Italy

Articles

Italian politics dossier by  (April 2008)

The crisis of Italy’s political institutions: a view from inside government by  (April 2008)

Paolo Ferrero was Minister of Social Solidarity in the Prodi Government. He describes here the difficulties of achieving radical reform in the face of a weak coalition, social conservatism and the crisis besetting Italy’s weak political institutions

We must avoid being absorbed by the State by  (April 2008)

Paolo Cacciari, a former Rifondazione MP, argues that the left should avoid being ‘absorbed’ by state institutions, and explains how citizens’ associations can work to bring about a new left culture

Movements and left parties should keep a respectful distance by Alessandra Mecozzi (April 2008)

Alessandra Mecozzi, International Secretary of FIOM, the Italian metalworkers union, reflects on the weakened state of the movements, including the trade union movement, and draws some harsh lessons

Against Veltrusconi: the challenges facing Italy’s ’territorial’ social movements by Tommaso Fattori (April 2008)

Italy has seen a recent wave of ‘territorial’ social movements, brought together by a crisis of political representation. In the face of an increasingly insecure society, and the appeal of more authoritarian demands, these movements still need to develop a mass base, argues Tommaso Fattori

A new coalition may be the best hope for a weak left by Luciana Castellina (April 2008)

With the centre-left taking a rightward turn, and a fractious left increasingly losing its social base, the prospects for the Italian election look bleak, argues Luciana Castellina

The Italian left should appeal to the urban middle class by Paul Ginsborg (April 2008)

Italy is a right-wing country, where the Vatican retains a strong influence and a majority of the population belong to the urban middle class. The left needs a new appeal to these sectors if it is to challenge Berlusconi, argues Paul Ginsborg

Walter Veltroni: projecting Italy as the ’hub’ of neoliberal Europe by Enzo Mangini (April 2008)

Walter Veltroni is the main centre-left challenger to Berlusconi in Italy’s general election. As leader of the Democratic Party, he rejects local and social movement campaigns in territorial autonomy and favours making Italy a military and industrial ‘hub’, writes Enzo Mangini

Balance sheet of the Prodi Government by Vittorio Longhi (April 2008)

The Prodi government failed in its promises to rewrite Berlusconi’s controversial labour laws, remunicipalise water and reverse Italy’s militaristic international policies. The result is disillusionment with the left, writes Vittorio Longhi

A red guide to Italian politics by Hilary Wainwright (April 2008)

Italians have often led the way in creating a European left but now they face a crisis in the return of Silvio Berlusconi. Hilary Wainwright talked to a range of left activists as they prepared for the elections

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