Fires of Pianura: The Antidump Struggle in the Western Outskirt of Naples

This ethnographic study aimed at analyzing the rebellion in Pianura, which took place between December 2007 and January 2009 when Naples' streets were covered with rubbish. It was a violent protest involving some 40.000 people who wanted to object to the reopening of the old dump of Pianura, one of the most toxic in Europe and no longer in use.
The fear for their own life, the desperation of local population, and the anger after being attacked by the police during pacific protest gave origin to a real urban guerrilla targeting the political system.
This article aims to go beyond the dominant narration of the events developed by the media and the authorities, which interpreted the uprising of Pianura in terms of Nimby (Not in my back yard), and as a mere manifestation of violence that was carried out by a group of extremists. On the contrary, it will be argued that the anti-dump struggle of Pianura, in its diverse forms, was animated by a radical critique of a specific model of local and national development (Gramsci 2007; Della Porta 2006). In order to support this argument the context of Pianura and the various mobilizations set up by the local population are analysed in this article. In addition, the heterogeneous and fragmented nature of the movement is explained through Bayat’s (1997; 2000) concept of “street politics” and that of “rebel bricolage” inspired by the work of Levi-Strauss (1966). More in detail, the analysis is focused on the effects of the “waste politics” on the body of the protesters, which became an important tool of resistance and an instrument to claim fundamental rights (Fassin, Memmi 2004). Finally, this article investigates the role of some groups of ultrà (football supporters) who actively participated in the demonstrations, and their relationship with the criminalizing discourses that were constructed to discredit the struggle.