Where Is Culture in Rome? - Global Rome: Changing Faces of the Eternal City - page 243

social centers have managed to shed light on a new urban geography based
on a close-knit network of social activities which, though conducted at various
levels, are invariably connoted by the suspension of the hegemonic neoliberal
laws of profit and repression. in this way, they have managed to build a critical
space in which dominant neoliberal policies can only be enforced by recourse to
conflict and violence. The originality of this space is the fact that, by involving
struggles which are simultaneously economic, cultural, and political, it draws
public attention and challenges what is considered possible within the existing
dominant social trends. social centers represent unique spaces of recognition
and respect for diversities that are worth knowing because they constitute radi-
cal factors of change in the city's dynamics.
acknowledgments
many topics covered in this chapter were discussed with the people in the squatting europe
Kollective network, and i thank them for their questions and comments.
Notes
1. approximate translations for these organizations are: Red wave Radio (Radio onda
Rossa), proletarian Radio (Radio proletaria), and City of the future Radio (Radio Città
futura).
2. for more details, see the websites of individual social centers.
3. most of these names are untranslatable, except for: Corto Circuito (short Circuit), Vil-
laggio Globale (Global Village), pirateria (piracy), ex snia Viscosa (former Chemical products
factory), strada (Road), and torre (tower).
4. in the center of Rome, the teatro Valle, one of the most prestigious theaters in the city,
has been occupied by dozens of artists and workers of the entertainment sector since June
2011, following the occupation of Cinema palazzo in san lorenzo in april 2011. This successful
occupation generated a national simulation effect, and it was followed by the occupations of
teatro Coppola in Catania, teatro Garibaldi in palermo, teatro marinoni, and s.a.l.e. Docks
in Venice; ex asilo filangieri in Naples; teatro Rossi aperto di pisa, macao in milan; teatro
pinelli in messina; and Cinema america in Rome.
5. The names for which translations can be attempted are: san papier (undocumented),
Volturno occupato (Volturno squat), Centro Donna lisa (lisa women's Center), Zona a
Rischio (No-Go area), Casale Garibaldi (Garibaldi farmhouse), ex Casale falchetti (for-
mer falchetti farmhouse), ateneo occupato (squatted atheneum), and macchia Rossa (Red
stain).
6. see http://www.tmcrew.org/laurentinokkupato/story.htm (accessed 19 september 2013).
7. squatting by neofascists takes the form of two different projects: oNC (Non-standard
occupations) and osa (occupation for housing purposes). Neofascist occupations are char-
acterized by a strong connection with right-wing and neofascist parties and politicians (that
represent the main source of their funds), a hierarchical organization, and by the idea of creat-
ing closed spaces, symbolically invoked by the idea of casa, home, a private sphere to be de-