Feminism and Antiracism: International Struggles for Justice

1 Making Space for Antiracist Feminismin Northern Italy

Chapter 1 Making Space for Antiracist Feminism in Northern Italy Heather Merrill The New Immigration in Italy On February 28, 1990 Italy passed the Martelli law (Law 39), an immigration bill drafted by the socialist Minister of Justice, Claudio Martelli. The Martelli law inaugurated the first comprehensive Italian immigration policy. It provided legal status and work permits for thousands of migrants already living and working illegally in Italy, but effectively prohibited the entry of new migrants. The law included provisions for self-employment and other forms of work and allowed clandestine migrants to regularize their status by presenting evidence that they had already entered Italy before December 31, 1989.1 Although thousands of migrants applied for legal documents, the law also inaugurated an effort to “protect ” the country’s external borders and to crack down on the illegal presence of foreigners through intensified policing and advanced surveillance technologies.2 Migrants continued to enter Italy in spite of increased border controls, but ideological boundaries were erected between those believed to belong to “Europe” and others who were classified as intruders. The Martelli law was passed in the context of a concern by several European governments that Italy had become a “gateway” to Europe for Third World immigrants. As the national borders between European nations were breaking down, the ideological distance between those who “belonged to Europe” and those labeled as outsiders had grown. The Italian state was criticized for its apparent inability to address the “invasion of the Other” and pressured by the European Union to develop a strict immigration policy in compliance with the Schengan Agreement. 17 In contrast to other European countries such as France, Britain, and Germany the “new” immigrants to Italy had not come from countries formerly colonized by Italy. Between 1975 and 1990 thousands of immigrants —about half of whom were women and many of whom were from cities and had at least a secondary school diploma3 —arrived in Italy from more than a hundred African, Middle Eastern, Asian, and Latin American countries. The greatest official concentrations of newcomers were from Senegal, Nigeria, Morocco, Somalia, Peru, the Philippines, Romania, and Albania. Such international migration was new in Italy, and prior to 1990 the government had not established organizations to mediate the migrants’ transition to the local community. For the most part, the newcomers were left to navigate their way on their own through migrant networks, ethnic associations , or with the help of Catholic voluntary associations. Many experienced considerable difficulty locating housing and access to healthcare. The majority had little knowledge of Italian, though a substantial number understood or spoke other European languages such as French, English, or Spanish. When the Martelli law was passed and thousands of migrants streamed to the Turin police headquarters to begin the process of acquiring legal documents, resident migrants and other volunteers had to be called upon to translate and explain bureaucratic procedures. By 1989, these “new” immigrants had already been targeted for racial abuse across Italy. Immigrant lodgings were burned to the ground in more than one episode; youth gangs attacked and knifed Moroccans and Senegalese in Florence in 1989, and killed a South African refugee, Jerry Masslo, in Campania. Several newspapers introduced a new column entitled “La caccia al nero” (hunting down blacks) in which racist crimes were reported. Attacks on Senegalese and Moroccan peddlers and campaigns against them by Italian shopkeepers in several Italian cities made it clear that Italians could no longer be characterized as just brava gente (decent people), erstwhile victims of other people’s racism.4 Turin: Northern Industrial Italy Turin is located in the northwestern province of Piedmont, and is one of three major cities in the Italian industrial triangle that includes Milan, Turin, and Genova. The Alps form a ring around the city, their snowcapped peaks often casting a luminous glow upon the muted colors of 18 h e at h e r m e r r i l l local buildings. For most of the twentieth century, Turin’s political culture was rooted in industry, which revolved around the Fiat automobile company. Turin was once the center of one of the most intense and prolonged labor struggles in Italian and European history. This is where Antonio Gramsci conceived of the Italian Communist Party. Although Turin is a city with a pronounced worker culture, it is also the home of old Italian nobility and the House of Savoy. In this...