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Italian Neofascism: The Strategy of Tension and the Politics of Nonreconciliation
During the Cold War Italy witnessed the existence of an anomalous version of a civil conflict, defined as a 'creeping' or a 'low-intensity' civil war. Political violence escalated, including bomb attacks against civilians, starting with a massacre in Milan, on 12 December 1969, and culminating with the massacre in Bologna, on 2 August 1980. Making use of the literature on national reconciliation and narrative psychology theory, this book examines the fight over the 'judicial' and the 'historical' truth in Italy today, through a contrasting analysis of judicial findings and the 'narratives of victimhood' prevalent among representatives of both the post- and the neo-fascist right.
196 pages, Library Binding
First published November 15, 2007
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June 12, 2024
Read the first half of this for an assignment on outside forces influencing political violence in the Anni Di Piombo, and then the second half just to finish the book. The former covers the main neofascist groups (ON, MSI, AN) as well as the judicial findings on 4 notable acts of the so-called ‘Strategy of Tension’, specifically the Piazza Fontana Bombing, the Brescia bombing, the killing of 3 carabinieri by Vinciguerra, and the Bologna bombing. The latter covers the narratives regarding those same incidents, and the wider role of the neofascists in the Anni Di Piombo, from a variety of voices on the political right.
It’s a good academic work overall, providing a good amount of detail, especially regarding the obfuscation efforts by collaborators/puppet-masters in the Italian security services. However, the structure of the book, placing judicial findings before an exploration of narratives that directly contradict said findings, leaves the reader unsure of what the specific position of the author is. This works well to highlight the underlying mystery behind much of the Anni di Piombo, but ultimately a more determined conclusion, based on the author’s insight and extra-ordinary knowledge of the subject matter, would be appreciated. While Cento Bull implies throughout her exploration of narratives that they are lying/masking the truth, with a topic as obscured and vague as this one, her stance would be better appreciated if made explicit and definitive, regardless of existing attempts by actors involved to complicate/muddy official conclusions.
It’s a good academic work overall, providing a good amount of detail, especially regarding the obfuscation efforts by collaborators/puppet-masters in the Italian security services. However, the structure of the book, placing judicial findings before an exploration of narratives that directly contradict said findings, leaves the reader unsure of what the specific position of the author is. This works well to highlight the underlying mystery behind much of the Anni di Piombo, but ultimately a more determined conclusion, based on the author’s insight and extra-ordinary knowledge of the subject matter, would be appreciated. While Cento Bull implies throughout her exploration of narratives that they are lying/masking the truth, with a topic as obscured and vague as this one, her stance would be better appreciated if made explicit and definitive, regardless of existing attempts by actors involved to complicate/muddy official conclusions.
Displaying 1 of 1 review