Youth and Unconventional Political Engagement by Ilaria Pitti

Author:Ilaria Pitti
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Springer International Publishing, Cham

Case Study: Young Activists and the Occupied Centro Sociale

The story of the centro sociale “Lucha”3 begins in 2012, when a group of about 20 young activists decides to occupy an abandoned building located in the city centre of “Despina”,4 one of the main cities of North-Eastern Italy .

The building served as barrack from the 1950s to the end of the 1990s and it was owned—at the time of its occupation 5—by the local municipality that had left it in a state of abandonment after the decommissioning of the military base, which occurred in 1999.

Just after the occupation of the building, young people have started to progressively renovate the former barrack beginning with the transformation of some of its premises in small apartments where they have moved and lived for the following five years. In so doing, they have attempted to find a solution to the difficulties they experienced in finding sustainable housing solutions in the more and more expensive local rental market.

In a second moment, other parts of the building—which extends for 9000 square metres—have been cleaned, renovated, and open to the local population through a series of projects and initiatives.

An organic market where local farmers sold their products was held every Wednesday in the building, an organic garden was created in the courtyard located at the centre of the barrack, and an organic pizzeria using the vegetables grown in the garden was started together with a micro-brewery. Sport courses, dance classes, music events, exhibitions, debates, and workshops were held almost every day within the premises of Lucha, where also a second-hand shop, a carpentry, and a ciclofficina 6 were opened. Lastly several services addressing the needs of the local population were developed during the years: a study room and a library open twice a week were opened for students, a children’s playroom was organised during the main events to allow parents and children to enjoy the space, a school of Italian and a legal help-desk was started to help the migrant population, and a social dormitory offering a shelter to 20 homeless (mainly migrants and asylum-seekers) was created and kept open by the young activists.

All these activities were self-managed and self-funded by the young people taking part in Lucha, who were mainly students or recently graduates aged between 20 and 30 years old. The first group of 20 activists was joined, during the following years, by more than 100 young people whose efforts transformed Lucha in a “city within the city”.

In few years, the centro sociale became a focal point in Despina for what concerned cultural activities and political initiatives and a space attended daily by a growing number of young people, as well as by the other inhabitants of the neighbourhood and of the city. Although the local inhabitants did not immediately welcome the occupation , during the following five years a positive relationship developed between Lucha and the neighbourhood , whose inhabitants also created a committee for the defence of the presence of Lucha within the barrack when the local authorities started to ask the occupants to leave the space.

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