e-Extreme Volume 11, No.

4, December 2010

Italy Today: The Sick Man of Europe

By Andrea Mammone and Giuseppe A. Veltri (eds.) (London: Routledge, 2010), 280 p., ISBN
978-0415561600.

Reviewed by Luciano Cheles

University of Poitiers

Italy Today is a collection of eighteen essays dealing with a wide range of topics, some
authored by established scholars such as Percy Allum and Anna Cento Bull, but for the most
part by younger ones. Italy’’s contemporary ills have already received much scholarly
attention. Unlike most previous studies, however, this volume does not focus mostly on
political issues such as the elections, the political system, the Tangentopoli (Bribesville)
scandals of the 1990s, the transition from the ““First Republic”” to the ““Second Republic””, or
Silvio Berlusconi’’s impact on Italy since his foray into politics. The editors’’ approach is more
ambitious: they aim to provide a survey of the systemic crisis of Italy, in other words, to
discuss the long-term issues of Italian politics and society that are responsible for its
troubles.
Structured around five headings (““Politics and Society””; ““History, Memory and
Politics””, ““Institutional(ized) Exclusion?””; ““Mezzogiorno: a Never-Ending Problem”” ; and
““Economy and Political Economy””) the essays tackle issues such as the problem of creating a
collective identity and sense of civic responsibility, the absence of a meritocratic culture, the
troubled relationship between north and south, the distrust of political elites, the ongoing
presence of fascism, xenophobic tensions, organized crime, the transformation of family life,
the role of the Catholic Church, the legacy of the Anni di piombo (the years of terrorism),
and labour and welfare reforms. Berlusconi is scarcely present in this collection. Resisting
the temptation to ascribe Italy’’s stagnation largely to him –– a simplistic formula often
adopted by scholars, Andrea Mammone and Guiseppe Veltri have chosen instead to provide
an analysis of the political and cultural environment that have enabled Berlusconi to thrive.
The extensive range of topics dealt with, the quality and clarity of most contributions
(jargon has largely been avoided), and the wealth of bibliographical references makes this a
most valuable publication. The well-chosen illustrations that accompany the chapters on the
contemporary far right’’s use of fascist architecture as memorials to Mussolini’’s regime, on
the Lega Nord’’s apparently harmless xenophobia, and on the policy initiatives on Roma and
Sinti taken by Prodi’’s last government and quite recently by Berlusconi are another welcome
feature of the book: they attest to the major role played by public spaces and the visual
media in Italian political persuasion and mobilization.
Italy Today should feature on all bibliographies of students of Italian studies, Italian
politics and Italian cultural studies; it will also appeal to a more general readership.

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