Contemporary political discourse on Italian national identity often remains connected to notions of race and Whiteness with origins that can be traced back to fascist time. While the ‘Italianità’ of citizens of African descent continues to be questioned, conservative rhetoric reproduces a colonial and patriarchal tradition that places racialised women at the bottom of the social hierarchy.
In this lecture, Dr Angelica Pesarini will address the political use of women’s bodies and their reproductive capabilities to produce an idea of Italian citizenship and national identity based on specific ideas of race and gender. The talk will highlight the strategic use of certain biopolitics inscribed on women’s bodies, the origins of which can be traced in the fascist politics on sexuality and reproduction.
The talk, organised in the context of Black History Month celebration at the EUI, will be held in hybrid format. All are welcome to attend. Please register.
Dr Angelica Pesarini is an Assistant Professor in Race and Cultural Studies/ Race and Diaspora and Italian Studies at the University of Toronto. Her work seeks to expand the field of 'Black Italia', focusing on dynamics of race, gender, identity, and citizenship in colonial and post-colonial Italy. Interested in the racialisation of the political discourse on immigration, she is among the co-founders of The Black Mediterranean Collective that published 'The Black Mediterranean: Bodies, Borders, and Citizenship' in 2021. Dr Pesarini is the author of several essays and articles on issues of race in Italy and is co-translator of the two publications 'Undercommons. Fugitive Planning and Black Study' (Fred Moten and Stefano Harney) and 'Blues Legacies and Black feminism' (Angela Y. Davis). She is active in the Italian anti-racist movement, and interested in the impacts of the Black Lives Matter movement in Italy. She is currently writing a monograph on the negotiations of race, gender and identity in former Italian colonies in East Africa.