Antipolitics

Abstract Beginning with the sources of antipolitics, evident in the process of Italian national unification in the nineteenth century, this article explores the complexities of antipolitical thought and temperament in Italy. The various states that composed what is now the Italian Republic were then governed by powers perceived to be alien and distant, with the result that popular sentiment was diffident about most varieties of governance and political practice. State power indeed was mostly regarded as illegitimate. More recently, especially since World War II, that diffidence toward politics has evolved toward abhorrence, in response to a kind of partisanship in which political competitors are treated as enemies. The article then traces the further evolution of antipolitics in the postwar era, including the Qualunquismo of Guglielmo Giannini, the intellectual critique of partitocrazia (party rule) by Giuseppe Maranini, and the Five Star Movement of Beppo Grillo. In each case, popular enthusiasm has been followed by disappointment as each movement has degraded into a mere political party of populist bent, either right- or left-wing. Being antipolitical has proven to be a stance impossible to maintain for those who seek a role in politics.