A-Infos (en) Italy, Umanita Nova #24/25 - The Lion and the Horse. Evictions in Milan (ca, de, it, pt, tr)[machine translation]

In a general context of a radical crisis in traditional geopolitical 
balances, and as war once again loomed over the Old Continent, the 
Italian government decided to contribute to the social effervescence 
with the eviction on Thursday, August 21st, of the Leoncavallo Spazio 
Pubblico Autogestito (Self-Managed Public Space), or, if you prefer its 
evocative acronym, Leoncavallo SPA. As is well known, the eviction was 
"peaceful," and the occupants' response was a demonstration on September 
6th, which saw a more than robust national and citywide turnout-an 
unusual and, given the times, even surprising turnout.

How can we explain the fact that tens of thousands of people took to the 
streets in support of Leoncavallo and that there was a coming together 
of political, social, and cultural entities that were not only and not 
so much different as radically, at least generally, disconnected?

I propose an extreme case precisely because I believe it gives a 
reasonable idea of the variety of actors involved.

Bebo Storti, who along with Paolo Rossi, Claudio Bisio, Gigi Alberti, 
Antonio Catania, and Renato Sarti took part in the national march for 
the Leoncavallo and, together with them, unfurled a yellow banner with 
the words "Comedians," the title of the show directed by Gabriele 
Salvatores that was a huge success in 1985, states: "We're a bunch of 
idiots, but we have a civic sense. It's important to be here to talk 
about the Leoncavallo and the disgusting act they committed during the 
eviction. Piantedosi instinctively accepted this ass-kissing of the 
government. We know how it went. It was a political closure."

Well, director Salvatores was present this morning at Giorgio Armani's 
funeral chapel, where he emphasized the importance of demonstrating for 
the Leoncavallo. In other words, he saw no contradiction between 
supporting Leonka and paying homage to a leading figure of the Milanese 
bourgeoisie, so much so that he called for the participation of a 
segment of the bourgeoisie, perhaps the liberal, urban bourgeoisie, in 
the mobilization.

I believe an answer to the question is possible if we take into account 
several facts:

The very brutality of the government's actions, after years of torpor 
and acceptance of the status quo ante, has affected, if not "public 
opinion," at least a segment of people who frequent or have frequented 
social centers, who appreciate transgressive art and culture, and who 
are nevertheless positioned on the left at a time when, despite the 
right-wing government, a certain esprit de corps characterizes the left, 
however one understands the term;

The reaction to the eviction has overlapped with the mobilization in 
favor of the Palestinians, which is decidedly lively and has a large 
following among the younger generations. It's a case in which internal 
warfare, in the form of attacks on "non-compliant" gathering places, and 
external warfare, indirectly supporting the slaughter of the Gazan 
population, were perceived in their relations, and, in any case, sectors 
of the movement created a synergy.
The eviction of the Leonka occurred at a time when there is more than a 
passing attention to a housing policy that favors the bourgeois elite 
and severely penalizes a significant portion of the working classes, 
those who were unable to buy a home in better years and must resort to 
renting, out-of-town students, and the like. Public opinion is quite 
sensitive to the legal proceedings of the city's political and 
administrative class and perceives the bipartisan nature of the blockade 
of those who have seized the city, to quote a famous film.
Returning to the eviction, the Leoncavallo has a complex legal case 
behind it, which sets a complicated precedent for other occupations as 
well. Indeed, it should be noted that the Ministry of the Interior was 
ordered to compensate the Cabassi family, represented by the Prefect, 
for failing to carry out the eviction. The judge ruled against the 
Association of Anti-Fascist Mothers of Leoncavallo, whose president, 
Marina Boer, was ordered to pay EUR3 million in compensation for the 
failure to evict the real estate company that owns the property at Via 
Watteau 7.

It should also be noted that over the years, Leoncavallo and local 
governments have engaged in complex and unproductive negotiations aimed 
at "normalizing" the situation. For some time now, Leonka, faced with a 
conciliatory attitude from the current mayor, has been working to have 
its "social value" recognized by the institutions. (Mayor Sala, when 
questioned by the press in recent weeks, responded to some journalists 
regarding Leoncavallo by acknowledging its "high social and cultural 
value for the city," at least in words, pointing to the tender for a 
warehouse on Via San Dionigi, in the Porto di Mare area, as a plausible 
solution.)

Out of respect for the intelligence of my thirty-three readers, I won't 
dwell on the fact that the "social value" recognized by the 
institutions-specifically, by institutions heavily involved in the 
renovation for the benefit of the city's high-income classes-is somewhat 
laughable.

Precisely this complexity of the Leonka story-a radical and self-managed 
birth, an institutional drift, and countless legal issues-determines the 
fact that there are at least two Leonkas: one SPA and one, perhaps more 
in the imagination than in actuality, a Self-Managed Public Space.

The demonstration of September 6th asserted the Leonka's character as a 
movement and emphasized the need to oppose government policy with mass 
mobilization regarding public spaces, the right to housing, access to 
services, etc.

It therefore sets the stage, or at least could set the stage, for a 
paradigm shift on the part of the movements, a paradigm shift that 
places the governance of cities, the definition of decision-making 
bodies, and the intertwining of welfare demands at its center.

In other words, it's about organizing, in Milan and elsewhere, a 
mobilization against the city's bosses. This could involve citizens' 
committees on various issues, social centers and occupied spaces, and 
grassroots unions for both workers and tenants.

A path that, in my opinion, deserves in-depth discussion and debate.

Cosimo Scarinzi

https://umanitanova.org/il-leone-e-il-cavallo-sgomberi-a-milano/
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