This introduction examines the debates on late industrialism and the processes of ruination in li... more This introduction examines the debates on late industrialism and the processes of ruination in light of the historical and social transformations that have been shaping Southern Italy. Through the lens of cultural anthropology, it highlights the enduring impact of state-led industrialization on the region, drawing critical attention to the coexistence of conditions of abandonment, uncertainty, and disillusionment of environmental degradation, as well as the renewed meanings of territories and the imaginaries of possible futures. The articles in this special issue are grounded in ethnographic research in Sardinia, Sicily, and Apulia-territories where weakened industry is contradictorily intertwined with new development narratives. The authors examine the practices, narratives, sentiments and moral ambivalences that shape these territories and their stories, shedding light on how concrete groups of people make meaning of modern ruins and live in and with ruined spaces.
In the 1960s, Gela, located in southern Sicily, became the home of a petrochemical
plant, which c... more In the 1960s, Gela, located in southern Sicily, became the home of a petrochemical plant, which created a new sense of modernity, and triggered a process of urbanization. Nevertheless, the resulting pollution and deregulated urban expansion led to the city being stigmatized. The decommissioning of the plant added a condition of economic and identity uncertainty. Drawing from an fieldwork research, this article explores how the process of ruination has affected Gela inhabitants’ sense of place. It points to local sentimental connections with urban ruins – abandoned buildings, incomplete projects and constructions– showing how these become objects of ephemeral micro-practices of concealment while also creating a sphere of intimacy. It analyses the emergence of a new collective imaginary based on archeological and natural heritage, fuelling nostalgia for an imagined pre-industrial past. Although differing from the modernist imaginary associated with oil, this collective rhetoric reproduces the former’s sense of grandeur triggered by the industry.
Sulla base di un’etnografia svolta tra il 2020 e il 2022 a Gela, città della costa meridionale
de... more Sulla base di un’etnografia svolta tra il 2020 e il 2022 a Gela, città della costa meridionale della Sicilia, le trasformazioni cui è andato incontro il senso del luogo e il suo racconto tra illusioni di grandiosità veicolate dall’industria, ruderi della modernità che permeano lo spazio urbano, sentimenti nostalgici e reperti archeologici. L’apertura di un impianto petrolchimico negli anni Sessanta da parte dell’Eni ha trasformato Gela da piccola realtà agricola in snodo dell’industrializzazione del meridione italiano, offrendo alla città un inedito senso di centralità e avanguardia. La recente dismissione dell’impianto ha tuttavia lasciato un territorio contraddistinto da inquinamento, abusivismo edilizio e incertezza del futuro. Il testo analizza il lento processo di rovinamento che caratterizza tanto i ruderi industriali quanto il tessuto urbano contraddistinto da edifici abbandonati, palazzi incompiuti e progetti mai completati. Da un lato, mette in luce il tentativo di rimuovere questa materialità in disfacimento per reimmaginare lo spazio urbano. Dall’altro, sottolinea come il racconto delle rovine della modernità fondi un senso di intimità e appartenenza. Il paesaggio di rovine si lega, inoltre, a un nuovo immaginario che, evocando nostalgicamente il passato rurale e i segni dell’antica colonia greca, cerca di fondare un nuovo senso della località più in linea con i paradigmi di sviluppo turistico. L’articolo dimostra, infine, come a orientare l’immaginario rurale e pre-industriale e le annesse fantasie di grandeur turistica sia proprio l’introiezione di quelle rappresentazioni grandiose del sé veicolate dalla stagione del petrolchimico che oggi si vorrebbe dimenticare
This paper explores the imaginaries of tourism development in the Sicilian town of Gela, home to ... more This paper explores the imaginaries of tourism development in the Sicilian town of Gela, home to a petrochemical plant that, in the 1960s, transformed a rural village into a symbol of top-down industrialization in southern Italy. Built by Eni, the plant has led to environmental pollution and unregulated urban development over the years, casting a heavy stigma over the town. The plant's recent closure has added to the uncertainty. Consequently, tourism development linked to the sea and the town's ancient Greek heritage is now considered a possible path to economic and moral redemption. In exploring this transformation, this paper critically examines the recent tourismoriented policies by Eni, aimed at reorienting the local sense of place. It also analyzes grassroots initiatives through which local entrepreneurs, associations, and inhabitants reclaim degraded areas of the downtown in an attempt to meet the expectations of an imagined "tourist gaze." The widespread evocation of this gaze can be seen as a meta-cultural discourse * Questo articolo è il risultato delle riflessioni elaborate nell'ambito del progetto PRIN PNRR2022 "QUASI-RUINS: Place, Nostalgia and Future in Late-Industrial Italian Towns", CUP: D53D23019790001, Codice progetto MUR: P2022R5Y7F, finanziato dall'Unione europea-NextGenerationEU (Università di Foggia). La ricerca etnografica su cui si basa è stata condotta grazie al progetto PON-AIM 1883713 (Università di Catania). Lorenzo D'Orsi 150 through which social actors narrate the town, produce collective representations and horizons of expectation, and attempt to erase stigmatizing narratives. In this regard, the article emphasizes the importance of exploring tourist imaginaries even in areas that are on the fringes of mass touristification.
Based on an ethnography conducted in Istanbul, this article analyses nostalgia and the perpetuati... more Based on an ethnography conducted in Istanbul, this article analyses nostalgia and the perpetuation of mourning among former leftist militants of revolutionary organizations, who were the main targets of the political repression following the 1980-1983 coup in Turkey. It shows how these feelings do not isolate individuals, but are emotional practices with a degree of agency. These emotional practices are performed not on the basis of their effectiveness in the public arena, but rather because they able to regenerate the values of Marxist martyrdom, strengthen generational ties and make community. The analysis of funeral commemorations, anniversaries and gatherings illustrates how nostalgic attachment and perpetuation of mourning involve both the level of political tactics and the inner self of former militants. In this perspective, the concept of agency questions both the ability to act and the ability to construct subjectivities. It also demonstrates how ethnography in politically ...
In 1974 Italy changed from being a country of emigrants to a country of immigrants. Thirty years ... more In 1974 Italy changed from being a country of emigrants to a country of immigrants. Thirty years on, immigrants are playing an ever more important role in the country. Facing the consequences of migratory phenomenon, the author seeks to show the relevance of an overall view that doesn’t lose the concreteness of specific references. In the essay I try to analyze the new items that were introduced by the «pacchetto sicurezza», where the question of immigrants stops being a collection of laws regarding migration and starts being a question of public security. Instead, the case study of Roma communities allows us to grasp the limits of the multicultural model and the drift of the process of ethnogenesis. Moreover, the author tries to illustrate the increasing role of the mass media, which is no longer a dependent variable but a cobuilder of social reality, from such an analysis, no social science can escape. Finally, the consequences for “those who arrive in Italy” and for “those alread...
Temporary street shrine for imagining a different world : the march for Hrant Dink
Based on an ethnographic investigation carried out in Istanbul, this contribution analyses the an... more Based on an ethnographic investigation carried out in Istanbul, this contribution analyses the annual commemoration for the Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant Dink, who was killed in 2007. It sheds ...
Remembering the 1980 Military Coup : An Anthropological Perspective on the Uses of Oral History in Turkey
This paper draws on ethnographic investigation carried out in Istanbul on the painful memories of... more This paper draws on ethnographic investigation carried out in Istanbul on the painful memories of leftist organizations and families affected by the violence of the Turkish military coup of 1980-19 ...
When silence talks : The moral landscape of leftist painful memories in Turkey
Drawing on an ethnography carried out in Istanbul, this talk examines the experience of silence i... more Drawing on an ethnography carried out in Istanbul, this talk examines the experience of silence in Turkish former revolutionaries’ families, the main victims of the 1980-1983 military coup, and cha ...
This contribution draws on ethnography conducted in Istanbul to analyse the Museum of Shame, an a... more This contribution draws on ethnography conducted in Istanbul to analyse the Museum of Shame, an amateur exhibition dedicated to the memory of leftist militants who were victims of state violence following the 1980-1983 military coup in Turkey. This museification is the work of a group of ex-revolutionaries and can be considered a cultural practice that challenges statist historiography and creates a mnemonic community. By exhibiting the possessions of murdered militants, it inscribes their personal experiences into collective frames and fosters intergenerational transmission. Its temporality reflects the ethos of the revolutionary fighter, turning mourning into a political statement. However, though this museum practice allows the community to become an agent of history, it is unable to encompass the varying experiences of ex-militants. Its aestheticization of violence and its moral injunctions limit the extent of social solidarity and advance essentialisms that contribute to the construction of marginality from the inside.
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Papers by Lorenzo D'Orsi
plant, which created a new sense of modernity, and triggered a
process of urbanization. Nevertheless, the resulting pollution and deregulated
urban expansion led to the city being stigmatized. The decommissioning of the
plant added a condition of economic and identity uncertainty. Drawing from an
fieldwork research, this article explores how the process of ruination has
affected Gela inhabitants’ sense of place. It points to local sentimental connections
with urban ruins – abandoned buildings, incomplete projects and constructions–
showing how these become objects of ephemeral micro-practices
of concealment while also creating a sphere of intimacy. It analyses the emergence
of a new collective imaginary based on archeological and natural heritage,
fuelling nostalgia for an imagined pre-industrial past. Although differing
from the modernist imaginary associated with oil, this collective rhetoric reproduces
the former’s sense of grandeur triggered by the industry.
della Sicilia, le trasformazioni cui è andato incontro il senso del luogo e il suo racconto
tra illusioni di grandiosità veicolate dall’industria, ruderi della modernità che permeano
lo spazio urbano, sentimenti nostalgici e reperti archeologici. L’apertura di un impianto
petrolchimico negli anni Sessanta da parte dell’Eni ha trasformato Gela da piccola realtà
agricola in snodo dell’industrializzazione del meridione italiano, offrendo alla città un
inedito senso di centralità e avanguardia. La recente dismissione dell’impianto ha tuttavia
lasciato un territorio contraddistinto da inquinamento, abusivismo edilizio e incertezza
del futuro. Il testo analizza il lento processo di rovinamento che caratterizza tanto i ruderi
industriali quanto il tessuto urbano contraddistinto da edifici abbandonati, palazzi incompiuti
e progetti mai completati. Da un lato, mette in luce il tentativo di rimuovere questa
materialità in disfacimento per reimmaginare lo spazio urbano. Dall’altro, sottolinea
come il racconto delle rovine della modernità fondi un senso di intimità e appartenenza. Il
paesaggio di rovine si lega, inoltre, a un nuovo immaginario che, evocando nostalgicamente
il passato rurale e i segni dell’antica colonia greca, cerca di fondare un nuovo senso della
località più in linea con i paradigmi di sviluppo turistico. L’articolo dimostra, infine, come a orientare l’immaginario rurale e pre-industriale e le annesse fantasie di grandeur turistica
sia proprio l’introiezione di quelle rappresentazioni grandiose del sé veicolate dalla stagione
del petrolchimico che oggi si vorrebbe dimenticare