to maintain the structural inequality of 93 From the Italian term 'Giustizialista': the attiwealth and power between social classes, tude of those who feel the while nevertheless pretending that the need of a severe, often quick and hasty justice, lower classes would reach better living and especially for crimes comworking conditions… During the second mitted by politicians. half of the 20 th century, many social struggles made use of this very mediation. Even when they had radical ambitions, welfare was the territory in which to enact these struggles. What changed with the financial turn of the economy is that States are no longer able to govern the distribution of wealth. Therefore our challenge is to invent tools able to appropriate the wealth produced by social cooperation, but which at the moment is entirely absorbed by financial systems. If in 20 th century capitalism the relation appropriation-distribution was largely controlled by the States – and in fact it was possible to demand a more equal distribution which followed appropriate wealth, according to the slightly banal scheme elaborated by Carl Schmitt – today the problem is to create a collective; a Non-State power to act directly and immediately on the appropriation of wealth, capable of re-socialise what finance privatised.
On the organisation I would not underestimate the 5SM phenomenon; however, it seems to be a catalyst that collected, concentrated and sped up reactions that were already happening, rather than a war machine. To a certain extent, Grillo does not add anything new to the political debate – except some issues related to innovation in the green economy perhaps, which unsurprisingly did not determine their electoral success. For example, anti-caste instances have been largely considered by the justicialist 93 left propaganda over the last two decades. The opposition to the jus soli was and still is a strong point of Lega Nord’s programme, and generally of the Italian right. The opposition to European economic policies is shared by the entire political spectrum. The 5SM’s real innovation was to bring common people into the Parliament. I believe this to be a positive factor – especially at a time when democracy seems to be overly determined by economic techniques. Also, I do not see as relevant the innovations of the 5SM’s organisation: their communication tools and modes can only
Paolo Godani
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