1203 | 213 | The political making and remaking of the uninhabitable: The politics of urban illegality in Italy | Francesco Chiodelli
Italy is characterised by a variety of practices that, despite their extreme phenomenological diversity, can all be labelled as expressions of urban illegality: the construction of unauthorised buildings by the middle class, informal inhabitation practices by marginalised subjects (Roma or migrant groups), the illegitimate occupation of public housing units. Around these practices, a series of public norms, policies and actions have been set up over the years. These measures, despite being factually independent, nevertheless contribute to shape a precise politics, centred on the selective exploitation, guided mainly by politically mediated rationales, of the tolerance-repression binomial. Thanks to this politics, urban illegality/informality is continually made electorally, socially and economically productive and, at the same time, even when it is the subject of repressive campaigns, it is continually produced and reproduced. This happens because it is an extraordinary resource that allows a myriad of political, economic and bureaucratic actors to extract significant benefits. This contribution analyses this politics of urban illegality in Italy, highlighting the four main forms it takes: selective social legitimisation; ethnic-based stigmatisation; judicial and administrative dislocation; preservation of grey areas.
Francesco Chiodelli
Interuniversity Department of Regional and Urban Studies and Planning, University of Turin
ID Abstract: 213