Again, it’s interesting that Italian scholars and writers, unlike in the anglosphere, feel no need to subject our current politics to fascism purity tests, and are quite comfortable placing what Scurati calls contemporary “sovereigntist populism” in the context of historical fascism.
In this interview he centers the idea of Mussolini’s “I am the people and the people are me” (which of course disposes of the need for parliament, judiciary, etc - pretty familiar ground in 2025) but adds (optimistically?) in closing that without exception all these political shamans end in some literal or metaphorical version of Mussolini hanging by his heels in piazza Loreto.
Relatedly, I cannot more highly recommend Babylon Berlin, covering the social and political landscape/downfall of the Weimar Republic.
Please ask him if he knows of any plans for the other books in Scutari’s tetralogy to be translated into English.
Again, it’s interesting that Italian scholars and writers, unlike in the anglosphere, feel no need to subject our current politics to fascism purity tests, and are quite comfortable placing what Scurati calls contemporary “sovereigntist populism” in the context of historical fascism.
In this interview he centers the idea of Mussolini’s “I am the people and the people are me” (which of course disposes of the need for parliament, judiciary, etc - pretty familiar ground in 2025) but adds (optimistically?) in closing that without exception all these political shamans end in some literal or metaphorical version of Mussolini hanging by his heels in piazza Loreto.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BhS3Z7aDjPs