Resisting the Tide: Cultures of Opposition Under Berlusconi (2001-06)

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Edited by members of the Department of Italian Studies at the University of Birmingham, and bringing together academics in Britain, Ireland, the US and Italy, this volume takes an international perspective on Italian events. It investigates 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.

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

Author Bio

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.
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: Individualism and Anarchy) 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.