Youth Activism in Political Squats between Centri Sociali and Case Occupate

Abstract

Nowadays a lot of research describes most young people as barely interested in politics, expressing little trust in political institutions and far from any forms of institutional political participation. Moreover, most of the engaged youth are involved in forms of participation described as more civic and social than political, weakly ideological, more and more often digital and developed in virtual space, and usually experienced as one among several components of everyday personal lives. The article explores youth activism in political squats because it is a form of participation which, in countertendency, is political and radical in its aims and strategies, explicitly ideologically inspired, strongly rooted in physical places, and often quite central in everyday personal lives. The text is based on research conducted in the city of Turin (Italy) by means of qualitative interviews, participant observation and document analysis. Four main interconnected thematic dimensions are considered: Individuals’ biographical paths and meanings of activism; distinctive lifestyles and cultural sensitivities among the activists; collective narratives about contemporary society and possibilities of social change; patterns of intervention and forms of organization. On the basis of these analyses, the article maintains that this form of activism can be usefully interpreted as a real lifestyle, which has an explicit and intense political sense, but which young activists also connect with a much wider, more differentiated set of meanings.

Between Pleasure and Resistance: The Role of Substance Consumption in an Italian Working-Class Subculture

“…These considerations seem to be supported by the findings of other studies conducted on Italian youth subcultures [84][85][86]. For instance, Genova [86] (p. 15), in his study of political participation in non-institutional settings, underlines the following:…”

“…Although a few individuals could be defined as the long-timers within the subculture whose leading role is overtly recognized by all members, the process of socialization seems to be rather non-hierarchical and horizontal. This point is particularly important, especially in reference to other praxeological studies on Italian youth subcultures [86,95]. For example, in his attempt to delineate a number of core features in contemporary youth cultures in the Italian context and in fields as diverse as music, sport, politics and religion, Genova [95] (p.85) underlines, "[w]ithout forgetting the peculiarity of each field, [that] it is possible to say that these processes [of socialization] are more and more 'horizontal', developing among peers, with each actor involved both as transmitter and receiver".…”

“…As far as the Occupied Warehouse is concerned, its location within an old building, in a relatively disused area of the city, means that most of the activities carried out in the site are concealed from the eyes of unintentional witnesses. Moreover, its political character is striking, being a self-managed, independent, and anti-institutional space of political activity, namely a "centrosociale" [84,85], translated in English literature as "political squat" (see for instance Genova [86] and Martínez López [87]).…”

“…This signifies that these sites, considering their specific locations within the urban fabric of the city, their geographical, material, and symbolic boundaries, and of course the affective charge that the subculture's members relate to them, become the primary contexts in which the subculture's members are socialized to its norms, values and worldviews. For example, murals such as those recalled in the previous field note, 'Genoa is Anti-Fascist' and 'Resistance', and the constant reference to symbols related to the anarchist and Marxist ideological backbones of the place, as much as other symbols such as the Rasta flag and the marijuana leaf [86] (p. 14), function as important elements of the socialization processes of this subculture.…”

“…Its autonomy, independence, and anti-institutional character were described by these journalistic pieces-that I do not quote directly simply in order to maintain the anonymity of the place-as able to offer alternative models of socialization compared to the ones of 'mainstream society' and its institutions. In fact, the Warehouse is primarily a self-organized, open place, where decisions are taken in autonomy from institutions and often in direct opposition to them, and where the 'line of action' is decided by all the participants involved in its assemblies, at least in principle (for more detailed analyses of the social dynamics of "social centers" or "political squats" in the Italian landscape see [84][85][86]). As a consequence, it is only by being aware of the overall political and cultural commitments of the Warehouse that we can contextualize substance consumption as a further identity marker, capable of strengthening the resistance attitude and political identity of the members of the subculture.…”