Generations in the Feminist and LGBT Movements in Italy: The Case of Non Una Di Meno

Abstract

The article analyses the participation of young people in emerging social movements, focusing on the experience of the Italian Non Una Di Meno (NUDM) movement combatting male violence against women. Challenging scholarly assumptions of growing youth apathy in democracies, the analysis reveals high levels of participation on the part of the younger population engaged in gender-related struggles. Hit by both conservative and austerity policies associated with the economic and political crisis, feminist and LGBTQI (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and intersexual) Millennials reacted by increasing their involvement in contentious politics. In the protest arena, they have crossed paths with older generations, activating processes of exchange, but also intergenerational tensions. Based on original qualitative data from ten semi-structured interviews with movement activists in Florence and Bologna, this piece of research sheds light on the role of young people in the birth and evolution of NUDM, and the relationship between different generations of activists within this movement. More specifically, it explains continuities and discontinuities between veterans and younger activists’ sources of theoretical inspirations, organizational models and mobilization resources, strategic priorities and action repertoires. Millennials embrace intersectional feminism and queer theory; opt for grassroots, horizontal organizing; adopt a conflictual attitude towards the state, and dialogical, introspective dynamics within the movement. Intergenerational disagreements especially relate to sex work, and surrogate motherhood.

Beyond Europe: Alternative visions of Europe amongst young activists in self-managed spaces in Italy

“…The feminist and LGBTQ movements constitute an exception to the inability to construct a coordinated campaign at the national and transnational level. Contrary to other groups, feminist and LGBTQ movements grew in number and visibility through the Italian branch of the Non una di meno movement (Chironi, 2019), also thanks to their engagement in an intense online mobilisation campaign (Pavan & Mainardi, 2018). Coherent with the tendency of progressive social movements to lean towards the national and local level of action in the wake of the financial crisis (della Porta & Parks, 2018;Pianta & Gerbaudo, 2015), in the last decade social movement activity in Italy developed predominantly within the national context.…”

Young People's Attitudes towards Democracy and Political Participation: Evidence from a Cross-European Study

“…As illustrated by mass protests of the ‘outraged people’ against austerity policies and corruption, the Occupy mobilizations against the excesses of global capitalism, and the emergence of new movement parties, ‘youth activism has become a major feature of the European political landscape’ (Sloam 2014b: 217). These observations also seem to hold for contemporary European mobilizations, including the school strikes for climate or the Ni Una Menos (Not One Woman Less) feminist marches, where young people played a leading role (Chironi 2019; de Moor et al 2020; Portos 2019).…”

“El viento arrollador”: la irrupción de las jóvenes en la protesta del Ni Una Menos de Argentina

“…Las demandas juveniles exceden la política formal y la democracia liberal para reclamar, más ampliamente, sobre un conjunto diverso de derechos y procurar la incorporación ciudadana en múltiples esferas (p. 139). Además, las y los jóvenes activistas tienden a aceptar las múltiples diferencias con respecto a la "norma", ya sea en términos de identidad etnorracial o de género, sexualidad, estatus de ciudadanía y similares (Chironi, 2019;della Porta, 2019;Portos, 2019). Taft (2011), en el estudio ya mencionado, encontró que el reclamo de las activistas estaba "informado por los análisis antiopresión del feminismo, el antirracismo y otras ideologías radicales de la diferencia y el poder" (Taft, 2011, p. 159).…”