Let's take the city: Turin's urban movement, 1968-1975

Abstract

The chapter brings together a series of events and processes in the industrial city of Turin in northern Italy between 1968, when a strong wave of radical protests over urban problems began, and 1975, when political changes brought a break to this wave. This is the first comprehensive narrative on the combination of various actors and practices involved in this complex urban (social) movement. During this crucial phase of social unrest, labour organisations, student organisations, political parties, unions, extra-parliamentary groups and neighbourhood committees were taking radical actions against the urban crisis. By mapping the main repertoires of actions deployed by the social and political groups involved, it engages with questions of their ideological background and their actual impact on urban politics and living conditions in the Fordist city, which continued to boom despite the economic crisis and attracted an enormous influx of domestic labour migration.