Today the term "control" is ubiquitous, appearing ever more frequently in public discourse and in newspaper headlines. The term, which originated in medieval Latin within accounting practice, has been applied over time to various fields. Yet "control" is articulated in many ways, and the same goes for its opposite. On the one hand, control and non-control are indeed united in an unbreakable relationship: it would make no sense to exercise some form of control over the world, over oneself, and over others if these areas did not also present something vitally uncontrollable – namely, something contingent, unpredictable, unknown, incalculable. An enhancing interplay between control and non-control is an essential element of any living and vibrant society. However, this relationship seems to be fraying today, and the two poles that constitute it tend to exclude one another, generating phenomena of obsessive control ("the society of control," "surveillance capitalism," etc.) or of (self-)destructive uncontrollability. This essay looks in particular at contemporary Italian society and the right-wing Meloni government's efforts to manage the relationship between these two poles of experience.

Out of or in control? / Velotti, Stefano. - In: CALIFORNIA ITALIAN STUDIES. - ISSN 2155-7926. - 13(2)(2024), pp. 1-10. [10.5070/C313264138]

Out of or in control?

Stefano Velotti
2024

Abstract

Today the term "control" is ubiquitous, appearing ever more frequently in public discourse and in newspaper headlines. The term, which originated in medieval Latin within accounting practice, has been applied over time to various fields. Yet "control" is articulated in many ways, and the same goes for its opposite. On the one hand, control and non-control are indeed united in an unbreakable relationship: it would make no sense to exercise some form of control over the world, over oneself, and over others if these areas did not also present something vitally uncontrollable – namely, something contingent, unpredictable, unknown, incalculable. An enhancing interplay between control and non-control is an essential element of any living and vibrant society. However, this relationship seems to be fraying today, and the two poles that constitute it tend to exclude one another, generating phenomena of obsessive control ("the society of control," "surveillance capitalism," etc.) or of (self-)destructive uncontrollability. This essay looks in particular at contemporary Italian society and the right-wing Meloni government's efforts to manage the relationship between these two poles of experience.
2024
social control; uncontrollability; Italian society; art and politics; Hartmut Rosa; Ernesto De Martino; rave parties; Italian piazza
01 Pubblicazione su rivista::01a Articolo in rivista
Out of or in control? / Velotti, Stefano. - In: CALIFORNIA ITALIAN STUDIES. - ISSN 2155-7926. - 13(2)(2024), pp. 1-10. [10.5070/C313264138]
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Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/11573/1725312
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