Terrorism as Ritual Process and Cultural Trauma: a Performative Analysis of ISIS\u2019s Attacks in Europe

Sociological reflection on Islamist terrorism focussed itself almost exclusively on the religious aspect of radicalisation of Islam, spending little efforts to widen the analytic perspective to the effects of ISIS actions on the (re)definition of the identity and the collective memory of the targeted nation. This article will offer a different point of view, providing a cultural sociological reading of Paris Attacks, aimed at understanding its performative aspects. We will approach Paris Attacks as an example of social drama (Turner, 1982) and will focus on the ritual efforts spent by France to manage, repair and define the cultural trauma (Alexander et al., 2004) deriving from the attacks. Data will consist of a performative analysis of ISIS\u2019s strategy in Europe and of the counter-terrorist demonstration held in Paris on the 9th of January 2015; and of a frame analysis of the speech pronounced by Francois Hollande on November 16th 2015, after the Paris attacks, and of all the articles published on the main French newspapers during the first week after the events. In the conclusions, we will discuss how those events help to conceive a new kind of cultural trauma that is typical of the age of weak events and of distrust in public institutions

La pornografia dell\u2019antiterrorismo: la retorica dello scontro di civilt\ue0 nella rappresentazione degli attentati di Parigi

Analisi della stampa e dei rituali antiterroristici conseguenti agli attentati terroristici condotti dall'ISIS a Parigi nel 2015. Nella discussione, tentativo di dialogo fra le teorie di Baudrillard e Durkhei

PRAGMATISMO E INTERAZIONISMO SIMBOLICO. Riflessioni epistemologiche

Presenting itself as a theory-method package, symbolic interactionism has always expressed a certain reluctance, if not a real scepticism, with respect to the elaboration of a complex theoretical system (Dingwall, 2001). Moreover, the centrality of data and the so-called interactive determination (Snow 2001) have prompted symbolic interactionists to refuse to develop an explicit and systematic theoretical approach to social life and to fully investigate their theoretical roots. A starting point, in this direction, may be to reflect historically on the development of the perspective, as we will propose in this article and to redefine a new pragmatic epistemology based no longer on the centrality of the actor in social action, but on the event.

Goffman in dixon. Ethnographer or performer?

In this article I analyse a little-known part of Erving Goffman\u2019s production: his doctoral dissertation Communication Conduct in an Island Community (1953). I will consider in particular the methodological aspects of the research and the characteristics of the community studied. The article aims at demonstrating how the methodological discussion of this early work is so accurate, extensive and consistent with the ethnographical canon of the time to allow deconstructing of two typical criticism moved to Goffman: a) the lack of transparency in the specification of the methods of data collection; and b) the loose relationship between data collection and theoretical argumentations (for a review see Lemert, 1997)

The Common Destiny of Un/common Cultures

A review of Kamala Viswewaran, Un/Common Cultures. Racism and the Rearticulation of Cultural Difference

Interactional Anomie? Imaging Social Distance after COVID-19: A Goffmanian Perspective

Social distance is a central issue in the institutional communication about COVID-19. The expression has often been improperly used as a synonym for physical distance. In this article, I will compare how international agencies have used the concept in their documents with Erving Goffman's sociological theory on social distance. The Canadian sociologist is, in fact, the author who has explored the sociological aspects of social distance most deeply. In the third section, summarising Goffman's work, I will try to define a possible research agenda to be developed in the immediate aftermath of the pandemic. Finally, I will analyse some elements of social change already visible in various parts of the world. The aim is to understand how COVID-19 could transform some social and ritual aspects of interpersonal distance. The main hypothesis is that in the immediate aftermath of this pandemic crisis, we will live in a period of moral inter-reign, in which we will experience a form of interactional anomie. This concept is also aimed at integrating the already rich Goffmanian theory on the interaction order, from a perspective that takes in account both the classic Durkheimian concept of anomie connected to dramatic social change and the Parsonsian theory of double contingency. I still do not know how long the pandemic will last and how many further quarantine periods will occur in the future. This is therefore more an exercise in sociological imagination (Wright Mills, 1959) than a sound, grounded theory

L\u2019interazionismo simbolico e la ricezione di Durkheim: una ricerca sulle riviste scientifiche

The article analyzes how the work of the French sociologist \uc9mile Durkheim has been received by a sociological approach, seemingly antithetical to his social theory: symbolic interactionism. The analysis was conducted through quantitative and qualitative research on the references to Durkheim appeared from 1977 to 2016 on the scientific journals Studies in Symbolic Interaction and Symbolic Interaction. The results highlight an ontological convergence and an epistemological divergence, both based mainly on the assumptions of Durkheim\u2019s Elementary Forms of Religious Life (1912)

Conflicts, integration, hybridization of subcultures: An ecological approach to the case of queercore

This paper investigates the case study of queercore, providing a socio-historical analysis of its subcultural production, in the terms of what Michel Foucault has called archaeology of knowledge (1969). In particular, we will focus on: the self-definition of the movement; the conflicts between the two merged worlds of punk and queer culture; the \u201cinternal-subcultural\u201d conflicts between both queercore and punk, and between queercore and gay\lesbian music culture; the political aspects of differentiation. In the conclusion, we will offer an innovative theoretical proposal about the interpretation of subcultures in ecological and semiotic terms, combining the contribution of the American sociologist Andrew Abbot and of the Russian semiologist Jurij Michajlovi\u10d Lotma

Fedeli alla linea: CCCP and the Italian Way to Punk

Punk in Italy has largely been overlooked as a research topic in the past, focussing instead on the scene in other nations. This article examines the Italian punk scene and its transition from classic to post-punk, focussing on its most famous and significant band: CCCP – Fedeli alla linea.After a short introduction to the historical and cultural background, the results of a qualitative textual analysis of CCCP lyrics using algirdas Greimas’ methodology for narrative semiotics (1983) will be presented. as the results show, CCCP’s artistic production can be interpreted as a subversive and ironic parody of the collectivist traditions that were dominant in Italian politics and culture at the time (communism and Catholicism), and as a creative critical reaction to neoliberalism. The conclusion briefly discusses certain theoretical issues such as the relationship between punk and authenticity, and compares Italian punk with british and Portuguese punk.O punk em Itália foi amplamente ignorado enquanto objeto de estudo no passado, sendo que a atenção se centrou antes sobre a cena em outros países. O artigo examina a cena punk italiana e a sua transição do punk clássico para o pós-punk, tendo por referência o seu grupo mais famoso e representativo: CCCP Fedeli alla linea. Após uma breve introdução do contexto histórico e cultural do grupo, apresentamos os resultados da análise qualitativa textual das suas músicas, usando a metodologia da semiótica narrativa de Algirdas Greimas (1983). Os resultados mostram que a produção artística do grupo CCCP pode ser interpretada como uma paródia subversiva e irónica das tradições coletivistas dominantes na política e cultura italianas da época (comunismo e catolicismo) e como uma reação criativa crítica ao neoliberalismo. Na conclusão debatemos brevemente algumas questões teóricas, como a relação entre o punk e a autenticidade e comparamos ainda o punk italiano com o punk britânico e português.Le punk en Italie a largement été omis en tant qu’objet de recherche par le passé, l’attention s’étant plutôt centrée sur la scène d’autres pays. Cet article se penche sur la scène punk italienne et sur son passage du punk classique au post-punk, prenant pour référence son groupe le plus fameux et représentatif: CCCP Fedeli alla Linea. Après une brève introduction de leur background historique et culturel, nous présenterons les résultats de l’analyse qualitative textuelle des chansons du groupe CCCP en utilisant la méthodologie de narrative sémiotique d’Algirdas Greimas (1983). Les résultats montrent que la production artistique de CCCP peut être interprétée comme une parodie subversive et ironique de la tradition collectiviste dominante de la politique et de la culture italiennes de l’époque (communisme et catholicisme), tout autant que comme une réaction créative au néolibéralisme. En termes de conclusion, nous nous penchons brièvement sur quelques questions quant au rapport entre le punk et l’authenticité, et nous comparons le punk italien au punk britannique et portugais

I politici e l’immigrazione su Facebook: come si (de)legittima il discorso migratorio durante l’emergenza sanitaria

In this article we analyse how the immigration issue is narrated during the Covid-19 outbreak by several Italian political actors. We select Facebook as the main digital arena of political communication in the Italian public sphere. Quantitative analysis and Critical Discourse Analysis have been applied to politicians’ posts aiming at identifying the linguistic strategies that contribute to instrumentalizing the emer- gency and aim to reinforce the politicization of the issue. Findings suggest that the main discursive strategies used by politicians do not only include migrants as a dan- ger for the spread of the virus, but the migratory narration is systematically organ- ized on negative campaigning blaming political opponents. The contribution helps to reveal how the anti-migration discourse is reproduced during the Covid-19 outbreak and how the politicization of the migration serves as a context for the normalization of migrant’s exclusion