La persistenza del rituale. Studio di caso sulla sopravvivenza delle Feste de l'Unità

Festa de l’Unità is a political festival - the only case in Italy – running in most italian cities without interruption since the second world war. The festival was originally organized by the Italian Communist Party and the ideological motivation has historically been one of the prevailing dimensions of participation. Now, after almost 70 years and the disappearance of the Italian Communist Party, the festival is organized by the Democratic Party and the ideological dimension is gradually diminished. The festival is the symbolic center of a ritual calendar year consisting of several community activities. While ideological dimension that motivated participation has gradually failed, the analysis of this particular set of rituals allows us evaluating by which terms ritual’s reproduction is still possible, despite changes in their political, economic and social basis. The work is based on ethnographic research conducted in a neighborhood of Bologna, started on march 2011 with a group of volunteers promoters of the local festival. The ethnographic research has revealed the central role played by objects and practices carried out by volunteers, related to the production and consumption of local food [Douglas 1970; Toffler 1980]. These activities have a role as a medium for social recognition [Crespi 2004; Honnet 1992], and from another point of view they seem to allow the development of social capital [Bourdieu 1986; Putnam 2000], two factors that are essential for participation.