The beginning of a Big Data Era in the Western political scenario The early analyses of the explosion of the 5SM phenomenon appeared in February 2013 and were not satisfying. The vehement accusations of populism directed to Grillo’s anti-party by the center-left 2 Benito Mussolini, Opera Omnia, XXXIV and left-wing intelligentsia above all, seemed to only partially grasp the historic 3 The History of Herodotus, translated by George success of the 5SM; they hastily linked it Rawlinson (1866) to the crystal clear fragility of the political and institutional landscape and to the 4 Pierluigi Bersani, during a public conversation incessant work of deconstruction of the held with the journalist Italian society, which has been operated by Andrea Covotta at the Festa Democratica of VilBerlusconi’s vast authoritarian mediascape. lalunga, organised in RegThe first innovative, engaged and somehow gio Emilia on August 5, 2013. controversial analysis of the phenomenon was published shortly after the election 5 For a correct reading of the electoral results result, on March 8 2013, by the writers' of February 2013 see the Wikipedia entry. collective called Wu Ming. It was entitled Grillismo: Yet another Right-Wing Cult 6 The original essay, written for the London coming from Italy.6 We used the reading of Review of Books, was this anti-5SM pamphlet as a basis for a major published on the Wu Ming Foundation website. non-linear investigation looking at diverse authors, including Antonio Gramsci, Mario 7 It goes without saying that Gabriel Tarde (1843Tronti, Gabriel Tarde,7 Wilhelm Reich, 1904) did not analyse Michel Foucault, Gilles Deleuze and Fèlix the fascist phenomenon throughout his life, havGuattari among others. These thinkers ing died in 1904. However had already examined the systematic his opinions and thoughts on social somnambulism penetration of fascism, irrational mass and its general micro-sobehaviour, collective hypnosis, national ciological imposition was happily used by philosoidentity and capitalism, combining them phers Deleuze and Guattari (A Thousand Plateaus, with the similarly dense and controversial 1980) for an innovative notions of people, crisis, organization, and explosive analysis of micro-fascism. societies of control and data science. However, in our opinion, even the best post-electoral analyses of the 5SM left a margin or a void, something that encouraged us to undertake a supplementary investigation; we felt the need for a revelatory study, one which could disclose aspects of the rising phenomenon of digital populism and of the 1 Thomas Mann, Mario and the magician (1930). The original novel was published in Berlin as Mario und der Zauberer.
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Obsolete Capitalism