Franco Ferrarotti, the father of sociology in Italy, has recently published an agile pamphlet, published by Solfanelli (135 pages, 11 euros), which is particularly topical and illuminating right from its title: "Beyond the immovable sands - From democracy of mysteries to participatory and efficient power”.
It is a book linked to the news, and in particular to the constitutional referendum of December 4th, but it is not its trailer and delves deeply into the contradictions of Italian society. Ferrarotti takes the opportunity to ask himself about the disturbing fact that in our country a reform can be discussed for thirty years, such as that of equal bicameralism, which had been requested by Adriano Olivetti and the Community Movement since 1948, to then postpone the all at the Greek calends, sinking Italy into the "immovable sands" of inconclusive gibberish.
Ferrarotti, who was one of Adriano Olivetti's main collaborators, clearly highlights the roots of Italian immobilism and of a "democracy conceived as a pure procedure for immortal scammers and a practice of power as a private personal prerogative rather than as a collective rational function and community service".
According to the great sociologist, the passive acceptance of cultural and political stagnation risks heralding for Italy a century of decadence not too dissimilar from seventeenth-century Spanish rule and that is why "a moral revival and a leap of political imagination" are needed. Precisely in this context Ferrarotti, resuming an interview he recently granted to FIRSTonline, argues with his unmistakable civil passion enriched by an uncommon cultural depth that "today's referendum is looming as a crucial challenge to dismantle or defend consolidated interests and privileges, which goes far beyond the reform of the Senate itself. He reminds me of the referendum between monarchy and republic ”.
“When the established power feels undermined – notes Ferrarotti – it always tries to take revenge but, Renzi or no Renzi, if the YES doesn't win, we're heading towards dark years. However – this is his conclusion – I have faith in the democratic maturity of the Italian people and I believe that, in the end, rationality will prevail ”.
