Slot machine venues and their boundaries. The growth of gambling in Italy, from an anthropological-semiotic perspective

The growth of the gambling market in Italy represents a unique case in Europe, and has also led to the emergence of forms of addiction. The progressive legalization of a long list of gambling products, recently introduced or previously allowed only in four Italian casinos, has generated an “invasion” of gambling in Italian cities. Moreover, in the context of a globalized economy increasingly influenced by neoliberal doctrines and hegemonized by financial processes, targeted marketing strategies have contributed to the normalization of a practice that has historically been the object of social stigmatization. Through an anthropological-semiotic interdisciplinary approach, we have analyzed the erosion of the physical, temporal and moral boundaries within which gambling was relegated, focusing on the role of the spatial configurations of the slot machine venues in inducing intensive gambling. The organization of space impacts the gaming experience and is, in turn, shaped by the expectations of gamblers. The latter, after an initial encounter with easily accessible machines that were once constrained by boundaries, seek to create new barriers that allow them to immerse themselves in the game and shield themselves from the gaze of others. Because if gambling is becoming more socially accepted, the same does not count for the gambler who plays “too” eagerly.