The 1968 movement in Italy or Sessantotto was inspired by distaste or discontent with traditional Italian society and by similar international protests. In May 1968 all universities, except

Bocconi Bocconi University ( it, Università Commerciale Luigi Bocconi, ) is a private university in Milan, Italy. Bocconi provides education in the fields of economics, finance, law, management, political science, public administration and computer sci ...

, were

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. In the same month a hundred artists, including

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, Arnaldo Pomodoro,

Ernesto Treccani Ernesto Treccani (Milan, 26 August 1920 – Milan, 27 November 2009) was a visual artist, writer and political activist. Biography Treccani was born in Milan. He joined very early on the art avant-garde groups and movements opposed to Fascist c ...

and Gianni Dova occupied for 15 days the Palazzo della Triennale.

Movement '68

The background of the movement came from the newly transformed economy of Italy. The country had recently increased industrialization and a new modern culture began to develop. The movement has its roots in the strikes and university occupations of the 1960s, along with international headlines about socialist political triumphs in the

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. Students of working or peasant backgrounds mainly drove the movement in an effort to change traditional capitalist and

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society. The new education system allowed for a large populace to be educated and, consequently question existing societal functions. The unrest began with student protests which were initially underestimated by politicians and the press; this soon turned into "the struggle of workers." In the first moments of the student protest, the right wing in the universities were among the movement's leaders. The Battle of Valle Giulia at Rome University on 1 March 1968 was the last action in which left- and right-wing students were together because, on 16 March following the assault on the

University La Sapienza The Sapienza University of Rome ( it, Sapienza – Università di Roma), also called simply Sapienza or the University of Rome, and formally the Università degli Studi di Roma "La Sapienza", is a public research university located in Rome, Ita ...

, there was a gap between "movementists" and reactionaries. The left came to dominate the movement and the right-wing debates on what actions should be used to further the movement.

Aftermath

The counter-cultural attitudes of the movement ended up creating conflicts within the Italian Left. The movement did bring a form of solidarity among the youth and a new politicized generation was created. There is debate about when and how a new political generation was formed.Luca Codignola, Il Sessantotto fu una rivolta generazionale ma fino ad un certo punto (''L'Occidentale'', 9 December 2007).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Italy movement, 1968 1968 protests 1968 riots 1968 in Italy Political history of Italy Riots and civil disorder in Italy 1960s in Rome Protests in Italy Years of Lead (Italy)

Movement '68

Aftermath

See also

References