Learning from L'Aquila: grassroots mobilization in post-earthquake Emilia-Romagna

Hajek, A. (2013) Learning from L'Aquila: grassroots mobilization in post-earthquake Emilia-Romagna. Journal of Modern Italian Studies, 18(5), pp. 627-643. (doi: 10.1080/1354571X.2013.839524)

Abstract

In this article I analyse how a number of Italian, left-wing youth groups (centri sociali) reacted to the earthquake that struck the Emilia-Romagna region in 2012, forcing thousands of people to relocate into the tendopoli camps run by the Italian Civil Protection (Protezione Civile). The centri sociali promoted an alternative, grassroots project of emergency management which built both on a negative, collective memory of the problematic reconstruction process following the 2009 earthquake in L'Aquila, and on the role model of the No Tav protest movement in Piedmont. This led the centri sociali to move away from the urban territory and from the global battles that have long marked radical left-wing political activism, engaging instead in a more locally rooted project that clashes with the die-hard image of left-wing antagonism. Why have these groups taken their battle into the country side? Are we witnessing a (re)turn to a more local protest culture?

• Item Type: Articles
• Keywords: Grassroots mobilization, natural disasters, Protezione Civile, L'Aquila earthquake, No Tav, collective memory
• Status: Published
• Refereed: Yes
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: Hajek, Dr Andrea
• Authors: Hajek, A.
• Subjects: D History General and Old World > DG Italy; G Geography. Anthropology. Recreation > GE Environmental Sciences; H Social Sciences > HN Social history and conditions. Social problems. Social reform
• College/School: College of Arts & Humanities > School of Modern Languages and Cultures > Italian
• Journal Name: Journal of Modern Italian Studies
• ISSN: 1354-571X
• ISSN (Online): 1469-9583