An Ethnography of Daily Life

A cultural anthropologist that chooses to use the tools of his trade to look at some aspects of his own society may be able to offer some valuable insight into its contradictions. And Italy has contradictions to spare; for one, it is a society whose members struggle to adhere to common principles; it is a country whose weak official structures are confronted with a strong yet fractured anti-structure. This in turn hinders the emergence of a collective consciousness. Hence the long lasting tensions that characterize the relationship between the Italian citizens and the State. In Italy, the rule of law notwithstanding, the State still maintains to this day the typical features of an authoritarian institution. Through the anthropologist's eyes, daily patterns of behavior and shared perceptions (the representation of financial markets and their institutions as magic entities, for example), public rituals (such as the military parade celebrating the foundation of the Republic), or even how railway network has developed, become precious metaphors that allow the reader to make sense of the Italian paradox.

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