Sexuality and power in contemporary Italy: subjectivities between gender norms, agency and social transformation

Zambelli, Elena; Mainardi, Arianna; Hajek, Andrea

doi:10.1017/mit.2018.11

Cited by 13 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 12 publications

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“…This contrast is performed in different ways: one, as previously stated, by forging alliances with subjects more inclined to accept political compromises, with the double purpose of preventing radicalism and making veganism more acceptable (and ‘monetizable’) to the general public. In Italy, a similar dynamic has also occurred with other radical instances in the recent past, such as the co-optation of some reformist components of the Italian LGBT movement in order to support a moderate law proposal for same-sex marriage (Zambelli et al., 2018). This could also be observed in the anticapitalist milieu: a good example is represented by the Global Justice Movement (Della Porta, 2007), as also reported by an activist who compares the current situation of veganism with the no-global protests in the early 2000s:Veganism is a matter of fashion nowadays, this is also because a series of instances were depoliticized and became fashionable: as it happened after the G8 in Genova 2001, when the no-global protests were gradually reframed to become acceptable to anyone.…”

Section: Between Passive Revolution and War Of Positionmentioning

confidence: 82%

Becoming hegemony: The case for the (Italian) animal advocacy and veganwashing operations

Bertuzzi

2020

Journal of Consumer Culture

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Organized forms of animal advocacy date back to the final decades of the 20th century. Born in progressive political milieus, animal advocacy and especially the more radical positions of vegan and animal rights activists originally assumed anticapitalist and counter-hegemonic perspectives. More recently, however, the spreading of veganism among civil society has very often related to reasons of health or fashion, sometimes far from ethical or political motivations. In this article, this shift is analysed, based on an empirical study conducted among Italian animal advocates. Interest in non-human animals was originally located among more generic counter-hegemonic frames, but this recent shift gives more and more space to an a-political consumerist approach to veganism. In particular, adapting a Gramscian vocabulary, two different perspectives among Italian animal advocates are identified and described: passive revolution and war of position. They are presented both referring to general frames and in relation to a specific event, Expo2015 in Milan, which carried the caption ‘Feeding the planet, energy for life’, and was very much related to animal questions. In a similar way to greenwashing and pinkwashing operations, also veganwashing is assuming a central role within a capitalist hegemonic discourse.

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Section: Between Passive Revolution and War Of Positionmentioning

confidence: 82%

Becoming hegemony: The case for the (Italian) animal advocacy and veganwashing operations

Bertuzzi

2020

Journal of Consumer Culture

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“…In a similar vein, Rosalind Gill (2008) argued that the postfeminist woman has become increasingly sexual; she is no longer only a sexual object, but also a ‘sexual subject’ (45). Yet, this urge to ‘capitalise on their heterosexual desirability’ (Zambelli, Mainardi and Hajek 2018, 135) involves a ‘double entanglement’ (McRobbie 2009, 12): women's empowerment is always subjected to a male gaze, around which women forge their ‘subjectification’.…”

Section: Berlusconi's Divine Status and The Force Of The Contagionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Viral (per)versions of power in Paolo Sorrentino's diptych Loro

Mariani¹

2020

Mod. Italy

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This article examines Paolo Sorrentino's portrayal of moral degradation and pursuit of power in his twin biopics about Silvio Berlusconi: Loro 1 and Loro 2 (2018). It does so by performing a psychological reading of Sorrentino's representation of Berlusconi, as someone suffering from a personality disorder characterised by excessive power striving. It argues that this obsession with power also affects most of the films’ characters, who become obsessed with entering Berlusconi's inner circle – the pinnacle of wealth and power in a neoliberal society. In particular, it argues that their power striving circulates ‘virally’ in the film's narrative; the characters are willing to do anything to befriend their idol and attain absolute power. The ensuing analysis shows that Sorrentino's portrayal of Berlusconi – as the embodiment of a highly dysfunctional and obsessive, viral quest for power – comes to represent the deep pervasiveness of corruption, hedonism and commodification that marked the Second Republic.

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“…Despite being lively and long-lasting, feminist and LGBT movements in Italy have been little investigated by political sociologists. Contemporary Italian gender studies tend to deal with social and legal discrimination (Garbagnoli & Prearo, 2017; Peroni, 2014; Zambelli, Mainardi, & Hajek, 2018), evolutions in LGBT discourse (Prearo, 2015), and feminist theory (see, for instance, Casalini, 2017), while there is only scant empirical analysis on movement dynamics. A recent exception is the work of Pavan and Mainardi (2018) on NUDM, which addresses online social and semantic networks.…”

Section: Youth Studies and Social Movement Research: Gaps And Points mentioning

confidence: 99%

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

Chironi

2019

American Behavioral Scientist

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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.

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Sexuality and power in contemporary Italy: subjectivities between gender norms, agency and social transformation

Cited by 13 publications

References 12 publications

Becoming hegemony: The case for the (Italian) animal advocacy and veganwashing operations

Becoming hegemony: The case for the (Italian) animal advocacy and veganwashing operations

Viral (per)versions of power in Paolo Sorrentino's diptych Loro

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

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