At the origins of the political discourse of the 5-Star Movement (M5S): Internet, direct democracy and the “future of the past”

ABSTRACT

The 5-star Movement (Movimento 5 Stelle, M5S) is a political party in Italy operating almost exclusively online. It was officially established as a political movement in 2009, and quickly became the second most important political force in Italy. Unlike traditional political parties, the Movement operates almost exclusively online, without any headquarters and non-digital types of communication (until recently, candidates were forbidden to give interviews on TV or to the press); Beppe Grillo's blog (www.beppegrillo.it), used as an aggregator by early activists, is now the main “spokesperson” of the party; it is not just a tool of communication that replaces traditional party newspapers, but an integral part of the party's life and of its history. This research will first give an overview of the relation between the 5-Star Movement and the World Wide Web, particularly the blog. In second instance, through a deeper analysis of the blog posts from 2008 until the end of 2017, the paper will try to determine what is the main political discourse underlying the M5S on two key “ideological issues”: migration and the European Union, and how the party's positions have evolved over the years.

KEYWORDS:

• 5-Star Movement
• direct democracy
• web democracy
• Internet Archives
• Italian politics
• web parties

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1. Electoral compass for the 2018 Italian general elections, available at cattaneo.org [Accessed 12 March 2018]. The M5S reached 32.66% of votes, well above the traditional political forces of the Democratic Party (18.72%), the Northern League (17.37%) and Forza Italia (14.01%).

2. Bububu.it (2001) “Chi siamo” Available at: https://web.archive.org/web/20011216133126/http://www.beppegrillo.it:80/chisiamo/default.asp (Internet Archive, captured 16 December 2001).

3. Beppegrillo.it (2005) Available at: https://web.archive.org/web/20050130004654/http://www.beppegrillo.it:80/archives/2005/01/il_muro_del_pia.html (Internet Archive, captured 30 January 2005).

4. “What is politics, does anyone still know? Does it still make sense to talk about left and right? Perhaps we should talk about above and below. North and South” translated from Beppegrillo.it (2005) “La politica scomparsa” [Politics disappeared] Available at: https://web.archive.org/web/20050130035037/http://www.beppegrillo.it:80/archives/muro_del_pianto/politica/index.html (Internet Archive, captured 30 January 2005).

5. “The Network is our way out. Politicians [Urbani] are targeting us” translated from Beppegrillo.it (2005) “La rete ci salverà [The net will save us] Available at: https://web.archive.org/web/20050130042239/http://www.beppegrillo.it:80/archives/muro_del_pianto/tecnologiarete/index.html (Internet Archive, captured 30 January 2005).

6. Beppegrillo.it (2006) Available at: https://web.archive.org/web/20060203051844/http://www.beppegrillo.it:80/primarie_dei_cittadini/index.html (Internet Archive, captured 02 March 2006).

7. See for example Beppegrillo.it (2005) Available at https://web.archive.org/web/20050920162915/http://beppegrillo.it:80/ (Internet Archive, captured 20 September 2005)

8. Beppegrillo.it (2006) Available at: https://web.archive.org/web/20060203051844/http://www.beppegrillo.it:80/primarie_dei_cittadini/index.html (Internet Archive, captured 02 March 2006).

9. Beppegrillo.it (2007) Available at: https://web.archive.org/web/20071003221803/http://151.1.253.1/vaffanculoday/ (Internet Archive, captured 3 October 2007).

10. Beppegrillo.it (2008) Available at: https://web.archive.org/web/20081210124629/http://www2.beppegrillo.it:80/listeciviche/ (Internet Archive, captured 10 December 2008).

11. Beppegrillo.it (2007) Available at: https://web.archive.org/web/20071014060346/http://www.beppegrillo.it:80/ (Internet Archive, captured 14 Oct 2007).

12. Beppegrillo.it (2007) Available at: https://web.archive.org/web/20081208160915/http://www2.beppegrillo.it:80/listeciviche//certifica.php (Internet Archive, captured 8 Dec 2008). The lists can be found here: Beppegrillo.it (2009) Available at: https://web.archive.org/web/20090427102300/http://www.beppegrillo.it:80/listeciviche/citta/ (Internet Archive, captured 27 April 2009).

13. Beppegrillo.it (2009) “Comitato di garanzia del PDmenoelle” [The One Party Committee] Available at: https://web.archive.org/web/20090717221101/http://www.beppegrillo.it:80/ (Internet Archive, captured 17 July 2009).

14. Id.

15. The programme is available at: Beppegrillo.it (2009) https://web.archive.org/web/20091122045342/http://www.beppegrillo.it:80/iniziative/movimentocinquestelle/Programma-Movimento-5-Stelle.pdf (Internet Archive, captured 22 November 2009)

16. Beppegrillo.it (2009) Available at: https://web.archive.org/web/20091008105134/http://www.beppegrillo.it:80/iniziative/movimentocinquestelle/index.php (Internet Archive, captured 10 August 2009).

17. Document available at: Beppegrillo.it (2009) Available at: https://web.archive.org/web/20091228213156/http://www.beppegrillo.it:80/iniziative/movimentocinquestelle/Regolamento-Movimento-5-Stelle.pdf (Internet Archive, captured 28 December 2009).

18. Id.

19. Ministry of the Interior (2010) Available at http://elezionistorico.interno.gov.it/index.php?tpel=R&dtel=28/03/2010&tpa=I&tpe=A&lev0=0&levsut0=0&es0=S&ms=N (Accessed 10 February 2017).

20. Beppegrillo.it (2010) Available at: https://web.archive.org/web/20100330174441/http://www.beppegrillo.it:80/2010/03 (Internet Archive, captured 30 March 2010).

21. Beppegrillo.it (2010) “L'inizio di un percorso” [A new direction] Available at: https://web.archive.org/web/20100330174430/http://www.beppegrillo.it:80/ (Internet Archive, captured 30 March 2010).

22. Beppegrillo.it (2010) “Il mercato di Kalkutta” [Kalkutta's market] Available at: https://web.archive.org/web/20100523181753/http://www.beppegrillo.it:80/2010/05/il_mercato_di_k.html (Internet Archive, captured 25 May 2010).

23. “The only ones who don't want Monti are the Italians. In order to force him in, they all merged into One Party […] You can vote for whoever you want, with full freedom, but there winner is always the same, declined in different shades of grey” Adapted and translated from Beppegrillo.it (2012) “Cinquanta Sfumature di Grigio” [50 shades of grey] Available at https://web.archive.org/web/20121218013419/http://www.beppegrillo.it/ (Internet Archive, captured 18 December 2012)

24. Beppegrillo.it (2012) “Parma: hanno vinto I cittadini [Parma: the citizens won] Available at: https://web.archive.org/web/20120525093205/http://www.beppegrillo.it/ (Internet Archive, captured 25 May 2012).

25. See for example “Direttori in mutande” [Editord in their underwear] where Grillo invites his followers to find embarrassing pictures of the editors of the national newspapers “La Repubblica” and “Corriere”. Beppegrillo.it (2012) Available at https://web.archive.org/web/20120713004024/http://www.beppegrillo.it/ (Captured 13 July 2012)

26. See for example “Stalker Politici” [Political Stalkers] where Grillo accuses political parties to ask him for an alliance without understanding that “Beppe Grillo and the MoVimento 5 Stelle have a monogamous relation with the people, and there are loyal to them. Beppegrillo.it (2010) Available at https://web.archive.org/web/20101003200031/http://www.beppegrillo.it/ (Internet Archive, captured 3 October 2010).

27. Beppegrillo.it (2012) Available at: http://www.ilblogdellestelle.it/2012/12/i_risultati_delle_parlamentarie.html (Il Blog delle Stelle Archive, 6 December).

28. Beppegrillo.it (2012) Available at: https://web.archive.org/web/20121217093818/https://www.beppegrillo.it/votazioni/candidati/elenco_circoscrizioni.php (Internet Archive, captured 12 December 2012).

29. Ministry of the Interior. Elezioni Politiche 2013. Available at: http://elezionistorico.interno.gov.it/index.php?tpel=C&dtel=24/02/2013&tpa=I&tpe=A&lev0=0&levsut0=0&es0=S&ms=S (Accessed 18 February 2018).

30. Beppegrillo.it (2012) “I nuovi colonialisti” [The new colonialists] Available at: https://web.archive.org/web/20120727204149/http://www.beppegrillo.it/ (Internet Archive, captured 27 July 2012).

31. For a full list of candidates: Beppegrillo.it (2012) Available at: https://web.archive.org/web/20121217093818/https://www.beppegrillo.it/votazioni/candidati/elenco_circoscrizioni.php (Internet Archive, captured 17 December 2012).

32. Beppegrillo.it (2013) Available at: http://www.ilblogdellestelle.it/2013/02/il_parlamento_d.html (Il Blog delle Stelle Archive, 26 February).

33. The programme is available for download at Beppegrillo.it (2012) https://web.archive.org/web/20121004105255/http://www.beppegrillo.it/iniziative/movimentocinquestelle/Programma-Movimento-5-Stelle.pdf (Internet Archive, captured 4 October 2012).

34. Beppegrillo.it (2013) “Il mercato delle vacche” [Free for all] Available at: https://web.archive.org/web/20130302012512/http://www.beppegrillo.it/ (Internet Archive, capture 2 March 2013).

35. Beppegrillo.it (2013) “Quando uno vale niente” [One equals zero] Available at: https://web.archive.org/web/20130612194923/http://www.beppegrillo.it/ (Internet Archive, captured 12 June 2013).

36. Beppegrillo.it (2013) Available at: http://www.ilblogdellestelle.it/2013/06/voto_espulsione.html (Il Blog delle Stelle Archive, 19 June).

37. See for example the row other Tunisian oil: Beppegrillo.it (2013) Available at: http://www.ilblogdellestelle.it/2013/03/gli_esperti_e_l.html (Il Blog delle Stelle Archive, 1 March).

38. Beppegrillo.it (2016) Available at: http://www.ilblogdellestelle.it/2016/11/il_vaffanculo_dil_vaffanculo_di_trump.html (Il Blog delle Stelle Archive, 9 November).

39. Programme on download at Beppegrillo.it (2014) Available at: https://web.archive.org/web/20140331113216/https://s3-eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/materiali-bg/7punti.pdf (Internet Archive, captured 31 March 2014).

40. Beppegrillo.it (2017) Available at: http://www.ilblogdellestelle.it/2017/01/risposta_alle_domande_frequenti_sul_movimento_5_stelle_in_europa.html (Il Blog delle Stelle Archive, 20 January).

41. Citta di Torino (2016) Risultati Elettorali. Available at http://www.comune.torino.it/elezioni/2016/amministrative/ballottaggio/citta/ (accessed 10 February 2017).

42. Available on Il Blog delle Stelle (2017) https://s3-eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/associazionerousseau/documenti/statuto_MoVimento_2017.pdf (Accessed 10 February 2017).

43. Il Blog delle Stelle (2018) “Risultati Parlamentarie 2018” Available at: https://s3-eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/associazionerousseau/documenti/risultati_parlamentarie.pdf (Accessed 10 February 2017).

44. “The PD is all “do-goody” against the poorest parts of the population who live in direct contacts with the immigrants and with which they have to compete for the few resources available” Adapted and translated from Beppegrillo.it (2010) Available at: http://www.ilblogdellestelle.it/2010/01/gli_spartacus_neri_di_rosarno.html (Il Blog delle Stelle Archive, 8 January).

45. Beppegrillo.it (2014) Available at: https://web.archive.org/web/20140117232759/http://www.beppegrillo.it/2014/01/risultati_della_votazione_sul_reato_di_clandestinita.html (Internet Archive, captured 17 January 2014).

46. “The new decree will allow 150000 units to enter the country. In order to implement this, it is necessary that 150000 Italians, possibly young and highly educated, will leave to make space” Translated from Peppegrillo.it (2011) “I nuovi emigrant” [The new migrants] Available at https://web.archive.org/web/20110125003723/http://www.beppegrillo.it:80/ (Internet Archive, captured 25 January 2011).

47. Beppegrillo.it (2010) Available at: http://www.ilblogdellestelle.it/2010/01/gli_spartacus_neri_di_rosarno.html (Il Blog delle Stelle Archive, 8 January).

48. The flyer for the 2018 general elections showed a clear sea line with the slogan: “Target: zero landing. Italy is not Europe's refugee camp”. Available at: 5stelleCagliari (2015) https://www.cagliari5stelle.it/PNM5S/volantino_Immigrazione.pdf (Accessed 3 March 2018).

49. Beppegrillo.it (2011) Available at: http://www.ilblogdellestelle.it/2011/01/perche_non_dormi_fratello.html (Il Blog delle Stelle Archive, 15 January).

50. See programme for the 2018 elections, available at Il Blog Delle Stelle (2017) http://www.ilblogdellestelle.it/2017/07/il_programmaimmigrazione_del_movimento_5_stelle_obiettivo_sbarchi_zero.html (Accessed 20 February 2018).

51. For example, see the “Conversation between a racist and an anti-racist,” in which a person self-defining as racist lists the emergencies brought about by; while the person self-defining as anti-racist simply refuses to discuss the problems related to migration. In Beppegrillo.it (2015) Available at: http://www.ilblogdellestelle.it/2015/06/conversazione_tra_un_razzista_e_un_non_so.html (Il Blog delle Stelle Archive, 9 June).

52. Beppegrillo.it (2010) “Merkel for President” Available at: https://web.archive.org/web/20100523033658/http://www.beppegrillo.it:80/ (Internet Archive, captured 23 May 2010).

53. Beppegrillo.it (2011) Available at: http://www.ilblogdellestelle.it/2011/08/la_manovra_economica_dei_cittadini.html (Il Blog delle Stelle Archive, 19 August).

54. Beppegrillo.it (2012) Available at http://www.ilblogdellestelle.it/2012/06/i_tedeschi_non.html (Il Blog delle Stelle Archive, 29 June).

55. Beppegrillo.it (2011) Available at: http://www.ilblogdellestelle.it/2011/10/euro_mission_impossible.html (Il Blog delle Stelle Archive, 30 October).

56. Beppegrillo.it (2012) “Com'e cattiva la Merkel” [How evil, Merkel] Available at: https://web.archive.org/web/20120802063813/http://www.beppegrillo.it/ (Internet Archive, captured 2 August 2012).

57. Beppegrillo.it (2013) “Non possiamo morire per Berlino” [We can't die for Berlin] Available at https://web.archive.org/web/20130714201447/http://www.beppegrillo.it:80/ (Internet Archive, accessed 14 August 2013).

58. Beppegrillo.it (2011) Available at: http://www.ilblogdellestelle.it/2011/12/la_dipendente_statale_greca.html (Il Blog delle Stelle Archive, 27 December).

59. Beppegrillo.it (2012) Available at: http://www.ilblogdellestelle.it/2012/03/italia_senza_so.html (Il Blog delle Stelle Archive, 29 March).

60. Beppegrillo.it (2014) “Nigel Farage, la Verita” [Nigel Farage, the truth] Available at https://web.archive.org/web/20140531030643/http://www.beppegrillo.it/ (Internet Archive, captured 31 May 2014).

61. Beppegrillo.it (2017) Available at: http://www.ilblogdellestelle.it/2017/01/il_movimento_5_stelle_in_europa_per_litalia.html (Il Blog delle Stelle Archive, 10 January).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Marta Musso

Marta Musso is a historian and researcher in Digital Humanities. She is currently Teaching Fellow at King's College London (Department of Digital Humanities) and Communication Manager for Archives Portal Europe. She holds a Ph.D. in International Economic History from the University of Cambridge and she was Max Weber Fellow at the European University Institute in 2016/17.

Marzia Maccaferri

Marzia Maccaferri is Associate Lecturer at the Department of Politics, Goldsmiths University of London. She worked at the University of Bologna, the University of Modena, and held visiting research positions at the University of Cambridge and Institute of Historical Research. She holds a Ph.D. in History from the University of Bologna.