CasaPound Italia (abbr. CPI; "House of

Ezra Pound Ezra Weston Loomis Pound (30 October 1885 – 1 November 1972) was an expatriate American poet and critic, a major figure in the early modernist poetry movement, and a Fascism, fascist collaborator in Italy during World War II. His works ...

") is an

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

neo-fascist Neo-fascism is a post-World War II far-right ideology that includes significant elements of fascism. Neo-fascism usually includes ultranationalism, racial supremacy, populism, authoritarianism, nativism, xenophobia, and anti-immigration sent ...

movement and formerly a

political party A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular country's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific political ideology ...

born as a network of

far-right social centres CasaPound building in Rome A far-right social centre is a space inspired by neo-fascist and Third Position ideas, typically in the 21st century. Italy In Italy, a social centre called Il Bartolo was squatted in Rome, and was burnt down after one ...

arising from the occupation of a state-owned building by

squatters Squatting is the action of occupying an abandoned or unoccupied area of land or a building, usually residential, that the squatter does not own, rent or otherwise have lawful permission to use. The United Nations estimated in 2003 that there ...

in the neighborhood of

Esquilino The Esquiline Hill (; la, Collis Esquilinus; it, Esquilino ) is one of the Seven Hills of Rome. Its southernmost cusp is the ''Oppius'' ( Oppian Hill). Etymology The origin of the name ''Esquiline'' is still under much debate. One view is ...

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

on 26 December 2003. Subsequently, CasaPound spread with other instances of squatting, demonstrations and various initiatives, becoming a

political movement A political movement is a collective attempt by a group of people to change government policy or social values. Political movements are usually in opposition to an element of the status quo, and are often associated with a certain ideology. Some t ...

. As such, in June 2008, CasaPound therefore constituted an "association of social promotion", and assumed its current name CasaPound Italia – CPI; the party's symbol is the "Arrowed Turtle". On 26 June 2019, CasaPound's leader Gianluca Iannone announced CasaPound existence as a political party had ended, going back to its original status of social movement.

History

image:CasaPound.JPG, left, CasaPound building in via Napoleone III,

(2010) The first occupation made using the name CasaPound was on 26 December 2003 in Rome, by a group of young people referring to the ONC/OSA area (acronym for "Non-Compliant Occupations and Occupations with a Housing Purpose"), and coming from previous experience of CasaMontag (named after

Guy Montag Guy Montag is a fictional character and the protagonist in Ray Bradbury's dystopian novel ''Fahrenheit 451'' (1953). He is depicted living in a futuristic town where he works as a "fireman" whose job is to burn books and the buildings they are f ...

) at the gates of Rome. The building, a state-owned building in via Napoleone III, later has been used as the national headquarters of the movement and the association. In 2010, 23 families and a total of 82 people lived in CasaPound occupied building. Previously, CasaPound was associated with

Tricolour Flame The Social Movement Tricolour Flame ( it, Movimento Sociale Fiamma Tricolore, MSFT), commonly known as Tricolour Flame (''Fiamma Tricolore''), is a neo-fascist political party in Italy. History The party was started by the more radical members of ...

until 2008 but now has its own movement, CasaPound Italy, extending all over Italy with many social centres. While CPI does not recognize the classic definitions of right and left, it is commonly placed in the category of the political groups and movements of the Italian radical right. Casapound is generally self-defined by its followers as

Third Position The Third Position is a set of neo-fascist political ideologies that were first described in Western Europe following the Second World War. Developed in the context of the Cold War, it developed its name through the claim that it represented a ...

, however. In 2011 it was estimated that CasaPound Italy had 5,000 members, while in 2017 they reached 6,000.Tom Kington
"Italy's fascists stay true to Mussolini's ideology
"

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

(6 November 2011). Retrieved 14 December 2013. On 13 November 2017, Simone Di Stefano was elected secretary and nominal prime ministerial candidate for the 2018 general election, although the party subsequently formally stated that it hoped Northern League leader

Matteo Salvini Matteo Salvini (; born 9 March 1973) is an Italian politician who has served as Deputy Prime Minister of Italy and Italian Minister of Infrastructure and Transport, Minister of Infrastructure and Transport since 2022. He has been List of Federal ...

became Prime Minister. In order to participate in the

2019 European Parliament election in Italy The 2019 European Parliament election in Italy were held on 26 May 2019, electing members of the 9th Italian delegation to the European Parliament as part of the European elections held across the European Union. Electoral system The party-li ...

, an electoral joint list was formed by CasaPound together with United Right. CasaPound leader Simone Di Stefano topped the coalition's list however the coalition was unable to win any seats in the

European Parliament The European Parliament (EP) is one of the legislative bodies of the European Union and one of its seven institutions. Together with the Council of the European Union (known as the Council and informally as the Council of Ministers), it adopts ...

. On 26 June 2019, CasaPound's Iannone announced CasaPound existence as a political party had ended, going back to its original status of social movement. During the

2022 Italian general election The 2022 Italian general election was a snap election held in Italy on 25 September 2022. After the fall of the Draghi government, which led to a parliamentary impasse, President of Italy, President Sergio Mattarella dissolved the parliament on 2 ...

, CasaPound supported Italexit, which had a candidate list that included CasaPound members.

Ideology

One feature of this movement, according to sociologist Emanuele Toscano, is to present a different interpretation of

fascism Fascism is a far-right, authoritarian, ultra-nationalist political ideology and movement,: "extreme militaristic nationalism, contempt for electoral democracy and political and cultural liberalism, a belief in natural social hierarchy an ...

aimed at overcoming the dichotomy of right-left. The political position of CasaPound is based on the fascist

, defined as "extreme-upper-centre" by the movement itself. The name, inspired by the poet

, refers to his ''

Cantos ''The Cantos'' by Ezra Pound is a long, incomplete poem in 120 sections, each of which is a ''canto''. Most of it was written between 1915 and 1962, although much of the early work was abandoned and the early cantos, as finally published, date ...

'' against usury, criticisms of the economic positions of both

capitalism Capitalism is an economic system based on the private ownership of the means of production and their operation for Profit (economics), profit. Central characteristics of capitalism include capital accumulation, competitive markets, pric ...

and

Marxism Marxism is a Left-wing politics, left-wing to Far-left politics, far-left method of socioeconomic analysis that uses a Materialism, materialist interpretation of historical development, better known as historical materialism, to understand S ...

, and his membership of the

Italian Social Republic The Italian Social Republic ( it, Repubblica Sociale Italiana, ; RSI), known as the National Republican State of Italy ( it, Stato Nazionale Repubblicano d'Italia, SNRI) prior to December 1943 but more popularly known as the Republic of Salò ...

. It also gives particular attention to the Manifesto of Verona, the

Labour Charter of 1927 The Charter of Labour of 1927 ( it, Carta del Lavoro) was one of the main pieces of legislation Benito Mussolini, the Italian Fascist dictator from 1922–43, introduced in his attempts to modernise the Italian economy. The Charter was promulgate ...

and social legislation of fascism. There has been collaboration with the

identitarian movement The Identitarian movement or Identitarianism is a pan-European nationalism, nationalist, far-right political ideology asserting the right of Ethnic groups in Europe, European ethnic groups and white peoples to Western culture and territories c ...

which propagates a

white White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White on ...

Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...

Europe. The movement also praises the legacy of far-left figures, like

Che Guevara Ernesto Che Guevara (; 14 June 1928The date of birth recorded on /upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/78/Ernesto_Guevara_Acta_de_Nacimiento.jpg his birth certificatewas 14 June 1928, although one tertiary source, (Julia Constenla, quoted ...

and

Hugo Chávez Hugo Rafael Chávez Frías (; 28 July 1954 – 5 March 2013) was a Venezuelan politician who was president of Venezuela from 1999 until his death in 2013, except for a brief period in 2002. Chávez was also leader of the Fifth Republ ...

. On social and domestic issues, CasaPound has a strong

anti-immigration Opposition to immigration, also known as anti-immigration, has become a significant political ideology in many countries. In the modern sense, immigration refers to the entry of people from one state or territory into another state or territory ...

stance, but lack of homogeneity on other themes. In January 2016, many members of the movement participated in the ''Family Day'', supporting the

traditional family A nuclear family, elementary family, cereal-packet family or conjugal family is a family group consisting of parents and their children (one or more), typically living in one home residence. It is in contrast to a single-parent family, the larger ...

idea. In 2017, the establishment of CasaPound expressed support to the same-sex civil unions,

advance directive An advance healthcare directive, also known as living will, personal directive, advance directive, medical directive or advance decision, is a legal document in which a person specifies what actions should be taken for their health if they are no ...

and improvement of the

welfare state A welfare state is a form of government in which the state (or a well-established network of social institutions) protects and promotes the economic and social well-being of its citizens, based upon the principles of equal opportunity, equitabl ...

. The party supports

abortion Abortion is the termination of a pregnancy by removal or expulsion of an embryo or fetus. An abortion that occurs without intervention is known as a miscarriage or "spontaneous abortion"; these occur in approximately 30% to 40% of pregn ...

rights. Some activists of the movement expressed

antisemitic Antisemitism (also spelled anti-semitism or anti-Semitism) is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who holds such positions is called an antisemite. Antisemitism is considered to be a form of racism. Antis ...

and

xenophobic Xenophobia () is the fear or dislike of anything which is perceived as being foreign or strange. It is an expression of perceived conflict between an in-group and out-group and may manifest in suspicion by the one of the other's activities, a ...

rhetoric online, but CasaPound both refuses and expels members who support these ideas. On foreign policy, CasaPound is critical of the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been des ...

, instead supporting a communitarian-nationalist Europe. The Movement was originally both

anti-American Anti-Americanism (also called anti-American sentiment) is prejudice, fear, or hatred of the United States, its government, its foreign policy, or Americans in general. Political scientist Brendon O'Connor at the United States Studies Centr ...

and

anti-Zionist Anti-Zionism is opposition to Zionism. Although anti-Zionism is a heterogeneous phenomenon, all its proponents agree that the creation of the modern State of Israel, and the movement to create a sovereign Jewish state in the region of Palestine ...

, and started a cooperation with the Lebanese

anti-imperialist Anti-imperialism in political science and international relations is a term used in a variety of contexts, usually by nationalist movements who want to secede from a larger polity (usually in the form of an empire, but also in a multi-ethnic so ...

Shia Shīʿa Islam or Shīʿīsm is the second-largest Islamic schools and branches, branch of Islam. It holds that the Prophets and messengers in Islam, Islamic prophet Muhammad in Islam, Muhammad designated Ali, ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib as his S ...

Islamist party

Hezbollah Hezbollah (; ar, حزب الله ', , also transliterated Hizbullah or Hizballah, among others) is a Lebanese Shia Islamist political party and militant group, led by its Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah since 1992. Hezbollah's parami ...

in 2015. However, Di Stefano later said, "we do not have problems with Israel". In 2018, Di Stefano defended Israeli Prime Minister

Benjamin Netanyahu Benjamin "Bibi" Netanyahu (; ; born 21 October 1949) is an Israeli politician who served as the ninth prime minister of Israel from 1996 to 1999 and again from 2009 to 2021. He is currently serving as Leader of the Opposition and Chairman of ...

's policies regarding repatriation of illegal immigrants to Africa as "undoubtedly excellent", and criticised humanitarian organisations and the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and international security, security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be ...

for intervening to prevent them. Di Stefano has expressed support for U.S. President

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021. Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of Pe ...

, but requested that he close U.S. military bases in Italy.

Activities

The social centre has its own musical band, Zetazeroalfa, an association of

civil protection Civil defense ( en, region=gb, civil defence) or civil protection is an effort to protect the citizens of a state (generally non-combatants) from man-made and natural disasters. It uses the principles of emergency operations: prevention, miti ...

and promotes sports (

hiking Hiking is a long, vigorous walk, usually on trails or footpaths in the countryside. Walking for pleasure developed in Europe during the eighteenth century.AMATO, JOSEPH A. "Mind over Foot: Romantic Walking and Rambling." In ''On Foot: A Histor ...

parachuting Parachuting, including also skydiving, is a method of transiting from a high point in the atmosphere to the surface of Earth with the aid of gravity, involving the control of speed during the descent using a parachute or parachutes. For ...

diving Diving most often refers to: * Diving (sport), the sport of jumping into deep water * Underwater diving, human activity underwater for recreational or occupational purposes Diving or Dive may also refer to: Sports * Dive (American football), a ...

and other disciplines), union activities, and recreational activities, including a theater company, web radio, web television and a monthly magazine. CasaPound has promoted initiatives outside the Italian territory through its non-profit organization Solidarité Identités. The activities of the movement have been the subject of attention by some foreign media. Giulia Basile
"Mussolinis Enkel. "Casa Pounds" rechte Jugendzentren in Italien,"
3sat.de (07.03.2011). Retrieved 14 December 2013. From the period of activity of the first social centre then were organized and cultural meetings with several guests, including writer Nicolai Lilin, the

LGBT ' is an initialism that stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender. In use since the 1990s, the initialism, as well as some of its common variants, functions as an umbrella term for sexuality and gender identity. The LGBT term is a ...

deputy

Paola Concia Anna Paola Concia (born 4 July 1963, in Avezzano) is an Italian politician and gay rights activist. Biography Concia was born in Avezzano, and she graduated in sports science from L'Aquila's Istituto Superiore di Educazione Fisica; following her ...

, an ex-

Red Brigades The Red Brigades ( it, Brigate Rosse , often abbreviated BR) was a far-left Marxist–Leninist armed organization operating as a terrorist and guerrilla group based in Italy responsible for numerous violent incidents, including the abduction ...

Valerio Morucci Valerio Morucci (born 22 July 1949) is an Italian terrorist, who was a member of the Red Brigades and who took part in the kidnapping and assassination of Aldo Moro in 1978. Biography Morucci was born in Rome. He took part in the libertarian ...

, and the Chinese community. The main CasaPound political proposal is the so-called ''Mutuo Sociale'' (''Social Mortgage''), as a response to the problem of housing which, according to official data, involving approximately 23,000 households throughout Italy. In October 2011, the Lazio Region officially approved it within its "House Plan". Starting with the 2011 elections CasaPound presented their candidates in local elections in civic lists or centre-right and succeeded in electing its representatives. At regional and national elections of 2013 CasaPound Italy announced that it will present its civic lists throughout Italy.

Youth wing

In 2006, the movement that arose around the first community centre was endowed with its student organization, under the name "Students' Block" ( it, Blocco Studentesco). Francesco Polacchi is the General Secretary of Students' Block. Their logo resembles

that ''That'' is an English language word used for several grammar, grammatical purposes. These include use as an adjective, conjunction (grammar), conjunction, pronoun, adverb, and intensifier; it has distance from the speaker, as opposed to words lik ...

of the

British Union of Fascists The British Union of Fascists (BUF) was a British fascist political party formed in 1932 by Oswald Mosley. Mosley changed its name to the British Union of Fascists and National Socialists in 1936 and, in 1937, to the British Union. In 1939, fo ...

. Questions have been submitted by parliamentarians of the

Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to: *Democratic Party (United States) Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to: Active parties Africa *Botswana Democratic Party *Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea *Gabonese Democratic Party *Demo ...

about fascist propaganda and the violence of the student movement.

International meetings

Over the years the leaders of CasaPound Italy have been invited to explain its “political model” in many of the major European capitals (

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

Madrid Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the second-largest city in the European Union (EU), and ...

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

Lisbon Lisbon (; pt, Lisboa ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 544,851 within its administrative limits in an area of 100.05 km2. Grande Lisboa, Lisbon's urban area extends beyond the city's administr ...

Brussels Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...

Warsaw Warsaw ( pl, Warszawa, ), officially the Capital City of Warsaw,, abbreviation: ''m.st. Warszawa'' is the capital and largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the River Vistula in east-central Poland, and its population is officia ...

) and the organization has been the subject of some reports by foreign media. In 2011 the

Finnish Resistance Movement The Nordic Resistance Movement; Norwegian: nb, Nordiske motstandsbevegelsen, NMB; nn, Nordiske motstandsrørsla NMR; fi, Pohjoismainen Vastarintaliike, PVL; is, Norræna mótstöðuhreyfingin, NMH; da, Den nordiske modstandsbevægelse, ...

also invited members of CasaPound to a seminar in

Helsinki Helsinki ( or ; ; sv, Helsingfors, ) is the Capital city, capital, primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Finland, most populous city of Finland. Located on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, it is the seat of the region of U ...

. The Finnish Resistance Movement represents

national socialism Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hit ...

. The Finnish Security Intelligence Service researched the connections of the Finnish Resistance Movement to CasaPound after the

2011 Florence shootings On 13 December 2011, an armed attack occurred in Florence. Two market traders from Senegal, 40-year-old Samb Modou, and 54-year-old Diop Mor, were killed by Gianluca Casseri, who wounded three other Senegalese traders in another market. According ...

Symbolic figures

The party's choice of American poet

as a symbol of the movement has caused controversy with his daughter, Mary de Rachewiltz, who claimed it distorts the meaning of Pound's work and represents a "misappropriation" of his image,Tom Kingtom
"Ezra Pound's daughter fights to wrest the renegade poet's legacy from fascists,"
The Observer (14 January 2012). Retrieved 14 December 2013. despite Pound's stated support for fascism.

Electoral results

Italian Parliament

European Parliament

Regional or Provincial Councils

References

External links

*
Blocco Studentesco - official website

CasaPound Nationalist Squat in Rome
on

YouTube YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...

The hipster fascists trying to bring Mussolini back into the mainstream
on

English interview with the leader of Casa Pound
{{Authority control 2003 establishments in Italy Anti-Islam political parties in Europe Anti-Islam sentiment in Italy Far-right movements in Europe Far-right politics in Italy Islamophobia in Europe Neo-fascist organisations in Italy Political movements in Italy Right-wing anti-capitalism Social centres Squats in Italy Third Position