It’s been a bit of a strange week here in Italy. With international affairs still so fraught, the nation’s political class seems to have been overcome by a kind of paralysis. Parliamentary debate has been concerned less and less with governance and the everyday needs of citizens, and more and more with historic values, and esoteric philosophy. Such conversations, like yesterday’s heated arguments over the legacy of Altiero Spinelli’s 1944 Ventotene manifesto, may be interesting intellectually, but there’s clearly a risk that we journalists, and the public at large, get caught up in the spectacle and allow illiberal policies to be swept under the rug without rigorous analysis. This week, for example, the Civil Liberties Union for Europe (Liberties) published a report about democratic backsliding in the EU in which they identified Italy as one of five “dismantler” states that that are “intentionally undermin[ing] the rule of law in nearly all aspects” (the other nations cited were Bulgaria, Croatia, Romania and Slovakia). In particular, the authors pointed to Meloni’s draft proposals to give “open-ended powers” to the justice ministry; a measure which, ultimately, would increase political control over the judiciary, thereby threatening the institution’s independence. The government raised this once again this week, stating that the reforms “are non-postponable.” The Liberties report also highlights the erosion of civil rights and press freedom, drawing particular attention to “unprecedented levels of interference in public service media.” None of this is exactly news, I know. Meloni’s administration has been slowly chipping away at Italy’s democratic norms for two years now. The new risk, however, with Trump dominating the headlines, is that the opposition loses focus and takes its eye off the creeping regime-like conditions in the country. To find out more about Italy’s backsliding, and proposals to bolster democracy, check out p.535 of the report here.
With domestic politics currently stalled, this week seems like a particularly apt moment to reflect on the “meaning” of Georgia Meloni, and the deeper historical forces that have fuelled Fratelli d’Italia’s rise to power. With that in mind, I want to recommend Jan-Werner Müller’s latest piece for the London Review of Books in which he explores the often spouted theory that Italy is a kind of “political laboratory” in which all number of innovations – from populism to digital democracy to neo-fascism – find conditions to thrive. Müller’s piece is, ostensibly, a review of Salvatore Vassallo and Rinaldo Vignati’s book Brothers of Italy and the Rise of the Italian National Conservative Right under Giorgia Meloni (Palgrave Macmillan 2024). Like most of his LRB pieces, however, this essay is a valuable contribution to scholarship in its own right. Reading it, I learnt a lot about Italy’s post-war constitutional consensus, the origins of the Movimento Sociale Italiano, the ongoing influence of mysterious figures like Gianfranco Fini and I even learnt a thing or two about Meloni’s experience as a young woman growing up in the Roman district of Garbatella. It would be no exaggeration to say that this is the most illuminating essay I’ve read about Italian politics all year, so check it out if you really want to get beneath the surface of the changes we’re all living through.
I seem to be reading a lot of pieces about walking holidays in Italy lately. To be fair, this has been a trend in travel journalism for a while now; it’s an angle that seems to get commissions, although the quantity really does seem excessive at the moment (or is it just me? Editor friends please share any insights if you have them.) Anyway, as a reader I am quite enjoying many of these pieces, and my favourite this week is this Travel+Leisure feature by the U.S. writer Gina DeCaprio Vercesi in which she details a recent autumn holiday she took exploring the narrow cobblestoned paths called crêuze which link up the Ligurian coastline. Vercesi’s itinerary is very much ON the beaten track. She confines herself largely to an area just north of the cinque terre and the towns of Rapallo, Santa Margherita Ligure, Portofino, and Camogli specifically. I don’t mean that as a criticism, by the way. I mean, who can blame her? I’ve written countless times about Liguria and my love for its pesto, focaccia, herb-filled pies, ragged cliffs, secluded rock beaches, and small inland villages, and any excuse to read about the region, and daydream of visiting later this year, is welcome to my mind. So read Vercesi’s full take here.
Arts & Culture: Brick by Holy Brick
Earlier this week Microsoft and the Vatican unveiled the results of a surprising new collaboration in the equally surprising terrain of video games. 'Peter is Here: AI for Cultural Heritage', is a digital educational tool aimed at students aged between eight and 18 years old. The game was created by a team of engineers who were employed to mod the engine of the popular engineering SIM Minecraft and to create a virtual mock-up of St. Peter’s Basilica. The player is tasked with exploring a 3D rendering of the monument. Their mission? To investigate cracks and deformities and ultimately identify places in need of repair. As Cardinal Mauro Gambetti, archpriest of St Peter's, put it in an intervention to the Foreign Press Association: “Those who play this video game will have the opportunity to try their hand at creative architectural interventions, to discover the history of the basilica, to restore it, to enter into the hidden meanings that it holds." Click here to find out more and to download the game [note: a Minecraft Education account is required, though free trials are available with conditions outlined via the link].
Are you reading this from Italy, and looking for something to do over the weekend? Well, if you’re planning a cinema trip then I’ve got just the thing. Author and first-time director Sara Petraglia has got her debut movie out today, and based on critics from Rome Film Festival it’s going to be one of the sleeper indie hits of the year. ‘L’albero’ tells the story of Bianca, a 23-year-old girl who since leaving her parents’ home has achieved… nothing; well nothing of substance, except developing a serious cocaine addiction and cultivating dozens of unhealthy relationships. At the centre of Bianca’s life, and her world, is Angelica, another millennial drifter with skeletons in her closet and a dangerous lust for life. The film is set among the night streets of Rome and Naples, as the two women’s friendship, like the world around them, seems to fall apart. ArtTribune has called this “a small but powerful debut…one of Italy’s most authentic generational portraits of the kind until now only captured by the translations of Sally Rooney's novels.” A strong endorsement indeed, and certainly enough to entice me out of the house. Check out the trailer below to make up your own mind.
Recipe of the Week: Raw Early Season Asparagus Salad with Breadcrumbs, Walnuts, and Mint
This week’s recipe is an Italian-inspired contorno by the American chef and restaurateur Joshua McFadden, owner of the popular Oregon eatery Ava Gene’s and co-author of Six Seasons: A New Way with Vegetables among other books. As the name suggests, this dish is a perfect way to make use of the fresh spring produce which is currently so abundant on market stalls. Many of us are used to boiling (read, overcooking) asparagus, and eating it as a bland side dish. If you can identify, well this preparation will revolutionize how you approach the vegetable. Here, McFadden demonstrates that with some basic knife skills, asparagus works perfectly well eaten raw as a pungent, peppery base for a salad. To balance the dish, he proposes a dressing of toasted bread crumbs, walnuts, parmesan, fresh lemon, and olive oil which bring out the vegetal notes of the stalks while balancing out any unwanted earthiness. I like to serve this alongside grilled fish or meat, but it could just as easily work as part of a vegetarian spread. Do buy McFadden’s book for more exquisite small-plate ideas, though in this instance you can also follow some step-by-step instructions via the video below, or check out the written recipe here. Enjoy!
I’m Jamie Mackay, a UK-born, Italy-based writer, working at the interfaces of journalism, criticism, poetry, fiction, philosophy, travelogue and cultural-history. I set up ‘The Week in Italy’ to make a space to share a regular overview of the debates and dilemmas, innovations and crises that sometimes pass under the radar of our overcrowded news feeds, to explore politics, current affairs, books, arts and food. If you’re a regular reader, and you enjoy these updates, I hope you’ll consider becoming a supporter for EUR 5.00 per month. I like to think of it as a weekly catch-up chat over an espresso. Alternatively, if you’d like to send a one-off something, you can do so via PayPal using this link. Grazie!