In March and May 2019, I took part in a workshop called "Decoding right-wing populism - co-creation of a European multimedia feature" at the European Academy Berlin, to which young people from Germany, France, Hungary, Italy, Austria and Poland were invited. During the workshop we dealt intensively with the role of populism in Europe and developed a question which we then took up in individual projects: How does right-wing populism affect the life of young people?
Together with Claudia Cerulo, I then conceived a (multimedia) research project on the topic of migration from Italy. We interviewed and photographed 6 young Italians in Berlin and Naples to shed light on their migration decisions. The central question was what role the current political and economic situation in Italy played in this. I produced the photos, conducted half of the guided interviews, took over the editing of all texts in English and developed the layout of the magazine "Young Italians: Those who leave and those who stay". The result was presented by the European Academy Berlin in the form of a digital multimedia feature and appeared as an Italian-language article in "Il Mitte", a magazine for the Italian community in Germany and for Italophiles.
The introduction to the publication:
Italy has been populist for quite some time. If we look at the Berlusconi era it becomes clear that (right-wing) populism is not a new phenomenon. Italian populism started over twenty-five years ago with Silvio Berlusconi’s Forza Italia party. Today populism is getting strong with Matteo Salvini (Lega) and Luigi Di Maio (Five Star Movement), although in a different way. The young generation of Italy has never experienced a stable political and economic situation in their life. Instead it has been confronted with dishonest political climate and economic uncertainty. Italy’s youth unemployment rate - the second highest in the eurozone - is one of the biggest problems. It is the main reason why Italy is experiencing a new wave of youth migration especially from the southern regions to northern Italy and Europe. It often involves highly educated people. Germany, particularly Berlin, is one of the top destinations.
Giada Armante (German-Italian from Berlin) and Claudia Cerulo (from Naples) focused on the individual stories of young Italians both in Germany and Italy. Inspired by the title of the third book of the Neapolitan quartet by Elena Ferrante, they interviewed three people in Berlin and three people in Naples to answer the following questions: Why did they decide to leave or stay? To which extent does populism affect their lives? How do they perceive the current situation in Italy and abroad? Armante and Cerulo’s project tells a different story of migration: It depicts the south-north migration of young EU citizens in the times of crisis, a topic that is rarely discussed among populists as well as in a greater European context.
Those Who Leave: Giulia's Story
Giulia Norberti, 29, was born and raised in a small town near Turin. She studied Strategic Sciences at the University of Turin and spent a semester abroad at the Arctic University of Norway.
She came to Berlin to work with mafianeindanke e.V. as part of the European Voluntary Service. She then applied to the Humboldt University in Berlin for a second master's degree in Social Science Research Methods.
She currently lives in the German capital, where she has a part-time job at the Open Knowledge Foundation Deutschland and is part of mafianeindanke e.V. on a voluntary basis.
How do you perceive the overall economic and political situation in Italy, perhaps also compared to Germany or other European countries?
At home, where I grew up, the situation is quite complicated at the moment. There is a general climate of pessimism and frustration because jobs are not paid well, the cost of living is quite high and there is a lot of uncertainty. Also, many jobs do not offer enough guarantees, often they are short-term contracts that are renewed at the last minute. This situation influences people's mood a lot, I think. Frustration increases and there is a feeling of being a kind of victim of the system and that nothing can be changed.
Whereas the feeling I get here in Berlin, or in Tromsø, where I studied, is completely different. So, when I was young, here and in Norway I always had this feeling: I have to make an effort, but if I really try and really want something I can do it. That's the main difference compared to Italy. That's what I think influences the approach to life the most.
