Michelangelo Giampaoli 2024

DePaul University, Chicago, United States

Neofascism in cemeteries: among the dead, thinking of yesterday, without a tomorrow [v]

As George Orwell already warned in the 1940s, ‘fascism’ is one the most used and misused – and least studied – words in the recent history of humanity; however, in no other country except Italy it can still make some sense. Vanished from History with the death of its founder, Benito Mussolini, and basically removed from the Italian political scene after the disappearance of the MSI (Movimento Sociale Italiano) in 1995, fascism nevertheless continues to exercise a fascination in small groups which, from time to time, define themselves as neo-fascists, post-fascists, or even non-fascists. Given that Italian laws make any post-fascist demonstration or rally difficult – but not impossible – these more or less organized groups have learned that cemeteries can be safe and evocative spaces for celebration and commemoration, and places where they can gather in front of the only thing History has left of the men who created and led fascism: their tombs. So, the Mussolini family’s mausoleum in Predappio, the tombs of fascist leaders in other Italian cemeteries and, above all, an entire sector of the Cimitero Maggiore in Milan, have become the stages where people of all ages and origins celebrate a past they didn’t live through, in a present who does not accept them, and – perhaps – without thinking too much about the future.

Events

The Cemetery Research Group runs two events a year: in May and in November. Follow the links and send in an abstract