The “zero tolerance” discourse in Italy: rhetoric and practices

Similarly to other western countries, such as the US, the UK and France, but with a delay of about ten years, in Italy the fear of crime and the perception of insecurity have become important arguments in the political arena, at both national and local level. The discourse on security is, as in other national contexts, influenced by politics and ideology. In the country, political parties such as the Lega Nord had a crucial role in shaping the discourse on zero tolerance. The aim of the paper is to analyse the last 20 years of rhetoric and practices on the security issue in Italy, with specific regard to the zero tolerance. The analysis will consider national and local policies, crime figures, political discourses and statistics on fear of crime and feelings of insecurity. The argument is that the pressing social and political issue of fear of crime brings with it the risks related to the criminalization of specific groups of the population and the rise of a punitive approach targeting those marginal categories that were traditionally considered as social policy and welfare beneficiaries.