Resisting the Tide edited by Daniele Albertazzi, Clodagh Brook, Charlotte Ross, and Nina Rothenberg will be published in May 2009.
Focussing on Berlusconi's term as Prime Minister from 2001-06, this interdisciplinary volume provides the first assessment of how the neo-conservative values attributed to him were contested and resisted by a variety of groups: social/minority movements, intellectuals (radical and moderate) and media practitioners.
Bringing together academics in Britain, Ireland, the US and Italy, this book takes an international perspective on Italian events. It investigates how resistance to the new conservative culture has been articulated, and how this has been expressed and explained by those involved.
Analysis is divided into four parts: 1. 'The Economic and Media Landscapes' sets the scene for the rest of the book, explaining how Italian society, and particularly its media environment, have developed in recent years; 2. 'Political Challenges' discusses the main threats to the authority and policies of Berlusconi coming from within his own centre-right coalition, the left and social movements; 3. 'Texts' analyses films, internet sites, television programmes, novels, newspaper articles and theatre performances that sought to resist increasingly dominant conservative norms and/or respond to events set in motion by the Berlusconi governments; 4. 'Experiences and Personalities' considers the voices and practices of those who have opposed Berlusconi from within the cultural industries and identity movements, including journalists, LGBT activists, feminists and associations representing immigrant communities.
Wide-ranging, innovative and challenging, Resisting the Tide should appeal to all those who have an interest in Italy, political, media, and cultural studies.
Editors
Daniele Albertazzi is Senior Lecturer in European Media (Department of Italian Studies, University of Birmingham).
Clodagh Brook is Senior Lecturer and Head of the Department of Italian Studies at the University of Birmingham.
Charlotte Ross is Lecturer in the Department of Italian Studies, University of Birmingham.
Nina Rothenberg teaches Sociology at the American University of Rome and was Research Fellow at the University of Birmingham.