On October 25, 2022, in his inauguration speech to the Italian Chamber of Deputies, newly elected Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni declared: government.”
As she acknowledged, protests were part of Meloni’s political education. Recalling her own past as an activist in Italy’s post-fascist right-wing youth organizations, Meloni emphasized: “I’ve participated in and organized so many protests in my life, and I think this has taught me so much more than most anything else.” .
But when tested, ‘sympathy’ for the protesters turns out to be rhetorical. In fact, from the beginning, Meloni’s government and the parliamentary majority led by Fratelli d’Italia have sought to suppress and criminalize dissent.
The government’s first official action was the so-called “anti-rave decree” of October 31, 2022. Taking advantage of a controversial rave party in the northern city of Modena, the government introduced a new crime carrying stiff penalties of up to six years. Imprisonment – applies to those who organize and promote “gatherings dangerous to public order”.
Facing criticism from opposition parties and legal experts, Meloni declared that “we are no longer a banana republic” and that “it is possible to do things while respecting the rules and laws of the Italian state.”
Similar measures followed one after another. Decree after decree was signed to curb immigration, further restricting legal routes to reach Italy, impeding NGO ships carrying out rescue operations in the central Mediterranean and cracking down on climate activists. In particular, there was a ‘security package’ that significantly strengthened punishment for various misdemeanors, such as road blockades.
Next came a number of proposals put forward by Member of Parliament Fratelli d’Italia. In the most heated protests, a crime called ‘street terrorism’ may be created. Another way would be to mitigate the crime of torture, which was introduced in 2017 and is currently seen as an obstacle to law enforcement.
The LGBTQ+ community has been a particular target. One example is the ban on registering children of same-sex couples as a result of a circular issued by Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi. In practice, this means that same-sex couples cannot record the birth certificates of children conceived abroad through surrogacy, something the government and many in government want to make a universal offence.
In short, Meloni’s government took the lead against all groups that could be perceived as enemies or obstacles to its political program.
What do “enemies” mean?
In Italy, the government and the extreme right were not targeted by a single mass movement, as seen in Germany against the Alternative for Germany. Nevertheless, opposition took many forms.
“There were general anti-government protests as well as protests against specific policies, such as labor issues or violence against women,” said Donatella Della Porta, assistant professor at the Scuola Normale Superiore in Pisa and director of the interdisciplinary research group Cosmos. “he said. (Social Movement Research Center), to Vox Europe. “These plans are not new, but administrations like Meloni’s have made them more overtly anti-government than in the past.”
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An example is the annual march organized by the feminist group Non Una Di Meno on November 25 to mark the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women. The two most recent editions specifically targeted Meloni’s government, which has been criticized for doing nothing to combat Italy’s patriarchal culture and for cutting state funding for women’s protection.
Meanwhile, government inaction on the climate crisis has been the focus of movements such as Ultima Generazione, whose tactics are inspired by Just Stop Oil’s nonviolent action. They demand, among other things, a rapid transition to renewable energy and the cancellation of new gas drilling plans.
In response, the executive branch and parliamentary majority passed a special law against so-called “environmental vandals” that imposes heavy penalties (up to six years in prison) on those who cause damage to cultural or scenic heritage. This directly targeted Ultima Generazione’s main modus operandi, which consisted of actions to raise public awareness, including stunts in museums and the defacement of monuments and statues. Therefore, crackdowns were carried out through temporary laws, criminal complaints, and prosecutions. To protect itself, the climate movement has had to use less radical tactics.
The situation is better for the so-called rainbow families, or groups of same-sex couples, in the northeastern city of Padua. After a legal battle to guarantee the children’s rights, in early March 2024 the court recognized the validity of the birth certificates of 35 minors. The Public Prosecution Service sought to cancel the document on the basis of the previously mentioned circular from the Home Secretary.
Meloni’s government took the lead against all groups that could be considered enemies or obstacles to its political program.
The most attended protests outside the courtroom were undoubtedly those against the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. According to Interior Ministry data, since October 7, more than 1,000 protests have taken place in support of Palestine and calling for a ceasefire.
“This would have happened even if there had been a center-left government,” Professor Della Porta said, but the presence of a right-wing government had led to “networks of different actors forming.” These include Palestinian associations in Italy, left-wing social movements, trade unions, political parties and students.
Students in particular have been subject to particularly high profile over the past few months, sometimes subject to abuse by police. The most controversial incident occurred in Pisa on February 23, 2024, when a march by high school students, including several minors, was brutally suppressed by police.
Public opinion was shocked when a video was released showing a police officer wearing riot gear getting into trouble with a group of teenage students. The incident prompted the intervention of Italian President Sergio Mattarella, who declared in an official statement that “for young people, the club represents failure.”
Professor Della Porta believes that the events in Pisa were “the culmination of an attempt to see how far one can go” through repression. But the protests show no signs of going away. on the other way.
“The new generation is very sensitive to political and social issues,” says Della Porta. ‘This is not a moment of low mobilization.’ In short, Italian civil society has been ‘untamed’ by the most right-wing Italian government since the war.
