The summer issue of the magazine (covering July, August
and September) has 84 pages and is the biggest issue
produced so far in almost thirty years.
The cover and four articles are devoted to clericalism
in Italy, in the year of the Jubilee. Carlo Oliva employs
his usual ironic style to discuss the third mystery
of Fatima, the first official example of a "prophecy
on the past". Cristina Gramolini (from ARCI Lesbica)
analyses the profound similarities between the Church
and the right wing on the subject of homosexuality and
homophobia. Maria Matteo underlines the contemporary
importance of the episode of the heretic Fra' Dolcino,
who still arouses discussion in his region, Piedmont,
700 years after his revolt against the Church. Francesca
"Dada" Knorr discusses the increasingly numerous
"repentances" of the Catholic Church.
There is a photo feature devoted to the recent international
Conference of Studies on "Anarchists and Jews"
held in Venice between 5 and 7 May.
The demonstrations in Brazil against the 500th anniversary
of that country are the object of a letter from Massimo
A. Rossi. Again on the Fatti&Misfatti pages, there
is a report on the battle being fought by a group of
youngsters in Campsirago (near Lecco) to defend their
experience of self-management and organic farming, threatened
by the usual interests of the property speculators.
Gianni Sartori presents two interviews - with the Italian
journalist Guido Piccolo, who has an in-depth knowledge
of Colombia, and with the Colombian teacher Carlos Romero
- on the situation of civil rights in general and the
indigenous peoples in Colombia.
In view of the forthcoming Olympics in Sidney, a long
dossier is devoted to Australia: it is by Tiziana Ferrero-Regis,
an Italian anarchist who has lived in Brisbane for 8
years. She interviews two people who for many years
have been key figures in Australian anarchism (Brian
Laver and Peter Sheldon); there is discussion of the
experience of a local libertarian newssheet in Brisbane
and finally on the question of relations between anarchist
movements and aborigines.
Frediano de Libero looks at Berlin, particularly the
"cafés" in the districts of the former
East Berlin and the atmosphere there.
Problems associated with immigration are discussed by
Maria Mesch in her interview with Marion Baruch, an
Italian artist who was born in Romania and is currently
resident in Paris, where she runs a website devoted
to "illegal" immigrants.
Enrico Bonfatti considers the social and environmental
costs associated with transport in Italy.
Considerable space is devoted, as ever, to reviews of
books (Jean-Jacques Gandini reviews a book published
in France on China, Dino Taddei presents five new Italian
books) and CDs (Nadia Agustoni on the latest by Lalli,
Marco Pandin on Nick Drake and Loris Vescovo).
In two separate articles, both Francesco Berti and Tiziano
Antonelli discuss the history and theory of anarchism.
Berti analyses the inadequacies of the anarchist analysis
of fascism and the problem of totalitarianism/democracy
in general. Antonelli defends the conception of "anarchist
communism" in relation to other conceptions of
libertarian thought.
As ever, Cristina Valenti looks at theatre, this time
in relation to prison, analysing two specific experiences
of theatre inside prisons, in Padua and Volterra (Tuscany).
Completing the issue are the columns by Felice Accame
(who looks at the human costs of social respectability)
and Carlo Menga (on the strike by journalists), three
pages of communiqués, listings of libertarian
events over the summer, a short story by Tina Goldman
(on a flag, first thrown away and then recovered) and
three long letters (two in the subject of prison and
one devoted to the singer-songwriter De André,
who died just over a year ago).
It is to De André, particularly to the special
issue devoted to him by this magazine, that the back
cover is devoted.
Have a good read and a good summer!
translated by Leslie Ray
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