On Thursday 18 April 2012, a capacity crowd braved a rainy vernal evening to attend the latest installment of the American Academy in Rome’s Conversations That Matter on the topic of “Italy Today.”
Academy Director Christopher Celenza, FAAR’94, moderated a lively discussion at the Villa Aurelia among Rachel Donadio, Rome Bureau Chief of The New York Times; Miguel Gotor, Professor of Modern History at the University of Turin and an editorialist for La Repubblica; David I. Kertzer, RAAR’00, Paul Dupee, Jr., University Professor of Social Science at Brown University; and Sylvia Poggioli, Senior European Correspondent for National Public Radio (NPR).
You can view selected highlights from the event here.
“These Conversations are aimed at transferring the dynamic spirit of Academy conversation to a broader audience,” said Celenza in his introductory remarks. “What does it mean to be an Italian citizen in these times of change?” he posed. “How does Italy see itself in relation to Europe and the world?” Thereafter each panelist was allotted ten minutes to address what they believe to be the country’s most pressing political, cultural and economic challenges.
Veteran NPR correspondent Sylvia Poggioli set the tone by contrasting two new films about Italy: Woody Allen’s To Rome with Love (“full of charm and foibles and aimed at the 1%”) and Marco Tullio Giordana's Story of a Massacre – an historical thriller based on the terrorist bombing of a bank on Milan’s Piazza Fontana in 1969 that claimed 17 lives an injured many more. The incident served to inspire decades of politically motivated violence and reprisals between left and right, involved government and military collusion and coverup, and resulted in consistent judicial inaction – so much so that the period of the 1970s-1980s would come to be characterized as the Anni di Piombo or “years of lead.” In part, Poggioli noted, Allen’s latest work pays homage to Federico Fellini’s 8½, but unlike the Italian films of the 1960s and 1970s, his is “completely lacking in irony... I can hardly recognize Allen’s Rome,” she said. “His characters are having a carefree romp, but Italians aren’t – they’re experiencing a long, drawn-out crisis.”
Conversely, Giordana explores a turning point in Italian history in his film. “It’s about Italy’s ‘collective amnesia’ and seeming inability to address its past,” Poggioli offered, in that no one was ever imprisoned for the initial or subsequent acts – despite numerous trials. Among the ironic statistics she relayed included the fact that corruption in Italy has increased significantly following the nationwide “Clean Hands” operations of the 1990s intended to reduce it. She added that some politicians blame this phenomenon on what they characterize as Italians’ lack of civic engagement – a theme of several subsequent follow up questions. In conclusion, she admitted that Italy’s contradictions remain doggedly perplexing: “Under the warm Roman sun, there’s still a lot of ambiguity and violent tragedy.”
Poggioli’s sobering sketch of Italy’s democratic dysfunction during the latter half of the 20th century was fleshed out further by Professor David Kertzer’s segue to current Italian politics. Kertzer related a recent poll indicating that only ten percent of Italians have any faith in today’s political parties – in marked contrast to the spirit of political possibility he witnessed among the Communist-leaning populace while he was a student in Bologna in the early 1970s. He then offered pointed observations on the Catholic Church’s continuing influence in national politics and contrasted Italy’s current immigration policy with that of the past. “Formerly, immigration meant Southern Italians relocating north for economic reasons,” he said. “Now it’s something quite different. In the 1990s Italy had the lowest fertility rate in the world. Without the subsequent influx of South Asians and Africans it would have remained that way.”
Professor Miguel Gotor expanded on the topic of corruption in Italy with an often animated synopsis peppered with less-than-encouraging statistics, including:
-Corruption costs Italian citizens approximately 60 billion euros annually;
-The rate of corruption in Italy is nearly twice the European average (17% v. 9%);
-In 1996 there were 1,700 convictions for corruption while in 2006 there were only 239.
“Corruption hinders economic development, prevents competition, weakens confidence in the economic institutions and is the main impediment to foreign investment in Italy,” he emphasized. “But no one ends up in jail for corruption-related offenses.” According to Gotor, the cultural stereotype that “everybody steals in Italy” persists largely because Italians believe that while they themselves are not corrupt everyone else is, so a little corruption is needed to get things done. “It’s always someone else’s fault and this is the same tone of our political discourse. The Monti Government offers a note of hope however and we have a responsibility to improve this reality," he asserted. "Italy is extraordinary in its history but also in its ability to grow and change."
New York Times Rome Bureau Chief Rachel Donadio chose to focus her comments on the challenges faced by Italy’s younger generation and the divide between younger and older workers. “Italy is deeply conservative culturally and economically,” she began. “Church hierarchy and the Italian tax code both serve to protect those on the inside from those on the outside” and reinforce what she characterized as Italy’s “neo feudal economy” based on powerful guilds or castes. “It’s hard to follow what’s going on in Italy today,” she admitted. “We’ve gone from covering Berlusconi’s Bunga Bunga [parties] to investigating the technical details of proposed labor reforms – traditionally the third rail of Italian politics,” she added. “It’s more boring, but it’s high-stakes and that’s our particular challenge as journalists now.
“I often ask myself: Where’s the breaking point? Is taking to the streets even considered an option among young Italians who have grown up watching TV? Will internet-based collective action work in Italy like it did during the Arab Spring? We’re at a moment when the political parties don’t align with people’s interests. This is what’s perplexing about Italy – it’s beautiful and dark; nothing works and yet everything works. Is Italy in the forefront of decline or does it offer lessons in survival?”
A provocative final question that proved rich territory for subsequent questions from the audience.
For more on the Conversations That Matter event series, an interview with Academy Director Christopher Celenza, FAAR’94, follows below.
*Interview with Academy Director Christopher S. Celenza, FAAR’94
Since inaugurating the series during the first month of your tenure as Director of the American Academy in Rome, you have hosted several Conversations That Matter. How have the events evolved from your initial idea, and have they met your expectations?
The format has proved flexible, happily, with each individual Conversation having a shape of its own. I’m pleased to see that each event has attracted high-level speakers and engages audiences who are actively involved and interested in the fields and disciplines we support.
How do you determine the topics and guests presented for each event?
Each one takes as a point of departure some cultural phenomenon that has had representation, however loosely, at the Academy. For example, we recently held a conference on the legacy of Roman Imperial architecture and ended the program with an installment of the Conversations series that examined the legacy of Roman construction on contemporary design. It was fascinating to hear landscape architect Laurie Olin, FAAR’74, RAAR’90, ’08, and architects Frederick Fisher, FAAR’08, and Stephen Kieran, FAAR’81, speak about the relevancy of the classical past in their work.
You actively involve the community in the Conversations and often invite Fellows to be participants, such as in last year’s discussion on Cosmopolitanism. Does the topic of the 18 April event (Italy Today: Politics, Culture, and the Economy) specifically relate to the work that is being currently conducted by the Fellows in residence?
In one sense, "Contemporary Italy" represents a rubric in which all Fellows are involved, since, whatever their specific topic, they’re carrying their work out in contemporary Italy and their work will be affected by their stay in Italy. We also offer Affiliated Fellowships to Italian artists and scholars so their lives and work are undoubtedly affected by the rapid changes that Italy is undergoing.
Do you find that these conversations continue beyond the event?
We re-launched our website last summer and have effectively used it as a platform to highlight our program of events, some of which have been captured on video and can be viewed any time. We hope to continue to reach out to existing and new audiences, building accessibility and strengthening public ties.
Have any of these Conversations surprised you or changed your perspective on a topic?
All have enriched my own thinking on each specific topic. Hearing media insiders like Sylvia Poggioli and Vivian Schiller talk so expertly about how new media – a feature of all of our lives and work – was revelatory. And, for another example, hearing our Fellows last year bring so much insight to the topic of cosmopolitanism made me realize how far-reaching the idea of being at home in many different places (the essence of cosmopolitanism) touched so many different fields of endeavor.
What role do you see the Academy having in Rome’s cultural life?
We need to be good citizens in Rome, a city that has offered our institution and its Fellows so much since 1894. In a practical sense, being a good citizen means making sure Roman audiences know about our work, are welcomed at appropriate events, and consider us a part of the city's cultural life.
How has living in Rome helped you gain a better awareness of the political-economic situation in Italy?
Rome is a fascinating place, the center of Italy's political life and also a kind of cultural crossroads, where most countries have three embassies (to Italy, to the Holy See, and to the Food and Agriculture Organization). All of this means that every political development is amplified in a very unique way, from the local to the global.
Would you care to elaborate on some of the most memorable events you’ve witnessed while in Italy?
I’ve experienced many memorable events since beginning my tenure in 2010, from landmark governmental transformations to the presentations and discussions that take place at the Academy. Among my favorites are the rich cultural offerings of our program of events. Of course I have to admit that being in Rome during the heaviest snowfall the country has seen in 26 years was also quite an experience.