The Italian protest movement became widely known in November-December 2013 in different parts of the country. In the Italian press, it was called movimento dei forconi , literally translated as “ pitchfork movement”, because in Sicily the peasants went out to protest with a pitchfork and a rake in their hands [1] .
| 2013 Italian Protest Movement | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| |||||||||||||
| Parties to the conflict | |||||||||||||
| December 9th Movement: small entrepreneurs, peasants, truck drivers Neofascist parties: New Power , Casa Pound | Government of Italy , Parliament of Italy , President of Italy | ||||||||||||
| Key figures | |||||||||||||
| Mariano ferro Lucio Chiavegato Augusto Zacardelli | Enrico Letta Giorgio Napolitano Angelino Alfano | ||||||||||||
History
The movement gained strength and hit the front pages of national newspapers in 2013, however, the concept of “forconi movement” has been used by the press since late 2011 in connection with agrarian protests in Sicily . The movement lacks a clear organizational structure, party orientation and official leadership, the main forms of protest are demonstrations, blocking roads, strikes; among the participants are peasants, workers, students, small entrepreneurs. The informal leaders are president of the Union of Small Businesses Liberi imprenditori federalisti europei Lucio Chiavegato, coordinator in the north of Italy, national secretary of the truck drivers movement Movimento autonomo degli autotrasportatori Augusto Zaccardelli, head of the south of Italy, Mariano Fericiano Ferro) - founder of the movement, leader in Sicily [1] [2] .
The movement is based on a protest against high taxes, red tape , traditional political parties, the European Union , the euro , the common agricultural policy of the European Union and globalization [3] . The protesters' goals are the deposition of the government of Enrico Letta , the resignation of President Giorgio Napolitano and the dissolution of the Italian Parliament . Some require the formation of a military government to withdraw the country from the eurozone [4] . One of the leaders of the protest, Lucio Chiavegata, described the following situation, which encouraged people to take active steps:
Personal cars for everyone, unlimited privileges, ( tax collection agency - Vigoshi ) - organizer of mass suicides, ruined families, bishops and cardinals who give political instructions, thieves Gypsies - under the protection of state subsidies, illegal immigrants living at our expense, politicians freed from the need to shop, citizens left alone in the face of thieves and raiders, women raped by people who should not be in the world.
Original text (Italian)Autoblu per tutti, privilegi a volontà, Equitalia mandante di suicidi di massa, famiglie che vanno al disastro, vescovi e cardinali che danno direttive politiche, zingari ladri difesi dalle alte cariche di stato, extracomunitari clandestini mantenuti a laostre polit spesa, cittadini lasciati soli contro i ladri e violenti e donne violentate da persone che non dovrebbero esserci.- Massimo Solani. Neofascisti e ultrà con il popolo della rabbia (Inaccessible link) . Unita.it (December 10, 2013). Date of treatment January 9, 2014. Archived December 14, 2013.
On December 9, 2013, one of the most massive actions took place, covering the whole country: municipal institutions were picketed, highways were blocked, and in Milan , Turin , Venice , Bari and Palermo, protesters occupied railway stations; clashes with the police occurred. Beppe Grillo appealed to the police not to defend politicians and rejected the offer of cooperation from the new Democratic Party leader Matteo Renzi . A “December 9th Committee” was formed, which included representatives of various anti-globalist, environmental and civilian groups, which made it possible to talk about the “December 9th Movement”. New leaders also appeared: the head of the agricultural association of the Lazio region, Danilo Calvani in Rome and Andrea Zunino in Turin . Calvani organized a “March to Rome” on December 18, 1922, with the participation of about 3,000 people, from which many Forconi leaders distanced themselves in view of the obvious allusion with the Nazis ’ action in 1922 [5] .
The far-left organization, the Internationalist Communist Trend ( Tendenza Comunista Internazionalista ) denies the proletarian and revolutionary nature of the movement, due to its superclass character and significant participation of representatives of the petty bourgeoisie, who were in a difficult financial situation due to the economic crisis; methods of protest remain legal, there are no requirements for the rejection of capitalist values [6] .
On August 28, 2014, an appendix to the online edition of la Repubblica “L'Espresso” published an article on the results of the movement: having ascertained the fact that the forconi protests ceased, the authors collected materials on the catastrophic failures of several representatives of the movement in the elections (for example, Danilo Calvani and Mariano Ferro) and talked about the arrests of a number of its leaders on suspicion of committing criminal offenses. In particular, David Mannara was arrested in Liguria for smuggling cocaine , Lucio Chiavegato served some time under arrest on suspicion of involvement in the Veneto separatist armed group [7] .
Notes
- ↑ 1 2 From the Editorial . Independent newspaper (December 23, 2012). Date of treatment January 10, 2014.
- ↑ Clarissa Gigante. Cos'è e cosa vuole il "Movimento dei Forconi" . il Giornale.it (December 10, 2013). Date of treatment January 9, 2014.
- ↑ Italy's "Pitchfork Movement" Mapped . Zero Hedge (December 8, 2013). Date of treatment January 9, 2014.
- ↑ Caterina Giusberti. "Politici a casa e giunta militare": la rabbia dei forconi modenesi . la Repubblica: Bologna.it (December 14, 2013). Date of treatment January 11, 2014.
- ↑ Marianne Arens. Il Movimento dei Forconi (Italian) . World Socialist Web Site (23 dicembre 2012). Date of treatment January 9, 2014.
- ↑ Un paio di considerazioni sull'uso dei forconi . GLI INTERNAZIONALISTI. Date of treatment January 10, 2014.
- ↑ Paolo Fantauzzi e Francesca Sironi. Che fine hanno fatto i Forconi? . la Repubblica: L'Espresso (August 28, 2014). Date of treatment August 29, 2014.
Links
- “Well, everything is a pitchfork” or Movimento dei Forconi . Forum "Russian Italians". Date of treatment January 9, 2014.
- Movimento dei Forconi (Italian) . Facebook.com Date of treatment January 9, 2014.
- Giovanni Manca. Forconi: chi sono, cosa vogliono e chi sta cercando di 'cavalcarli' . L'Espresso: Repubblica.it (December 11, 2013). Date of treatment January 11, 2014.