Feminist impact: exploring the cultural memory of second-wave feminism in contemporary Italy

In recent years, protests across the globe have placed social movements at the heart of media attention. Public and academic interest in the role of digital and social media in these protests has been considerable, up to the point that ‘revolution’ and ‘new technologies’ have almost become analogous. But is the connection between protest and new media really that straightforward? The cultural memory of present-day activists - as it is transferred through texts, images, rituals and memory sites - informs their actions and self-identification more than is generally assumed. Yet, the role of technological innovation and new media in sparking, diffusing and connecting recent protests have downplayed the significance of long-term memories of protests. In this chapter I will explore the way memories of social movements in Italy in the late 1960s and 1970s, focusing on the Italian women’s movement of the 1970s, have ‘traveled’ through time. Drawing on the case study of Bologna, a city with a significant feminist legacy, I will analyse methods and practices of contemporary female activists that define themselves as ‘feminist’. I will argue that a long-term, cultural memory of feminist protest is at work, which extends far beyond the recourse to digital and social media