Ermete Ferraro - Academia.edu (original) (raw)
Papers by Ermete Ferraro
UN MILITARISMO...FUTURISTA?, 2024
This short essay tries to apply to the recent text of Gen. C. Masiello - Chief of staff of the It... more This short essay tries to apply to the recent text of Gen. C. Masiello - Chief of staff of the Italian Army - a methodology of critical analysis based on pragmatic linguistics, revealing its logical structure and thus underlining its ideological approach. Highlighting some key words of the speech, in fact, the intention emerges to break the linguistic taboos on the real function of the armed forces - leaving the hypocritical attempt of politics to 'civilize' their tasks - conversely explaining their strictly war&military mission and their conversion in an efficient and multi-factor way.
IL CAMALEONTICO AMBIENTALISMO DEI MILITARI, 2024
This new eco-linguistic investigation into the pseudo-ecological lexical code of an Italian Army ... more This new eco-linguistic investigation into the pseudo-ecological lexical code of an Italian Army policy document is intended to demystify the increasingly frequent greenwashing operations of the military-industrial complex, in order to accredit its innovative, responsible and even virtuous image.
UN'EUROPA A 12...STELLETTE? NO, GRAZIE!, 2024
This essay, starting from the purpose of the MIR Italia campaign to relaunch conscientious object... more This essay, starting from the purpose of the MIR Italia campaign to relaunch conscientious objection in Italy, explores the current situation in Italy and Europe. The various legislative proposals that would like to restore compulsory military service, in fact, are a worrying symptom of a growing and widespread warmongering militarism. Therefore, creating an awareness of the objection, today, is the best way to make young people more aware, responsible and active against all wars.
PER UNA DIALETTICA SUI DIALETTI, 2024
Tutelare le lingue locali, ma senza metterle…sotto tutela Ermete Ferraro * KEY WORDS: Sociolingu... more Tutelare le lingue locali, ma senza metterle…sotto tutela Ermete Ferraro *
KEY WORDS: Sociolinguistica-Ecolinguistica-Dialettologia-Lingue regionali-Napolitano
ABSTRACT: This essay collects the 'theses' that emerged from the contributions published by the Scientific Committee set up by the Campania Region to 'safeguard and valorise' its linguistic heritage, with particular reference to the Neapolitan language. Of these, the tendency to limit itself to a simple 'protection' of dialectal traditions and usages, making them the object of ethnographic and philological studies rather than real valorisation, is underlined. In the name of defending the national language, in fact, local dialects are only recognised as having an expressive and familiar function, doubting instead the practical usefulness of their orthographic regulation. In addition to the persistent accusation against the 'disseminators' of local languages of attacking national unity in order to assert inexistent 'regional languages' for political purposes, there is also the accusation against the Net, which is allegedly the source of dangerous media disinformation, which is countered by the authority of academic studies. The author's reply is based on a sociolinguistic and ecolinguistic approach, hence the call for the dissemination of teaching experiences in schools of the various languages in which the Italian cultural tradition is rich.
Social Policy & Administration, Apr 1, 2003
This paper-inspired by the experience of grassroots social work in Naples begun by M. Borrelli in... more This paper-inspired by the experience of grassroots social work in Naples begun by M. Borrelli in the s-emphasizes that "consciousness-raising" and "community development" can be useful processes to stimulate responsible social participation on the part of the most marginal individuals and groups. To overcome a bureaucratic and pietistic model of the welfare state which serves in the long run to increase their dependence and socio-cultural subordination, there is a need for alternative social policies, capable of improving people's empowerment and social citizenship. Giving more resources and decision-making power to the most marginal could amount to changing an unfair and oppressive society from the roots up. This goal remains a moral imperative for both professional and voluntary social workers who believe in a fair, non-violent and ecological model of development. Unfortunately, in Italy as elsewhere, neo-liberal reforms of welfare states are tending in the opposite direction, partly as a result of out-of-date functionalist theories and by means of a worrying process of welfare marketization and globalization that actually increases the exclusion and marginality of the lower classes. This paper takes issue with current neo-liberal trends by returning to a territory-based and resident-focused image of social work. This way, non-profit agencies can play a more active and stimulating role in support of communitarian networks and help avoid the risk of the Third Sector's alternative spur being compromised by the otherwise "commodification" of welfare. Only in this way might one stop the transformation of non-profit organizations into mere private providers for a buyer/controller state, more businessminded than really concerned with freeing the poor and the marginal "underclass" from subordination and exclusion.
GUERRA E PACE A NAPOLI, 2023
This essay deals with how the cultural tradition of the people of Naples has treated the theme of... more This essay deals with how the cultural tradition of the people of Naples has treated the theme of war and peace. My research has examined numerous Neapolitan proverbs and also some literary references, such as the poems of Viviani and the theatre of Eduardo De Filippo. A rather fatalistic and resigned vision of the tragedy of oppression and war emerges, but sometimes also a more ethical approach, which calls for opposition to violence and oppression without resorting to more violence and for active and constructive peace.
La guerra minaccia il mare, 2023
Dici "mare" e pensi ad un Mediterraneo sempre più caldo e inquinato, ma anche alla tragedia dei m... more Dici "mare" e pensi ad un Mediterraneo sempre più caldo e inquinato, ma anche alla tragedia dei migranti che cercano una vita migliore attraversandolo su barconi che spesso diventano delle bare. Dici "mare" e rifletti su una preziosa fonte di ossigeno e di biodiversità, compromessa dall'impronta ecologica di uno sviluppo selvaggio, energivoro e sempre più insostenibile.
Comunicare ecologicamente e senza violenza: quattro passi verso l'educazione linguistica ecopacifista, 2022
In this essay (included in the six-monthly digital magazine "LinguaInAzione" 1-2/2022, Ornimi ed.... more In this essay (included in the six-monthly digital magazine "LinguaInAzione" 1-2/2022, Ornimi ed., pp. 70-76) I started from the recovery of the formative value of a democratic language education. The second step was that of a proposal for nonviolent language education, which I then opened to an ecolinguistic perspective. The next step was to hypothesize the modalities of a linguistic education with an 'eco-pacifist' character.
VERBI VIOLENTI TROPPO FREQUENTI..., 2023
This essay etymologically examines 22 of the most frequent Italian verbs considered as 'fundament... more This essay etymologically examines 22 of the most frequent Italian verbs considered as 'fundamental' and preceded by prefixes, to highlight their hostile, violent and bellicose nature.
Un vocabolario di base fondamentalmente violento?, 2023
An ecopacifist essay on the basic vocabulary of the Italian language and on the recurrence in it ... more An ecopacifist essay on the basic vocabulary of the Italian language and on the recurrence in it of words that refer to the semantic fields of violence/war, environment/ecology and peace/nonviolence.
Una battaglia ecopacifista …a propulsione antinucleare, 2023
Una battaglia ecopacifista …a propulsione antinucleare - Oltre 25 anni di mobilitazioni nonviole... more Una battaglia ecopacifista …a propulsione antinucleare - Oltre 25 anni di mobilitazioni nonviolente per difendere la sicurezza dei cittadini e per denuclearizzare il mare di Napoli - di Ermete Ferraro (*)
Lingue regionali: liberate ma…sotto tutela, 2022
Critical notes in relation to a meeting of linguists that was held in Naples to affirm-at least t... more Critical notes in relation to a meeting of linguists that was held in Naples to affirm-at least theoretically-the importance of safeguarding and enhancing local languages and dialects. This meeting, however, appeared only an exchange between 'experts', without opening a dialogue with the basic work that has been done by those who have been teaching local languages for decades, to restore their dignity and to correct their lexical deformations, also in grammar and writing. The tendency of part of the academic world to delimit such activities, establishing what is right or wrong, seems to want to put them under protection to neutralize any socio-political connotation, in the name of a linguistics theoretically neutral and objective, but that does not help some linguistic expressions to get out of their cultural marginality.
Social Policy and Administration, 2003
This paper-inspired by the experience of grassroots social work in Naples begun by M. Borrelli in... more This paper-inspired by the experience of grassroots social work in Naples begun by M. Borrelli in the s-emphasizes that "consciousness-raising" and "community development" can be useful processes to stimulate responsible social participation on the part of the most marginal individuals and groups. To overcome a bureaucratic and pietistic model of the welfare state which serves in the long run to increase their dependence and socio-cultural subordination, there is a need for alternative social policies, capable of improving people's empowerment and social citizenship. Giving more resources and decision-making power to the most marginal could amount to changing an unfair and oppressive society from the roots up. This goal remains a moral imperative for both professional and voluntary social workers who believe in a fair, non-violent and ecological model of development. Unfortunately, in Italy as elsewhere, neo-liberal reforms of welfare states are tending in the opposite direction, partly as a result of out-of-date functionalist theories and by means of a worrying process of welfare marketization and globalization that actually increases the exclusion and marginality of the lower classes. This paper takes issue with current neo-liberal trends by returning to a territory-based and resident-focused image of social work. This way, non-profit agencies can play a more active and stimulating role in support of communitarian networks and help avoid the risk of the Third Sector's alternative spur being compromised by the otherwise "commodification" of welfare. Only in this way might one stop the transformation of non-profit organizations into mere private providers for a buyer/controller state, more businessminded than really concerned with freeing the poor and the marginal "underclass" from subordination and exclusion.
CAMALEONTI CON LE STELLETTE, 2022
Abstract: In the first part of the article, I highlight the difficult and contradictory relations... more Abstract: In the first part of the article, I highlight the difficult and contradictory relationship between the military system and a territory that it is supposed to 'defend' but which it largely contributes to polluting and devastating. To this end, I take up my analyses over the last decade on the militarization of the Campania region and on the environmentalist 'camouflage' of the armed forces. In the second part, I retrace the last twenty years of contrast between a growing awareness of the harmful role of the military for ecological balances and a widespread narrative about their alleged function of 'defending' the environment, credited through a superficial but progressive greenwashing of their institutional activities. Finally, the third part of the article is specifically dedicated to an ecopacifist approach, for which the echolinguistic analysis of the military's environmental 'discourse' is very important, in order to demystify its transformism and denounce its instrumentality.
Keywords: ecopacifism, ecolinguistics, critical discourse analysis, communication
A ROTTA DI... PROTOCOLLO, 2022
Analisi ecolinguistica di un accordo tra il Comune di Giugliano (NA) e il Comando Sud dell'Eserci... more Analisi ecolinguistica di un accordo tra il Comune di Giugliano (NA) e il Comando Sud dell'Esercito Italiano per fare educazione ambientale nelle scuole
ECOSOCIALISMI, 2021
In this essay, taking up a theme already treated and linking it to the discourse focused on the p... more In this essay, taking up a theme already treated and linking it to the discourse focused on the proposal of an ecopacifist project, I briefly retraced the stages of development and the trends of another still little known political category: ecosocialism.
Recalling various authors who, over the course of fifty years, have contributed to making this proposal concrete - from Naess to Bookchin, from Moore to Löwy - I have also pointed out the relationship of neo-marxist ecosocialism with different currents of thought, in particular with the Gandhi's nonviolent political ethics, the thrust given by the global movement of the Greens, Latouche's proposal of an 'happy degrowth', but also the remarkable eco-social commitment of the Church of Pope Francis.
The way forward, in my opinion, is therefore a joint commitment to spread and support an ecosocialist and ecopacifist path. In fact, it is necessary to unite different theories and practices in a common effort to overcome the capitalist development model and its harmful consequences on the economic and social, but also on the environmental and military level.
Social Policy and Administration, 2003
This paper-inspired by the experience of grassroots social work in Naples begun by M. Borrelli in... more This paper-inspired by the experience of grassroots social work in Naples begun by M. Borrelli in the s-emphasizes that "consciousness-raising" and "community development" can be useful processes to stimulate responsible social participation on the part of the most marginal individuals and groups. To overcome a bureaucratic and pietistic model of the welfare state which serves in the long run to increase their dependence and socio-cultural subordination, there is a need for alternative social policies, capable of improving people's empowerment and social citizenship. Giving more resources and decision-making power to the most marginal could amount to changing an unfair and oppressive society from the roots up. This goal remains a moral imperative for both professional and voluntary social workers who believe in a fair, non-violent and ecological model of development. Unfortunately, in Italy as elsewhere, neo-liberal reforms of welfare states are tending in the opposite direction, partly as a result of out-of-date functionalist theories and by means of a worrying process of welfare marketization and globalization that actually increases the exclusion and marginality of the lower classes. This paper takes issue with current neo-liberal trends by returning to a territory-based and resident-focused image of social work. This way, non-profit agencies can play a more active and stimulating role in support of communitarian networks and help avoid the risk of the Third Sector's alternative spur being compromised by the otherwise "commodification" of welfare. Only in this way might one stop the transformation of non-profit organizations into mere private providers for a buyer/controller state, more businessminded than really concerned with freeing the poor and the marginal "underclass" from subordination and exclusion.
https://ermetespeacebook.blog/2020/12/30/ecolinguistica-un-campo-inesplorato-da-coltivare/, 2020
In questo articolo si introducono fini e modalità dell'ecolinguistica, approccio interdisciplinar... more In questo articolo si introducono fini e modalità dell'ecolinguistica, approccio interdisciplinare al rapporto tra linguaggio ed ambiente. Approfondirlo è importante per liberarci da meccanismi culturali inconsci che influenzano le nostre scelte anche in campo ambientale. Quando i principi ecologici sono applicati all'analisi dei fenomeni sociolinguistici, rientriamo maggiormente nell'ambito dell'ecologia del linguaggio, che si occupa della salvaguardia della diversità linguistica e dei rischi cui va incontro una società caratterizzata dall'omologazione linguistica. L'ecolinguistica classifica e valuta come e quanto narrazioni antropocentriche ed utilitaristiche contribuiscano a danneggiare gli ecosistemi. Il perseguimento della 'sostenibilità linguistica' va affrontato evitando che la sola 'tutela' legislativa ed altre forme di protezionismo istituzionale finiscano col marginalizzare espressioni linguistiche locali. Una prospettiva nuova, proposta dall'articolo, è l'interazione della ecolinguistica anche con l'ecopacifismo, considerando che la violenza che saccheggia e devasta l'ambiente è l'altra faccia di quella che protegge i privilegi economico-politici per mezzo del complesso militare-industriale. Un'ultima nota originale è il richiamo al collegamento auspicabile tra ecolinguistica ed irenolinguistica, con finalità di educazione ad una modalità alternativa di comunicazione, ecologica e nonviolenta al tempo stesso.
IL MILITARISMO ETERNO, 2020
Alla ricerca dell'Ur-Fascismo… Non vorrei che si equivocasse su ciò che sto per scrivere. Nonosta... more Alla ricerca dell'Ur-Fascismo… Non vorrei che si equivocasse su ciò che sto per scrivere. Nonostante la mia lunga esperienza di pacifista ed antimilitarista, non voglio sostenere la tesi che la natura della struttura militare sia intrinsecamente fascista, ma soffermarmi su alcune considerazioni suggeritemi dalla lettura dell'opuscolo di Umberto Eco su "Il fascismo eterno". i All'inizio egli racconta che, da ragazzo, aveva "imparato che la libertà di parola significa libertà dalla retorica" ii , per cui eviterò di cadere in questo vizio, limitandomi a confrontare le tesi di questo libello con quanto storia ed esperienza ci hanno insegnato sul militarismo. Quando il giovane Umberto apprese dalla folla festante che la guerra era finita, la sua prima reazione fu quasi di sconcerto: "La pace mi diede una sensazione curiosa. Mi era stato detto che la guerra permanente era la condizione normale per un giovane italiano…" iii. Ecco un primo elemento di riflessione. La guerra come 'normalità', come elemento imprescindibile della storia umana, è uno dei miti che hanno alimentato per secoli la retorica nazionalista della 'nazione in armi', disposta a sacrificare la 'meglio gioventù' sull'altare del culto della bellicosità come virtù. L'analisi di Eco si sofferma sui confini tra il fascismo italiano ed altre forme di totalitarismo, per evitare semplificazioni e generalizzazioni che non aiutano a capirne la specificità, ad esempio, rispetto al nazismo, col quale pur ha sempre condiviso proprio la "liturgia militare". "Il fascismo non era una ideologia monolitica, ma piuttosto un collage di diverse idee politiche e filosofiche, un alveare di contraddizioni […] L'immagine incoerente che ho descritto […] era un esempio di sgangheratezza politica ed ideologica. Ma era una 'sgangheratezza ordinata', una confusione strutturata. Il fascismo era filosoficamente scardinato, ma dal punto di vista emotivo era fermamente incernierato ad alcuni archetipi…" iv Lo studioso è quindi andato alla ricerca di tali elementi fondanti, per enucleare e poi fissare le caratteristiche tipiche e strutturali di ciò che ha chiamato alla tedesca Ur-Fascismo, o 'fascismo eterno', mappandone una sorta di DNA. Ebbene, ritengo che alcuni di questi suoi 'archetipi' riguardino anche il militarismo ed i suoi 'valori', sebbene di recente purgati dagli aspetti più retorici e stridenti con l'assetto democratico. L'Italia non è un paese dichiaratamente militarista, ma bisogna prendere coscienza che alcuni di questi elementi autoritari, in forme certamente più subdole, non sono mai scomparsi del tutto. Dobbiamo farlo prima che sia troppo tardi per riconoscerli e per contrastarli.
UN MILITARISMO...FUTURISTA?, 2024
This short essay tries to apply to the recent text of Gen. C. Masiello - Chief of staff of the It... more This short essay tries to apply to the recent text of Gen. C. Masiello - Chief of staff of the Italian Army - a methodology of critical analysis based on pragmatic linguistics, revealing its logical structure and thus underlining its ideological approach. Highlighting some key words of the speech, in fact, the intention emerges to break the linguistic taboos on the real function of the armed forces - leaving the hypocritical attempt of politics to 'civilize' their tasks - conversely explaining their strictly war&military mission and their conversion in an efficient and multi-factor way.
IL CAMALEONTICO AMBIENTALISMO DEI MILITARI, 2024
This new eco-linguistic investigation into the pseudo-ecological lexical code of an Italian Army ... more This new eco-linguistic investigation into the pseudo-ecological lexical code of an Italian Army policy document is intended to demystify the increasingly frequent greenwashing operations of the military-industrial complex, in order to accredit its innovative, responsible and even virtuous image.
UN'EUROPA A 12...STELLETTE? NO, GRAZIE!, 2024
This essay, starting from the purpose of the MIR Italia campaign to relaunch conscientious object... more This essay, starting from the purpose of the MIR Italia campaign to relaunch conscientious objection in Italy, explores the current situation in Italy and Europe. The various legislative proposals that would like to restore compulsory military service, in fact, are a worrying symptom of a growing and widespread warmongering militarism. Therefore, creating an awareness of the objection, today, is the best way to make young people more aware, responsible and active against all wars.
PER UNA DIALETTICA SUI DIALETTI, 2024
Tutelare le lingue locali, ma senza metterle…sotto tutela Ermete Ferraro * KEY WORDS: Sociolingu... more Tutelare le lingue locali, ma senza metterle…sotto tutela Ermete Ferraro *
KEY WORDS: Sociolinguistica-Ecolinguistica-Dialettologia-Lingue regionali-Napolitano
ABSTRACT: This essay collects the 'theses' that emerged from the contributions published by the Scientific Committee set up by the Campania Region to 'safeguard and valorise' its linguistic heritage, with particular reference to the Neapolitan language. Of these, the tendency to limit itself to a simple 'protection' of dialectal traditions and usages, making them the object of ethnographic and philological studies rather than real valorisation, is underlined. In the name of defending the national language, in fact, local dialects are only recognised as having an expressive and familiar function, doubting instead the practical usefulness of their orthographic regulation. In addition to the persistent accusation against the 'disseminators' of local languages of attacking national unity in order to assert inexistent 'regional languages' for political purposes, there is also the accusation against the Net, which is allegedly the source of dangerous media disinformation, which is countered by the authority of academic studies. The author's reply is based on a sociolinguistic and ecolinguistic approach, hence the call for the dissemination of teaching experiences in schools of the various languages in which the Italian cultural tradition is rich.
Social Policy & Administration, Apr 1, 2003
This paper-inspired by the experience of grassroots social work in Naples begun by M. Borrelli in... more This paper-inspired by the experience of grassroots social work in Naples begun by M. Borrelli in the s-emphasizes that "consciousness-raising" and "community development" can be useful processes to stimulate responsible social participation on the part of the most marginal individuals and groups. To overcome a bureaucratic and pietistic model of the welfare state which serves in the long run to increase their dependence and socio-cultural subordination, there is a need for alternative social policies, capable of improving people's empowerment and social citizenship. Giving more resources and decision-making power to the most marginal could amount to changing an unfair and oppressive society from the roots up. This goal remains a moral imperative for both professional and voluntary social workers who believe in a fair, non-violent and ecological model of development. Unfortunately, in Italy as elsewhere, neo-liberal reforms of welfare states are tending in the opposite direction, partly as a result of out-of-date functionalist theories and by means of a worrying process of welfare marketization and globalization that actually increases the exclusion and marginality of the lower classes. This paper takes issue with current neo-liberal trends by returning to a territory-based and resident-focused image of social work. This way, non-profit agencies can play a more active and stimulating role in support of communitarian networks and help avoid the risk of the Third Sector's alternative spur being compromised by the otherwise "commodification" of welfare. Only in this way might one stop the transformation of non-profit organizations into mere private providers for a buyer/controller state, more businessminded than really concerned with freeing the poor and the marginal "underclass" from subordination and exclusion.
GUERRA E PACE A NAPOLI, 2023
This essay deals with how the cultural tradition of the people of Naples has treated the theme of... more This essay deals with how the cultural tradition of the people of Naples has treated the theme of war and peace. My research has examined numerous Neapolitan proverbs and also some literary references, such as the poems of Viviani and the theatre of Eduardo De Filippo. A rather fatalistic and resigned vision of the tragedy of oppression and war emerges, but sometimes also a more ethical approach, which calls for opposition to violence and oppression without resorting to more violence and for active and constructive peace.
La guerra minaccia il mare, 2023
Dici "mare" e pensi ad un Mediterraneo sempre più caldo e inquinato, ma anche alla tragedia dei m... more Dici "mare" e pensi ad un Mediterraneo sempre più caldo e inquinato, ma anche alla tragedia dei migranti che cercano una vita migliore attraversandolo su barconi che spesso diventano delle bare. Dici "mare" e rifletti su una preziosa fonte di ossigeno e di biodiversità, compromessa dall'impronta ecologica di uno sviluppo selvaggio, energivoro e sempre più insostenibile.
Comunicare ecologicamente e senza violenza: quattro passi verso l'educazione linguistica ecopacifista, 2022
In this essay (included in the six-monthly digital magazine "LinguaInAzione" 1-2/2022, Ornimi ed.... more In this essay (included in the six-monthly digital magazine "LinguaInAzione" 1-2/2022, Ornimi ed., pp. 70-76) I started from the recovery of the formative value of a democratic language education. The second step was that of a proposal for nonviolent language education, which I then opened to an ecolinguistic perspective. The next step was to hypothesize the modalities of a linguistic education with an 'eco-pacifist' character.
VERBI VIOLENTI TROPPO FREQUENTI..., 2023
This essay etymologically examines 22 of the most frequent Italian verbs considered as 'fundament... more This essay etymologically examines 22 of the most frequent Italian verbs considered as 'fundamental' and preceded by prefixes, to highlight their hostile, violent and bellicose nature.
Un vocabolario di base fondamentalmente violento?, 2023
An ecopacifist essay on the basic vocabulary of the Italian language and on the recurrence in it ... more An ecopacifist essay on the basic vocabulary of the Italian language and on the recurrence in it of words that refer to the semantic fields of violence/war, environment/ecology and peace/nonviolence.
Una battaglia ecopacifista …a propulsione antinucleare, 2023
Una battaglia ecopacifista …a propulsione antinucleare - Oltre 25 anni di mobilitazioni nonviole... more Una battaglia ecopacifista …a propulsione antinucleare - Oltre 25 anni di mobilitazioni nonviolente per difendere la sicurezza dei cittadini e per denuclearizzare il mare di Napoli - di Ermete Ferraro (*)
Lingue regionali: liberate ma…sotto tutela, 2022
Critical notes in relation to a meeting of linguists that was held in Naples to affirm-at least t... more Critical notes in relation to a meeting of linguists that was held in Naples to affirm-at least theoretically-the importance of safeguarding and enhancing local languages and dialects. This meeting, however, appeared only an exchange between 'experts', without opening a dialogue with the basic work that has been done by those who have been teaching local languages for decades, to restore their dignity and to correct their lexical deformations, also in grammar and writing. The tendency of part of the academic world to delimit such activities, establishing what is right or wrong, seems to want to put them under protection to neutralize any socio-political connotation, in the name of a linguistics theoretically neutral and objective, but that does not help some linguistic expressions to get out of their cultural marginality.
Social Policy and Administration, 2003
This paper-inspired by the experience of grassroots social work in Naples begun by M. Borrelli in... more This paper-inspired by the experience of grassroots social work in Naples begun by M. Borrelli in the s-emphasizes that "consciousness-raising" and "community development" can be useful processes to stimulate responsible social participation on the part of the most marginal individuals and groups. To overcome a bureaucratic and pietistic model of the welfare state which serves in the long run to increase their dependence and socio-cultural subordination, there is a need for alternative social policies, capable of improving people's empowerment and social citizenship. Giving more resources and decision-making power to the most marginal could amount to changing an unfair and oppressive society from the roots up. This goal remains a moral imperative for both professional and voluntary social workers who believe in a fair, non-violent and ecological model of development. Unfortunately, in Italy as elsewhere, neo-liberal reforms of welfare states are tending in the opposite direction, partly as a result of out-of-date functionalist theories and by means of a worrying process of welfare marketization and globalization that actually increases the exclusion and marginality of the lower classes. This paper takes issue with current neo-liberal trends by returning to a territory-based and resident-focused image of social work. This way, non-profit agencies can play a more active and stimulating role in support of communitarian networks and help avoid the risk of the Third Sector's alternative spur being compromised by the otherwise "commodification" of welfare. Only in this way might one stop the transformation of non-profit organizations into mere private providers for a buyer/controller state, more businessminded than really concerned with freeing the poor and the marginal "underclass" from subordination and exclusion.
CAMALEONTI CON LE STELLETTE, 2022
Abstract: In the first part of the article, I highlight the difficult and contradictory relations... more Abstract: In the first part of the article, I highlight the difficult and contradictory relationship between the military system and a territory that it is supposed to 'defend' but which it largely contributes to polluting and devastating. To this end, I take up my analyses over the last decade on the militarization of the Campania region and on the environmentalist 'camouflage' of the armed forces. In the second part, I retrace the last twenty years of contrast between a growing awareness of the harmful role of the military for ecological balances and a widespread narrative about their alleged function of 'defending' the environment, credited through a superficial but progressive greenwashing of their institutional activities. Finally, the third part of the article is specifically dedicated to an ecopacifist approach, for which the echolinguistic analysis of the military's environmental 'discourse' is very important, in order to demystify its transformism and denounce its instrumentality.
Keywords: ecopacifism, ecolinguistics, critical discourse analysis, communication
A ROTTA DI... PROTOCOLLO, 2022
Analisi ecolinguistica di un accordo tra il Comune di Giugliano (NA) e il Comando Sud dell'Eserci... more Analisi ecolinguistica di un accordo tra il Comune di Giugliano (NA) e il Comando Sud dell'Esercito Italiano per fare educazione ambientale nelle scuole
ECOSOCIALISMI, 2021
In this essay, taking up a theme already treated and linking it to the discourse focused on the p... more In this essay, taking up a theme already treated and linking it to the discourse focused on the proposal of an ecopacifist project, I briefly retraced the stages of development and the trends of another still little known political category: ecosocialism.
Recalling various authors who, over the course of fifty years, have contributed to making this proposal concrete - from Naess to Bookchin, from Moore to Löwy - I have also pointed out the relationship of neo-marxist ecosocialism with different currents of thought, in particular with the Gandhi's nonviolent political ethics, the thrust given by the global movement of the Greens, Latouche's proposal of an 'happy degrowth', but also the remarkable eco-social commitment of the Church of Pope Francis.
The way forward, in my opinion, is therefore a joint commitment to spread and support an ecosocialist and ecopacifist path. In fact, it is necessary to unite different theories and practices in a common effort to overcome the capitalist development model and its harmful consequences on the economic and social, but also on the environmental and military level.
Social Policy and Administration, 2003
This paper-inspired by the experience of grassroots social work in Naples begun by M. Borrelli in... more This paper-inspired by the experience of grassroots social work in Naples begun by M. Borrelli in the s-emphasizes that "consciousness-raising" and "community development" can be useful processes to stimulate responsible social participation on the part of the most marginal individuals and groups. To overcome a bureaucratic and pietistic model of the welfare state which serves in the long run to increase their dependence and socio-cultural subordination, there is a need for alternative social policies, capable of improving people's empowerment and social citizenship. Giving more resources and decision-making power to the most marginal could amount to changing an unfair and oppressive society from the roots up. This goal remains a moral imperative for both professional and voluntary social workers who believe in a fair, non-violent and ecological model of development. Unfortunately, in Italy as elsewhere, neo-liberal reforms of welfare states are tending in the opposite direction, partly as a result of out-of-date functionalist theories and by means of a worrying process of welfare marketization and globalization that actually increases the exclusion and marginality of the lower classes. This paper takes issue with current neo-liberal trends by returning to a territory-based and resident-focused image of social work. This way, non-profit agencies can play a more active and stimulating role in support of communitarian networks and help avoid the risk of the Third Sector's alternative spur being compromised by the otherwise "commodification" of welfare. Only in this way might one stop the transformation of non-profit organizations into mere private providers for a buyer/controller state, more businessminded than really concerned with freeing the poor and the marginal "underclass" from subordination and exclusion.
https://ermetespeacebook.blog/2020/12/30/ecolinguistica-un-campo-inesplorato-da-coltivare/, 2020
In questo articolo si introducono fini e modalità dell'ecolinguistica, approccio interdisciplinar... more In questo articolo si introducono fini e modalità dell'ecolinguistica, approccio interdisciplinare al rapporto tra linguaggio ed ambiente. Approfondirlo è importante per liberarci da meccanismi culturali inconsci che influenzano le nostre scelte anche in campo ambientale. Quando i principi ecologici sono applicati all'analisi dei fenomeni sociolinguistici, rientriamo maggiormente nell'ambito dell'ecologia del linguaggio, che si occupa della salvaguardia della diversità linguistica e dei rischi cui va incontro una società caratterizzata dall'omologazione linguistica. L'ecolinguistica classifica e valuta come e quanto narrazioni antropocentriche ed utilitaristiche contribuiscano a danneggiare gli ecosistemi. Il perseguimento della 'sostenibilità linguistica' va affrontato evitando che la sola 'tutela' legislativa ed altre forme di protezionismo istituzionale finiscano col marginalizzare espressioni linguistiche locali. Una prospettiva nuova, proposta dall'articolo, è l'interazione della ecolinguistica anche con l'ecopacifismo, considerando che la violenza che saccheggia e devasta l'ambiente è l'altra faccia di quella che protegge i privilegi economico-politici per mezzo del complesso militare-industriale. Un'ultima nota originale è il richiamo al collegamento auspicabile tra ecolinguistica ed irenolinguistica, con finalità di educazione ad una modalità alternativa di comunicazione, ecologica e nonviolenta al tempo stesso.
IL MILITARISMO ETERNO, 2020
Alla ricerca dell'Ur-Fascismo… Non vorrei che si equivocasse su ciò che sto per scrivere. Nonosta... more Alla ricerca dell'Ur-Fascismo… Non vorrei che si equivocasse su ciò che sto per scrivere. Nonostante la mia lunga esperienza di pacifista ed antimilitarista, non voglio sostenere la tesi che la natura della struttura militare sia intrinsecamente fascista, ma soffermarmi su alcune considerazioni suggeritemi dalla lettura dell'opuscolo di Umberto Eco su "Il fascismo eterno". i All'inizio egli racconta che, da ragazzo, aveva "imparato che la libertà di parola significa libertà dalla retorica" ii , per cui eviterò di cadere in questo vizio, limitandomi a confrontare le tesi di questo libello con quanto storia ed esperienza ci hanno insegnato sul militarismo. Quando il giovane Umberto apprese dalla folla festante che la guerra era finita, la sua prima reazione fu quasi di sconcerto: "La pace mi diede una sensazione curiosa. Mi era stato detto che la guerra permanente era la condizione normale per un giovane italiano…" iii. Ecco un primo elemento di riflessione. La guerra come 'normalità', come elemento imprescindibile della storia umana, è uno dei miti che hanno alimentato per secoli la retorica nazionalista della 'nazione in armi', disposta a sacrificare la 'meglio gioventù' sull'altare del culto della bellicosità come virtù. L'analisi di Eco si sofferma sui confini tra il fascismo italiano ed altre forme di totalitarismo, per evitare semplificazioni e generalizzazioni che non aiutano a capirne la specificità, ad esempio, rispetto al nazismo, col quale pur ha sempre condiviso proprio la "liturgia militare". "Il fascismo non era una ideologia monolitica, ma piuttosto un collage di diverse idee politiche e filosofiche, un alveare di contraddizioni […] L'immagine incoerente che ho descritto […] era un esempio di sgangheratezza politica ed ideologica. Ma era una 'sgangheratezza ordinata', una confusione strutturata. Il fascismo era filosoficamente scardinato, ma dal punto di vista emotivo era fermamente incernierato ad alcuni archetipi…" iv Lo studioso è quindi andato alla ricerca di tali elementi fondanti, per enucleare e poi fissare le caratteristiche tipiche e strutturali di ciò che ha chiamato alla tedesca Ur-Fascismo, o 'fascismo eterno', mappandone una sorta di DNA. Ebbene, ritengo che alcuni di questi suoi 'archetipi' riguardino anche il militarismo ed i suoi 'valori', sebbene di recente purgati dagli aspetti più retorici e stridenti con l'assetto democratico. L'Italia non è un paese dichiaratamente militarista, ma bisogna prendere coscienza che alcuni di questi elementi autoritari, in forme certamente più subdole, non sono mai scomparsi del tutto. Dobbiamo farlo prima che sia troppo tardi per riconoscerli e per contrastarli.
"Una grammatica della pace per comunicare autenticamente e senza violenza", in: Raffaello Saffioti, Piccoli Comuni fanno grandi cose, Pisa, Centro Gandhi Edizioni (pp. 187-198), 2018
Un corso di formazione-aggiornamento per docenti sull'educazione alla pace è un'occasione prezios... more Un corso di formazione-aggiornamento per docenti sull'educazione alla pace è un'occasione preziosa per riflettere su contenuti e metodi di un approccio educativo ispirato ai valori della nonviolenza, ma consente anche di entrare nel merito di una didattica alternativa a quella che ci viene proposta in modo perentorio da un'istituzione scolastica sempre più improntata alla logica aziendalista dell'efficienza e del merito. Il nostro intervento, previsto in apertura del Corso promosso dal Comune di Monteleone di Puglia, in collaborazione col Centro Gandhi onlus di Pisa, il XXVII C.D. di Bari-Palese ed il progetto UNESCO dell'I.C. di Accadia Anzano Monteleone e Sant'Agata, ha cercato di portare un contributo di idee e di esperienze su un terreno fondamentale per qualsiasi attività formativa. La comunicazione, infatti, è al tempo stesso il medium del processo educativo ed il suo contenuto più basilare. Parlare di pace richiede di per sé quindi non solo una chiara individuazione dei temi e problemi connessi ad un approccio nonviolento ai conflitti, ma implica una modalità comunicativa adeguata, cioè coerente con questa finalità e pertanto dialogica e costruttiva. Dopo una premessa sul significato di una autentica educazione alla e per la pace (chiarendone obiettivi e competenze basilari) il nostro contributo si è articolato in due momenti. Il primo-agevolato da una presentazione in PowerPoint-ha provato a sintetizzare una proposta educativa che utilizzasse tre possibili approcci metodologici alla comunicazione senza violenza, illustrandone le specificità ma individuando anche gli elementi in comune e, quindi, la possibilità di avvalersi congiuntamente di essi nel proprio percorso didattico. Un percorso che, ovviamente, riguarda in primo luogo gli insegnanti di materie letterarie, senza però escludere i docenti di altre discipline, nella misura in cui qualsiasi proposta didattica è fondata sulla relazione con i discenti e si avvale comunque di una comunicazione linguistica, verbale e non verbale. La seconda fase è stata quella del confronto con i corsisti, rispondendo ai loro quesiti e dubbi ed approfondendo alcuni aspetti della proposta, a partire dalla creazione nel gruppo-classe di un clima interattivo sul piano logico e dialogico ed empatico su quello relazionale. 2. Educare alla pace: 5 obiettivi, 7 competenze e 6 percorsi Con l'espressione educazione alla/per la pace (peace education) indichiamo un processo formativo incentrato sull'analisi dei conflitti e la ricerca, sperimentazione e divulgazione delle modalità teoriche ed operative per risolverli in modo costruttivo e nonviolento. 1 • L'educazione per la pace è orientata agli esiti del processo formativo, ossia alla realizzazione di comportamenti individuali e di gruppo che consentano un progressivo superamento della violenza nei rapporti, dal micro al macro livello. • L'educazione alla pace si occupa in primo luogo della formazione ad una cultura pacifica alternativa, intesa come un insieme coerente di conoscenze e tecniche specifiche e come repertorio di tematiche e spunti per un lavoro educativo che si proponga il superamento della distruttività dei conflitti. 7
La resistenza civile funziona. Da un secolo, 2022
This article is a contribution to the resumption of the debate on alternative defencecivil, popul... more This article is a contribution to the resumption of the debate on alternative defencecivil, popular, unarmed and non-violent-which unfortunately came to a standstill after the law that suspended compulsory military service in Italy, but at the same time nullified years of experience in studies and alternative civil service. At a time when Italy is registering a dangerous turn to the right and the imprint of militarism is being felt in civil society and even in schools, it is not useless to recall that the constitutional legitimacy of unarmed defence has been sanctioned for decades. Never as in this tragic moment, marked by the war in Ukraine and the spread of a bellicose and militarist narrative, is it useful to spread knowledge of historical experiences of civil defence and non-violent resistance, and above all of their real and proven effectiveness. Reviewing Italian and foreign contributions to the formation of an awareness of the need for a real alternative to armed defence, it is therefore proposed to resume action-research in this field, giving the pacifist, anti-militarist and disarmist movement a more valid motivation for its arguments.
La resistenza civile funziona. Da un secolo., 2022
This article is a contribution to the resumption of the debate on alternative defencecivil, popul... more This article is a contribution to the resumption of the debate on alternative defencecivil, popular, unarmed and non-violent-which unfortunately came to a standstill after the law that suspended compulsory military service in Italy, but at the same time nullified years of experience in studies and alternative civil service. At a time when Italy is registering a dangerous turn to the right and the imprint of militarism is being felt in civil society and even in schools, it is not useless to recall that the constitutional legitimacy of unarmed defence has been sanctioned for decades. Never as in this tragic moment, marked by the war in Ukraine and the spread of a bellicose and militarist narrative, is it useful to spread knowledge of historical experiences of civil defence and non-violent resistance, and above all of their real and proven effectiveness. Reviewing Italian and foreign contributions to the formation of an awareness of the need for a real alternative to armed defence, it is therefore proposed to resume action-research in this field, giving the pacifist, anti-militarist and disarmist movement a more valid motivation for its arguments.