Beyond the wall: street art in the fight against the Camorra

Luca Palermo

doi:10.1017/mit.2017.59

Beyond the wall: street art in the fight against the Camorra

Published online by Cambridge University Press: 02 October 2017

Luca Palermo

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Luca Palermo*: Affiliation:
Dipartimento di Lettere e Beni Culturali, University of Campania ‘Luigi Vanvitelli’, Italy
*: *Email: lucaplrm@gmail.com

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Abstract

The attempt to halt the remorseless spread of organised crime in the Italian South should not just be an issue for the judges, investigating magistrates and forces of order; every citizen should feel that they are an integral part of a wind of change, coming from below, that can have a decisive impact on local society. Starting from this premise, art and culture, adopting an approach of participation and involvement, can play a primary role in processes of renewal. In various areas within the provinces of Naples and Caserta, carefully researched works of street art, with the direct involvement of the local population, have provided the means for intervention in decaying and marginal environments where organised crime seemed to be so well entrenched as to be ineradicable. This article presents four case studies, analysing their assumptions, methodology and objectives.

Italian summary

Cercare di porre un freno all’incessante dilagare della criminalità organizzata nel meridione d’Italia non deve essere una questione riguardante solo giudici, magistrati e forze dell’ordine; ogni cittadino dovrebbe sentirsi parte integrante di un vento di cambiamento che, partendo dal basso, possa incidere in maniera determinate sul cambiamento sociale. Partendo da tali presupposti, l’arte e la cultura, in un’ottica partecipativa e di coinvolgimento, possono giocare un ruolo di primaria importanza in questi processi di rinnovamento. In varie aree delle province di Napoli e Caserta si è andati ad intervenire, attraverso ben studiati lavori di street art e con la diretta partecipazione della gente comune, in contesti degradati e marginali nei quali la presenza delle criminalità organizzata sembrava essere così radicata da non poter essere estirpata. Il saggio in questione presenterà tali casi di studio, analizzandone le premesse, le metodologie e gli obiettivi.

Keywords

social inclusion urban regeneration participation organised crime street art Campania

Type: Research Article
Information: Modern Italy , Volume 22 , Special Issue 4: Special Issue: The Force of History: Modern Italian Historiography and the Legacy of Christopher Duggan , November 2017 , pp. 381 - 401

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/mit.2017.59 [Opens in a new window]
Copyright: © 2017 Association for the Study of Modern Italy

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