Italy
Italian government takes tougher line on refugees
By Martin Kreikenbaum, July 25, 2003
Two ships packed with refugees on their way to Italy capsized on June 16 and 20, resulting in the deaths of an estimated 250 people. The response of the Italian government to this tragedy, however, ha...
Berlusconi and Europe
By Peter Schwarz, July 16, 2003
Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi’s start of a six-month stint in the presidency of the European Union has produced a wave of disquiet in the European media. There is hardly a leading new...
Communist Refoundation: Italian Stalinism’s new “experiment” with electoral opportunism
By Christopher Sverige, June 21, 2003
If a lesson can be drawn from the recent administrative elections in Italy, it is that opportunism is alive and well in the remnants of the Italian Communist Party (PCI).
Berlusconi attacks independence of the Italian judiciary
By Peter Schwarz, May 9, 2003
Italian head of government Silvio Berlusconi has reacted to the conviction of his long-time lawyer and close confidante Cesare Previti by declaring war on the independence of the Italian judiciary. Hi...
The politics of tactical manoeuvre
Interview with Paolo Ferrero of Italy’s Communist Refoundation Party
By Marianne Arens and Peter Schwarz, May 2, 2003
The Italian Partito della Rifondazione Comunista (PRC) is seen as a role model by many on the European left. The Communist Refoundation Party, as its name correctly translates, was established in 1991...
After the fall of Baghdad
Hundreds of thousands demonstrate in Rome
By Marianne Arens and Francis Dubois, April 14, 2003
Several hundred thousand people—half a million according to the organisers—demonstrated in Rome under the slogan “stop the shooting.” The demonstration was called by “Fer...
Italy: Strikes, protests against layoffs at Fiat
By Peter Schwarz, December 12, 2002
Over the last week, thousands of workers have undertaken strike action, blockades of workplaces and motorways and held demonstrations to protest against mass redundancies planned by the Italian auto c...
Italian courts attack opponents of globalisation
By Marianne Arens, December 9, 2002
On the morning of December 3, the district court of Catanzaro (Calabria, southern Italy) ordered, on the basis of a review of remand conditions, the immediate release of 18 opponents of globalisation ...
Italy: Twenty anti-globalization activists arrested in police sweeps
Charged under Mussolini-era subversion laws
By Stefan Steinberg, November 21, 2002
Less than a week after one of the biggest anti-war demonstrations in Europe since the end of World War II, the Italian judiciary and police have conducted a large-scale operation against anti-globalis...
Over 500,000 march in Florence against Iraq war
By our own correspondent, November 12, 2002
In one of the largest peace demonstrations ever held in post-war Europe, more than 500,000 people marched in Florence, Italy November 9 to protest US plans for war against Iraq. Demonstrators came fro...
Fiat to sack 25 percent of workforce
Mass protests against job cuts in Italy
By Peter Schwarz, October 26, 2002
Millions of workers in Italy have taken to the streets in recent days to protest against job cuts. According to the trade unions, a total of 13 million workers took part in an 8-hour nationwide genera...
Italy: state attorneys expose police provocation at Genoa G-8 summit
By Peter Schwarz, October 10, 2002
In July of 2001, film clips of violent unrest on the fringes of the G-8 summit in Genoa, Italy were flashed all around the world. The port city witnessed violent conflicts between demonstrators and th...
