Antonio Senta in dialogue with Jacopo Anderlini presents his book Bread and Revolution. Migrant Anarchy (1870-1950).
Followed by a social fundraising dinner for the Bologna Anarchist Bookfair and songs of resistance and anarchy.
Between 1870 and 1950, millions of Italians emigrated worldwide in search of a better life. Among them, proletarians among proletarians, there were also many anarchists driven to leave not only for economic reasons but also for political ones: to escape relentless persecution. Upon arriving in their destination countries, the anarchists of the diaspora – often doubly discriminated against: as migrants and as subversives – created a dense transnational network that fueled local workers’ movements while maintaining a privileged relationship with Italy, the linguistic and cultural “homeland” with which they always kept close ties. From Europe to the Americas, from the Mediterranean basin to Australia, Senta narrates the life trajectories of these “rebels” – and the many “rebellious women” – who, in a world torn apart by nationalist wars, never abandoned the internationalist dream of universal brotherhood. And it is precisely from these individual stories, unique yet extraordinarily similar, that a great collective history emerges, made of strikes, struggles, and revolts, but also of cooperatives, libertarian schools, cultural circles, taverns, and conviviality. Bread and revolution, indeed.