From social movements to institutionalization: The Five-star Movement and the high-speed train line in Val di Susa

ABSTRACT

The article is dedicated to the analysis of the events of 2019 concerning the realization of the high-speed railway line linking Turin and Lyon (Treno ad alta velocità, Tav), an infrastructure project that has always been a crucial issue for the Movimento 5 stelle (Five-star Movement, M5s). Given the importance of environmental issues to the M5s, the party has always paid considerable attention to the Tav issue, and it supported the movement against the construction of the railway (the ‘No Tav’ Movement, Mnt). Over time, the M5s became the only political actor at national level willing to champion the ‘No Tav’ cause. Nevertheless, it ended up as part of a government that gave the final go-ahead to the project. The aim of this article is to consider the Tav question as a litmus test of the evolution and transformation of the M5s from a protest movement into a party of government. The first section discusses the relationship between the M5s and the ‘No Tav’ Movement, and the reasons for the proximity between the two. In the second section, we consider the changes that took place within the M5s, when it entered government. In the third section, we trace the most significant events of 2019 concerning the Tav. Finally, we show how the Tav issue has been one of a number of ‘reality tests’ which the Movement has had to face during its time in government, and discuss its relevance for the literature on new parties and populist parties in government.

KEYWORDS:

• Five-star movement
• No Tav
• social movements
• institutionalisation
• Italy

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes

1. ‘Yellow-red’ is the term used in public debate to refer to the second Conte Government, made up of a coalition between the Five-star Movement and the Democratic Party and which took over from the first (so-called ‘yellow-green’) Conte government formed by a coalition of the Five-star Movement and the League following the parliamentary elections of 4 March 2018.

2. As far as the local level is concerned, Lastrico and Piccio (2013), point out that at least until 2009 the 23 local councils in the valley that were the sites of the most vocal protest, were all in the hands of centre-left coalitions, implacably opposed to the Tav. In particular, the parties of the left are divided between the local level, opposed to the Tav, and the national level, which supports it (Maggiolini 2013). In general, there is considerable involvement of local councils in protest actions against the Tav.

3. The narrow victory of the centre-right candidate (by less than 10,000 votes) has been attributed to the role of votes cast for the Movement in bringing about the defeat of the centre left (Bobba and Seddone 2010).

4. On 8 December 2005, a large protest demonstration against the dismantling of the Venaus occupation – where work on geological excavation of the main tunnel was due to begin in accordance with the original plans – led to obstruction of the work and abandonment of the initial project.

5. V-Days were large public gatherings organized by Grillo from 2007.

6. One of the explanations offered for the Movement’s good performance in the South (see Biancalana and Colloca 2019) has to do with the party’s policies. Indeed, ever since its launch, the M5s called for the adoption of a kind of universal basic income, called, significantly, a ‘Citizens’ Income’. The measure, which was, in reality, a type of unemployment subsidy, came into effect in the early months of 2019, was heavily publicized by the party and was one of its flagship policies during its first year in government. Given the less favourable socio-economic conditions of the South (see the reports produced by Svimez), it may be suggested that the M5s is more successful than other parties in spearheading protest against poverty and social exclusion, which are more widespread in the South than in the North (the suggestion being confirmed by the research carried out by Emanuele and Maggini (2019) among others).

7. The Osservatorio is a public body with responsibility for establishing the planning framework within which the project is to be realized. Local councils affected by the plans have a right to be involved, as do relevant government ministries, the city and the province of Turin, the Piemonte regional administration, the public promoter, Telt, Rete Ferroviaria Italiana, trade unions, professional associations and various other bodies and groups of experts.

8. They were spearheaded by the movement, ‘Sì, Torino va avanti’ (‘Yes, Turin is going ahead’), led by twelve women dubbed by the press as ‘le madamine’ (little ladies).

9. The cost-benefit analysis concerned is not a type of financial analysis; rather it is aimed at measuring ‘the effects on the general well-being of all stakeholders, that is, the organization and individuals involved in the project’ (see the observations made by Marco Ponti to the parliamentary commission for transport, 13 February 2019). The analysis has been criticized by Tav supporters both on ‘technical’ grounds (such as the decision to count certain items as ‘costs’) and on the grounds of the commission’s membership: indeed, the majority of experts were already known for opposing the Tav.

10. Telt (Tunnel Euralpin Lyon-Turin) is the sponsoring public company responsible for realizing and managing the cross-border section of the work.

11. It should be borne in mind that the European elections of 2014 and 2019 were held on the same day as the regional elections in Piemonte.

12. The results for the individual municipalities are available, on request, from the author.

13. It should be remembered that due to the two-term limit, currently unchanged, many M5s parliamentarians would no longer be eligible to stand.

14. As suggested by the resignation of Lorenzo Fioramonti, minister of education and research, at the end of 2019, and by the putative formation of a new parliamentary group with a strong ecological profile, one therefore closely associated with the themes distinctive of the M5s when it was first launched.

Additional information

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Cecilia Biancalana

Cecilia Biancalana is SNSF senior researcher at the University of Lausanne. She is currently working on a project on right-wing populist discourse in European cross-border areas. Her research focuses on party change, populism and the relationship between Internet and politics