Janus-faced Europhiles and Jewish couscous
Plus some curiosities about the Italian economy
Well, the calm didn’t last long. In case you’ve lost track of things - and no-one could blame you if so - Italy is moving ever-deeper into a quagmire of absurdist political melodrama. As I reported last week: Giuseppe Conte, the Prime Minister, won a vote of confidence in the parliament so was in theory free to remain in office. Six days later, though, he announced he would step down from his position. Why did he do this? Frankly, nobody really knows. David Broder, has written a gutsy op-ed for the New Statesman in which he argues that amidst the chaos some politicians are seeking to establish a more explicitly pro-EU majority, in which Berlusconi’s Forza Italia will replace Renzi’s Italia Viva to hold things together. It’s a fair overview of where we’re at, and is well-worth reading. Given the outgoing government was sufficiently Europhile to call itself the ‘Ursula coalition’, though, I can’t say I entirely share the author’s conclusion! Conte might leave, or he may be back. Elections are still unlikely but not impossible. Any future government will be heavily indebted to the EU. It is, as the barista at my newly re-opened local bar put it, un gran pasticcio. Prophesising now would be a fool’s errand. Instead, in this week’s newsletter, I want to explore a few deeper issues which I hope will shine some light on Italy’s rather fraught relationship with the European Union.
A Mediterranean powerhouse?
It’s common knowledge by now that the Italian economy is in dire straits. If you want to pin that feeling to a number, though, this one is quite something: the national debt is now estimated to be at an astonishing 154.2% of GDP (source). This figure alone makes it sound like the apocalypse is here. Really, though, it’s only a partial image. The country’s credit rating is more solid than one might expect (Moody's: Baa3 stable); the recovery programme, should it go through, will bring over EUR 200bn in investments; and unemployment has actually decreased in recent months (though the number of ‘economically inactive’ is growing). The most interesting and under-acknowledged trend to my mind, though, is the speed with which Italy is expanding its economic ambitions beyond Europe. Last week Michaël Tanchum and Dimitar Bechev published a piece in Foreign Policy, in which they claim “Rome [is the] fastest-rising economic power in the wider Mediterranean region, from North Africa to the Balkans and beyond.” Their argument, which focuses on the Turkey-Tunisia logistical travel corridors, and the Italian state energy provider Eni’s activities in Libya and Algeria, makes for a compelling read. With the current crisis in mind, the piece is also an important reminder of how, while necessarily Europhile on the surface, Italy’s politicians have good reason to court Beijing and Moscow behind the EU’s back. Mediterranean expansion might sound like a good thing at first. Indeed, in some shape or form it could and should be. Given that far-right leaders like Matteo Salvini and Georgia Meloni are waiting in the wings, and based on the polls will easily come to power in the next two years, the implication, as Tanchum and Bechev explain, is more likely to mean backroom deals with Putin and Erdoğan than, say, tackling the refugee crisis, or developing a shared democratic agenda. Watch this space.
Beyond the Russia-China-Turkey question, readers of a Eurosceptic persuasion may also want to consider how an anti-EU stance might square with some of the recent environmental successes that the Brussels institutions have facilitated. The small Sicilian town of Balestrate, a few km outside of Palermo, is a case in point. Thanks to some sizeable European subsidies, this community of 6000 inhabitants has, over the past few months, succeeded in pedestrianising the town centre, cleaning-up the surrounding beaches, introducing a bike sharing scheme and investing in electric vehicles. Balestrate’s recycling quota is now at an impressive 70%, far above the average for Southern Italy. Given the epochal political changes we’re living through, this might sound like a trivial matter. Actually, it’s an important demonstration that, despite failings of national government, European regional funds can still contribute to progressive change at a local level. People often think of Sicily as being a ‘dirty’ place that is entirely dysfunctional compared with ‘superior’ Northern-style modernities. While modest, ‘the Balestrate model’, as the EU christened it this week, is just the latest reminder that the island is actually home to some of the most creative and forward-thinking economic initiatives in the entire country.
Having said that, it’s not all rosey on the EU front (and how could it be?). Member states have been at loggerheads with one another this week over delays in shipments of both the Pfizer and Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccines. What should be a question of rational, equitable distribution has degraded into a war of words, threats of legal action and sabre-rattling about sovereignty. Much of the continent’s ire has been focused outward at the now-almost-entirely-Brexited-UK which, despite caveats regarding scheduling of second doses, is leading the way as far as mass inoculation goes (or, depending on who you ask, ‘hogging’ the global supply.) Either way, vaccine delays are very bad news for countries like Italy, which had planned its rollout strategy on the basis that these two products would be available in far larger quantities than they in fact are. The health authorities here are already doubling down to invest in Italy’s own domestically produced vaccine, which is being created by Rome’s Istituto Spallanzani and will be distributed from June onwards. Despite the superficial Europhilia on display in the parliament, this is yet further evidence of the nationalism that is motivating Italy’s political agenda behind the scenes.
Art and culture: The Moon and the Bonfires
In case you missed it, today is publication day of a new Penguin edition of what is, in my humble opinion, one of the great works of world literature.The Moon and the Bonfires by Cesare Pavese was one of the first books I read cover to cover in Italian when I set out to learn the language. I still have a soft spot for it. The action is set in the immediate aftermath of WWII and follows the story of a man returning to his foggy Piemontese village after years of self-imposed exile in America. Really, though, this is a poetic, meditative text which captures the exhaustion of postwar Italy, the desire for peace after years of violence, and the sad realities of vendetta. Tim Parks, the novelist, is the translator this time round. While I haven’t read this edition he is a master prose stylist and his renderings of Italo Calvino, Antonio Tabucchi and Natalia Ginzburg are among my favourites in English. If you’ve never read Pavese, this will, I’m sure, be a great place to start.
Last week marked the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Italian Communist party (PCI) and unsurprisingly, the year is going to be filled with (virtual) events that will explore the good, the bad, and the ugly of that legacy. If you don’t know much about the PCI it’s probably enough to mention their involvement in leading the clandestine battle against Mussolini’s fascists, and supporting the partisan soldiers in the war. They also authored the republic’s democratic constitution, challenged mafia corruption in the state, revolutionised regional government, and succeeded in campaigning for liberal divorce and abortion laws. While the PCI itself was plagued by factionalism, ideological rigidity and, very often, machismo, the movements that supported it were, for decades, the benchmark for democratic organising and mobilised people to a scale almost to rival the Catholic Church. Think I’m exaggerating? This video, which shows the funeral of the party’s leader, Enrico Berlinguer, from 1984, might change your mind (the image quality is sadly very poor but stick with it: the almost Soviet-like scenes are, I think, extraordinary to reflect on given how history has progressed). Last year, to mark the anniversary, the Neapolitan artist Jorit created a mural of the philosopher Antonio Gramsci on a towerblock in a suburb of Florence. It has been one of the defining artworks of the pandemic so far. Interestingly, though, Jorit insists he did not mean to take a political position by making this piece! This odd mix of aesthetic provocation and rhetorical reticence, so nostalgic yet crippled with resignation, makes the work, to my mind, a perfect emblem of where the Italian left finds itself today...
Recipe of the week: Roman-style Hraimi (Fish couscous)
Italy’s Jewish cucina tripolina is one of the country’s best kept culinary secrets. This cuisine, which originated in Libya, and which is still served in restaurants around Rome’s Campo de' Fiori area, is quite different to the other fare of that city. It’s lighter, more fragrant and, in general, better fitted to everyday eating than, say, a massive plate of ragù. This week I cooked-up one such traditional recipe from Katie Parla’s Tasting Rome (2016). The dish, which she calls ‘spicy fish with couscous’, is a healthy Shabbat meal, with a fair whack of chilli and, most intriguingly of all, lots of caraway. If you don’t have the book you can find the recipe in the Montreal Gazette here. My tip? It’s even better the next day, once the fish has had a chance to absorb the sauce. If you’re looking for a cheap, quick-fix working-day lunch then this one could be for you.
That’s it for this week - as ever I do hope you enjoyed this instalment. If you haven’t already, please do follow the ‘Week in Italy’ Facebook page, or my twitter, for a few extra links and easy-access to the substack archive. Oh, and don’t forget, if this email was forwarded to you, you can also subscribe for regular updates using this big red button. Thanks!
About Me
My name is Jamie Mackay (@JacMackay) and I’m a writer, editor and translator based in Florence. I’ve been writing about Italy for a decade for international media including The Guardian, The Economist, Frieze, and Art Review. I launched ‘The Week in Italy’ to share a more direct and regular overview of the debates and dilemmas, innovations and crises that sometimes pass under the radar of our overcrowded news feeds.
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