Milan braces for more unrest as debate intensifies over Italy’s ‘lost generation’

“This government just tries to repress protesters instead of listening to them and addressing the issues,” said Miccichè, who needed stitches for her injury. “It is all connected. There is anger in the south over fuel prices and young people everywhere are angry – they don’t even have a chance to think about the future because they are so terrified of the present.”

Furthermore, “we are not feeling safe”, the 34-year-old added, “because we can see how much space the police have now and how shielded they are”. Racial profiling had become the norm in Milan, especially in the centre and close to its train stations, she claimed.

The weekend’s urban unrest, including protests in Turin and Bologna, has intensified debate over Italy’s “lost generation”.

Furthermore, the youth protests and subsequent fringe violence have exposed the sharp divide between Italy’s marginalised and immigrant youth and those with greater prospects.

Working-class Italians or third- and second-generation immigrants are regularly labelled by rightwing politicians and the press as maranza, a derogatory term used to describe groups of young people who usually congregate in city centres.

They come from areas like Barona, a sprawling council estate in the south-west of Milan. Young people there have been reflecting on the events of last weekend. “There is a lot of discontent – we are all children of this widespread malaise,” said Domenico Ricci, who along with Luca Orlando manages a bar that is part of Barrio’s, a cultural hub where the district’s youth come together.

Orlando believes the vandalism and looting were a symptom of anger and years of feeling unheard and invisible. “So when an opportunity arises, these kids take revenge. They don’t do it simply because they want to steal something. All this government does is introduce new crimes – they never listen or engage in dialogue.”

Orlando, whose parents came from Calabria, is feeling the nationwide discontent. “But the protests there [in the south-west] have hardly had any coverage,” he said. “And we are only talking about Milan because of the violence and not the real issues.”

Thomas, 18, who has grown up in Barona, is training to be a chef and wants to leave Italy “as soon as possible”. He said: “I see no future here.” His friend Mohamed, an Italian citizen of Moroccan origin, is still at high school and wants to become a lawyer. “If you make a mistake, then you must pay,” he said. “But this is also a characteristic of protests – the more a government doesn’t listen, the more people get angry.”

Mauro Magatti, a sociologist at Milan’s Catholic University of the Sacred Heart, said socioeconomic discomfort and a sense of abandonment affected “an entire generation” and responding to the anger with excessive repression risked enlarging the protest. “Violence always needs to be condemned but now we need to lower the tone to overcome this burst of anger and violence and focus on addressing the real problems,” he said.

Police and military presence in central Milan has been building in recent days before Saturday’s protest, organised by a new online movement which has pledged to gather each weekend “until this government of thieves falls”. Security guards stood outside shops that had been damaged or looted last weekend.

Italy’s politicians from across the spectrum must take heed, warned Miccichè, as the protests were only set to amplify ahead of general elections next year. “There is no perception at all of how young people feel,” she said. “Even if they took just a minute to listen, they will understand that it is a generation full of ideas – they just want to be heard.”

Kaynak: The Guardian · Özgün metin İngilizcedir.