The shootings happened a few days after a Nigerian man was arrested in connection with the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.huffingtonpost.it\/2018\/02\/10\/pamela-mastropietro-si-va-verso-laccusa-di-omicidio-per-tre-nigeriani_a_23358065\/\">death of an 18-year-old Italian woman, Pamela Mastropietro,<\/a> whose dismembered body was discovered hidden in two suitcases near Macerata. Following the events, right-wing politicians seized on her death to promote anti-migrant messages, which may have motivated Traini.<\/p>\n<p>Rather than rally to the beleaguered migrants targeted in the Macerata shootings (none of the major political leaders has gone to pay visit to the wounded), several politicians blamed the victims, or misleadingly framed the criminal attack as a consequence of the immigration crisis. Berlusconi has said that migrants are \u201ca social time bomb ready to explode\u201d, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/world\/2018\/feb\/05\/berlusconi-pledges-to-deport-600000-illegal-immigrants-italy-election\">promising that if elected he would deport 600,000 of Italy\u2019s migrants<\/a>. However, no details have been provided about how and where to.<\/p>\n<p>Berlusconi\u2019s coalition partner, Matteo Salvini, has offered words amounting to absolution for Traini, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2018\/02\/05\/world\/europe\/italy-election-northern-league-populists-migrants.html\">declaring that immigrants bring drugs, theft and violence, and blaming the Democratic Party<\/a>, who has run the country for the last five years, to \u201cflood Italy with migrants\u201d, transforming the nation into a giant refugee camp. Salvini has for years been encouraging hatred against foreign nationals living in Italy, demonising them and creating a situation in which verbal aggression and physical violence towards minority ethnic groups seems almost unavoidable.<\/p>\n<p>With the General Election less than a month away, the forging of a coalition of right-wing parties \u2013 the strongest of which is Berlusconi\u2019s Forza Italia (Go Italy!) &#8211; includes the Salvini\u2019s Northern League and Brothers of Italy, a party with neofascist roots led by Giorgia Meloni. Politically, they are openly and virulently anti-immigrant, defending what its candidates to the Presidency of the Regione Lombardia, Attilio Fontana, has called the \u201cwhite race\u201d, threatened by migrants and foreigners.<\/p>\n<p>The shooting in Macerata on Saturday that left six Africans injured was the latest in a series of attacks perpetrated by people linked to the extreme right. Anti-fascist organisation <a href=\"http:\/\/www.ecn.org\/antifa\/\">Infoantifa Ecn<\/a> reports that there have been 142 attacks by neo-fascist groups since 2014. While Luca Traini was questioned over the Macerata shooting, on Sunday 4 February, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.ecn.org\/antifa\/article\/5646\/squadrismo-a-pavia-in-25-skinheads-contro-5-ragazzi-negri-figli-di-puttana-\">four North Africans in Pavia told the police that they had been beaten up during the night by a group of 25 \u201cskinheads\u201d.<\/a> On 13 January in Naples, dozens of people belonging to the far-right association Forza Nuova broke into a bar where a meeting on Roma culture was being held, causing damage and wounding a female organiser.<\/p>\n<p>One of the most concerning elements about the Macerata episode is that Traini\u2019s and his neo-fascist fellows\u2019 views are becoming increasingly mainstream. Fascism is alive and well in Italy, and it is growing stronger with thousands of Italians joining fascist groups. In 2001, <em>Forza Nuova<\/em> (New Force) had just 1,500 members. Today, it has more than 13,000 and its Facebook page has more than 241,000 followers, almost 20,000 more than the Democratic party, Italy\u2019s biggest left wing party. The fascist-inspired Casa Pound association has almost 234,000 followers. Its secretary, Simone Di Stefano, is running for prime minister in the 4 March general election.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_2117\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-2117\" style=\"width: 300px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><a href=\"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/research-blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/72\/2018\/02\/Manifestazione_Napoli_2011.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-2117\" src=\"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/research-blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/72\/2018\/02\/Manifestazione_Napoli_2011-300x183.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"183\" srcset=\"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/research-blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/72\/2018\/02\/Manifestazione_Napoli_2011-300x183.jpg 300w, https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/research-blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/72\/2018\/02\/Manifestazione_Napoli_2011.jpg 628w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-2117\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Manifestazione in difesa dell&#8217;economia nazionale, Napoli 2011 (CasaPound demonstration in defense of the national economy, Naples 2011)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>The Italian constitution forbids the \u201cpromotion of any association that pursues the aims of the Fascist party or anyone who exalts its principles.\u201d However, the authorities have never intervened against Casa Pound and Forza Nuova, whose members show off swastikas and fascist flags during their demonstrations. The National Association of Italian Partisans (ANPI) last year drew up a list of 500 internet sites praising fascism in Italy, asking that they be blocked. Nothing was done.<\/p>\n<p>The Interior Minister Marco Minniti, from the Democratic Party, has expressed more interest in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.economist.com\/news\/europe\/21736177-left-has-answer-too-how-italys-interior-minister-tackles-illegal-migration\">persecuting the NGOs<\/a> that were saving migrants\u2019 life in the Mediterranean Sea than in prosecuting neo-fascist and neo-nazi associations. As a result, there seemed to be very little vigilance on right wingers and their websites which spread hatred especially against migrants, by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/world\/2018\/jan\/19\/italians-asked-report-fake-news-police-run-up-election\">disseminating fake news<\/a>, such as false account of rapes and crimes by refugees, on social networks.<\/p>\n<p>Targets for this type of hate-mongering extend beyond migrants and refugees. One of their most frequent targets is in fact MP Laura Boldrini, the President of the chamber of deputies, who is known for having a humanitarian approach to the migrant crisis. Immediately after the shootings in Macerata, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.ansa.it\/english\/news\/politics\/2018\/02\/06\/another-menacing-made-up-boldrini-photo-2_0bc5ff0e-38c1-4b13-8099-25003917c9d9.html\">a photo depicting her \u201csevered head\u2019\u2019 appeared with the inscription<\/a>: \u201cDecapitated by a Nigerian: this is the end she needed to meet in order to appreciate her friends\u2019 customs.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>This is the language, and the violence, which has turned 2018\u2019s election into an intolerable scuffle. In doing so, it shows Italy\u2019s darkest face by also threatening the solidarity and the cohesion of its national community \u2013 and it goes without saying that the historic parallels are chilling.<\/p>\n<p>Image credits:<\/p>\n<p><em>Top: Irish Defence Forces, 2015,\u00a0Irish Naval personnel from the L\u00c9 Eithne (P31) rescuing migrants as part of Operation Triton,\u00a0\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/42787928@N06\/18898637736\">https:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/42787928@N06\/18898637736<\/a>, (CC BY 2.0).<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>Bottom:\u00a0<a class=\"new\" title=\"User:Cassatonante (page does not exist)\" href=\"https:\/\/commons.wikimedia.org\/w\/index.php?title=User:Cassatonante&amp;action=edit&amp;redlink=1\">Cassatonante<\/a>, 2011, Manifestazione in difesa dell&#8217;economia nazionale, Napoli 2011,\u00a0https:\/\/upload.wikimedia.org\/wikipedia\/commons\/1\/1c\/Manifestazione_Napoli_2011.jpg,\u00a0(CC BY-SA 3.0).\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By Dr Federico Faloppa, Lecturer in Italian Studies &nbsp; Ahead of the General Election that will take place on 4 March this year, President Sergio Mattarella urged all parties to&#8230;<a class=\"read-more\" href=\"&#104;&#116;&#116;&#112;&#115;&#58;&#47;&#47;&#114;&#101;&#115;&#101;&#97;&#114;&#99;&#104;&#46;&#114;&#101;&#97;&#100;&#105;&#110;&#103;&#46;&#97;&#99;&#46;&#117;&#107;&#47;&#114;&#101;&#115;&#101;&#97;&#114;&#99;&#104;&#45;&#98;&#108;&#111;&#103;&#47;&#50;&#48;&#49;&#56;&#47;&#48;&#50;&#47;&#49;&#51;&#47;&#105;&#116;&#97;&#108;&#105;&#97;&#110;&#45;&#103;&#101;&#110;&#101;&#114;&#97;&#108;&#45;&#101;&#108;&#101;&#99;&#116;&#105;&#111;&#110;&#45;&#50;&#48;&#49;&#56;&#45;&#116;&#104;&#101;&#45;&#112;&#104;&#97;&#110;&#116;&#111;&#109;&#45;&#109;&#101;&#110;&#97;&#99;&#101;&#47;\">Read More ><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"__cvm_playback_settings":[],"__cvm_video_id":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[25],"tags":[357,498,695,734],"class_list":["post-2115","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-prosperity-resilience","tag-fascism","tag-italy","tag-politics","tag-racism"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v21.8.1 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Italian General Election 2018: The Phantom Menace - Connecting Research<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/research-blog\/2018\/02\/13\/italian-general-election-2018-the-phantom-menace\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Italian General Election 2018: The Phantom Menace - Connecting Research\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"By Dr Federico Faloppa, Lecturer in Italian Studies &nbsp; Ahead of the General Election that will take place on 4 March this year, President Sergio Mattarella urged all parties to...Read More &gt;\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/research-blog\/2018\/02\/13\/italian-general-election-2018-the-phantom-menace\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Connecting Research\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/theuniversityofreading\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2018-02-13T14:33:09+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/research-blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/72\/2018\/02\/LE_Eithne_Operation_Triton-300x200.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Martin Watts\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@UniRdg_Research\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@UniRdg_Research\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Martin Watts\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Estimated reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"6 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/research-blog\/2018\/02\/13\/italian-general-election-2018-the-phantom-menace\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/research-blog\/2018\/02\/13\/italian-general-election-2018-the-phantom-menace\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Martin Watts\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/research-blog\/#\/schema\/person\/7db63d5a455bb6b8a1655df56c4e6b0f\"},\"headline\":\"Italian General Election 2018: The Phantom Menace\",\"datePublished\":\"2018-02-13T14:33:09+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2018-02-13T14:33:09+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/research-blog\/2018\/02\/13\/italian-general-election-2018-the-phantom-menace\/\"},\"wordCount\":1123,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/research-blog\/#organization\"},\"keywords\":[\"fascism\",\"Italy\",\"Politics\",\"racism\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Prosperity &amp; 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