Austerity and its discontents
A group blog On Europe edited by Daniel Trilling
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Essay: beneath its populist surface, the Five Star Movement represents more of the same.
By Wu Ming Foundation Published 08 March 2013 13:48
Beppe Grillo, at a pre-election rally in Rome on 22 February. (Photo: Getty.)
Marriage is a bond between a man and a woman. How can you institute marriage between two persons of the same sex? Why not marriage between three persons then? Why not marriage between you and your animal? Some people have a strong relationship with their animal, would you allow them to marry it?
(Francesco Perra, 5 Star Movement candidate at the recent national election, 8 June 2012 )
There is much confusion in other countries about what
has been taking place in Italy in the past five years – the era of Late
Berlusconism – and what is going on after the latest national election.
At the time of writing, nobody knows what government Italy will have.
No stable government can be formed without the vote of confidence of the
Five Star Movement, the political organisation led by former stand-up
comedian Beppe Grillo and web marketing guru Gianroberto Casaleggio.
The Five Star Movement (5SM), which stood for national election for the
first time, gained 25.5 per cent of votes for the Chamber of Deputies
and 23.8 per cent for the Senate.
