italian-studies: Scholarly discussions in any field of Italian studies
Dear colleagues,
As the controversy surrounding Silvio Berlusconi and his alleged attempts to silence the opposition in Italy intensifies,
the problem, in my view, is that the "opposition" is not a real one. the PD and the other parties of the "opposition have" -- as a matter of fact -- the same agenda Berlusconi has: privatisations and more money to the Vatican ("ora di religione" at school included), less money to education and research. the "opposition" too is based on financial corruption and clientelarism (LGTB groups included sometimes). in my opinion, it is the clash between two political groups that have the very similar goals but use a different rhethoric. no one is challenging the logic of sheer capitalism, of prohibitionism, of economic inequality. anyone can have a look online of the pictures of Tony Blair partying with Berlusconi at the famous Sardinian villa.
This is just my thought, I apologize if it expressed in a rushed and informal way, but the matter is really important for the future of Italy in the international context. The idea that Berlusconi is a bad guy and that on the "other side" there is honesty and moral dignity is a fabricated and fake one. Unfortunately, there is no Enrico Berlinguer around these days. (see also -- to deal with a really radical and uncompromising opposition -- the recent and brilliant book "Commonwealth" by Toni Negri, published by Harvard University Press).
Anyhow, I am looking forward to reading this new and really promising book of yours to understand any possible angle of these delicate and controversial issues.
un cordiale saluto,
Massimiliano Chiamenti
Liceo Classico "Luigi Galvani", Bologna
we would like to remind you of the recent publication of a volume which focuses on cultures of opposition during Berlusconi's second and third governments (2001-2006).
'Resisting the Tide: Cultures of Opposition under Berlusconi 2001-06' (New York: Continuum: 2009), edited by Daniele Albertazzi, Clodagh Brook, Charlotte Ross and Nina Rothenberg, brings together academics in Britain, Ireland, the US and Italy to investigate how resistance to the new conservative culture has been articulated, and how this has been expressed and explained by those involved.
The volume is divided into four areas: 1. The Economic and Media Landscapes, which sets the scene for the rest of the book by explaining how Italian society, and particularly its media environment, have developed in recent years; 2. Political Challenges, which discusses the main threats to the authority and policies of Berlusconi coming from within his own centre-right coalition, the left and social movements; 3. Texts, which analyses films, internet sites, television programmes, novels, newspaper articles and theatre performances that sought to resist increasingly dominant conservative norms and/or respond to events set in motion by the Berlusconi governments; 4.Experiences, covering the voices and practices of those who have opposed Berlusconi from within the cultural industries and identity movements, such as journalists, LGBT activists, feminists and associations representing immigrant communities.
Wide-ranging, innovative and challenging, this volume should appeal to all those who have an interest in Italy, political-, media- and cultural studies.
Table of Contents
CHAPTER 1: Introduction: This Tide is not for Turning (Daniele Albertazzi and Nina Rothenberg)
Part 1. The Economic and Media Landscapes
CHAPTER 2: Italy in the New Millennium : The Economy and Society (James Newell)
CHAPTER 3: The Changing Face of the Media: A Catalogue of Anomalies (Christopher Cepernich)
CHAPTER 4: Electoral Campaigning and the New Media (Roberto Grandi and Cristian Vaccari)
Part 2. Political Challenges
CHAPTER 5: In Bed with the Enemy - Infighting Among Governing Parties and the Return of the Centre. (Daniele Albertazzi)
CHAPTER 6: Defeated and Divided? The Left in Opposition (Donatella Campus)
CHAPTER 7: Challenging from the Grass-roots: the Girotondi and the No Global movement. (Paolo Ceri)
Part 3. Texts
CHAPTER 8: Silenced Humour on RAI TV: Daniele Luttazzi, Sabina Guzzanti & Co. (Monica Boria)
CHAPTER 9: The Cinema of Resistance: Nanni Moretti's Il Caimano and the Italian Film Industry (Clodagh Brook)
CHAPTER 10: Staging Opposition: Il Signor Rossi e la Costituzione (Stefania Taviano)
CHAPTER 11: Web Challenges to Berlusconi: An Analysis of Oppositional Sites (Cristian Vaccari)
CHAPTER 12: Mascelloni, Masks and Mascara: Writing, Language and Power in Vincenzo Consolo (Daragh O'Connell)
CHAPTER 13: Adjusting the Cold Mirror - Berlusconi and the Corriere della Sera (Nina Rothenberg)
Part 4. Experiences and Personalities
CHAPTER 14: 'Adopt a Domestic Worker?': The Response of Immigrant Associations to the Centre-Right (Wendy Pojmann)
CHAPTER 15: Feminist Activism and Practice: Asserting Autonomy and Resisting Precarity (Manuela Galetto, Chiara Lasala, Sveva Magaraggia, Chiara Martucci, Elisabetta Onori and Charlotte Ross)
CHAPTER 16: Collective Association in the LGBT Movement (Charlotte Ross)
CHAPTER 17: Political Cleansing and Censorship in Public Television - A Case Study of Michele Santoro and Enzo Biagi (Nina Rothenberg)
CHAPTER 18: Conclusions (Clodagh Brook and Charlotte Ross)
Reviews
"This volume provides a very valuable catalogue of the opposition to Berlusconi which has formed over the last 15 years in Italian politics, society, and the cultural and entertainment industries. Its examination is as accurate and exhaustive as it is fragmentary; exactly like the opposition itself. It is a useful contribution for helping us understand not just that there isn't only Berlusconi in Italy, but also why his political success continues to grow." --
Ilvo Diamanti, Professor of Political Science at the University of Urbino "Carlo Bo"
"The high and long-lasting tide of berlusconismo seems almost irresistible. Perhaps this is because Berlusconi really does represent large sectors of Italian society. As many of the contributors to this indispensable book document and argue, cultures of opposition in Italy are fragmented and prove unable to coalesce into serious political and parliamentary opposition. This excellent collection of essays focuses on all types of cultural, intellectual, and media resistance to the popular-populist tide." --Gianfranco Pasquino, Professor of Political Science at the University of Bologna and at the Johns Hopkins Bologna Center
Editors:
Daniele Albertazzi is Senior Lecturer in European Media (Department of Italian Studies, University of Birmingham). He is the editor (with Duncan McDonnell) of Twenty-first Century Populism - The Spectre of Western European Democracy. Daniele is currently editing (with Paul Cobley) The Media, An Introduction - Third Ed. and researching a monograph (with Duncan McDonnell) on Regionalist vs. Nationalist Populists in Power: Actions and Reactions.
Charlotte Ross is Lecturer in the Department of Italian Studies, University of Birmingham. She is co-editor, with Loredana Polezzi, of In Corpore: Bodies in Post-Unification Italy, and has published on gender, sexuality, identity and embodiment in Italian culture and cultural texts. She is author of Containing the Human: Primo Levi's Narratives of Embodiment (forthcoming).
Clodagh Brook is Senior Lecturer and Head of the Department of Italian Studies at the University of Birmingham. She is currently preparing a monograph for publication on the Italian film director Marco Bellocchio (Marco Bellocchio: The Cinematic Eye in the Political Sphere) and has written widely on contemporary Italian cinema as well as on twentieth-century literature (The Expression of the Inexpressible in Eugenio Montale's Poetry). Editor (with R. Bertoni and C. Veronese) of the twentieth-century Italian section of The Year's Work in Modern Language Studies.
Nina Rothenberg teaches Sociology at the American University of Rome and is Research Fellow at the University of Birmingham. She has published articles on Euroscepticism in the British Press and on the women's press in post-war Italy. Her main research interests lie in the field of media, immigration, and gender. She is currently working on a book manuscript on media and gender in post-war Italy.
More information can be found at: http://www.continuumbooks.com/Books/detail.aspx?ReturnURL=/Search/default.aspx&CountryID=1&ImprintID=2&BookID=125748#
Dr Charlotte Ross
Department of Italian Studies
University of Birmingham
Edgbaston
Birmingham
B15 2TT
Tel: +44 (0)121 4147505
Gender and Sexuality Studies at Birmingham: http://www.gender.bham.ac.uk/<http://arts.monash.edu.au/lcl/conferences/gender-and-sexuality/index.php>
Birmingham-Warwick MA in Italian Studies: Culture and Communication: http://www.italian.bham.ac.uk/pg/ma.htm
**********************************************************************
To join the list, send the message: join italian-studies YOUR NAME
to: [log in to unmask]
To send a message to the list, address it to:
[log in to unmask]
To leave the list, send the message: leave italian-studies
to: [log in to unmask]
In order to report problems or to contact the list's owners, write to:
[log in to unmask]
For further information, visit our web site:
http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/lists/italian-studies.html
__________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Poco spazio e tanto spam? Yahoo! Mail ti protegge dallo spam e ti da tanto spazio gratuito per i tuoi file e i messaggi
http://mail.yahoo.it
**********************************************************************
To join the list, send the message: join italian-studies YOUR NAME
to: [log in to unmask]
To send a message to the list, address it to:
[log in to unmask]
To leave the list, send the message: leave italian-studies
to: [log in to unmask]
In order to report problems or to contact the list's owners, write to:
[log in to unmask]
For further information, visit our web site:
http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/lists/italian-studies.html
