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By Root 495 0

In seeking an alternative development, Troisi does acknowledge the importance of reconstituting the kind of intense political activity that formerly occurred in the district committees of, especially, the left-wing political parties; he calls for a reconstruction of a social and political linkage ~legame sociale politico) that has, he argues, become unstuck ~scollato) under the pressures of the new order. It is not only in Africa that neoliberalism has attempted to muzzle political life by taking over its rhetoric and deliberately misrepresenting critique as hostility.'

Such a process of reconnection appeared to be underway during the course of the following year when, after the violent clashes between NoGlobal activists and police in Genoa during which one demonstrator was killed, a large graffito appeared on the face of the Ukrainian Catholic church: G8: GUARDIE ASSASSINE. The inscription was in blue paint; a white background had been applied first, obliterating the existing graffiti, most of which were about soccer. In the eyes of two left-wing friends who commented on it in lively fashion, the new inscription had a double significance: on the one hand, it appeared to allude to the fascist behavior of the carabinieri who harassed immigrants on the square, calling them "guards" in an evocation of the Mussolini era rather than using their official name; on the other, the white background not only signaled a departure from football obsessions in favor of a more political engagement but provided a space for locals to append their signatures-which many did. This was the first time in many years, it transpired, that there had been such a lively form of local political engagement; it was not a party-directed activity, but an expression of collective outrage and solidarity. For those who wanted to see the emergence of a new sensibility that drew on existing social connections rather than tamely yielding to the neoliberal format, this was an encouraging sign indeed.

While this protest was apparently not a Network initiative-the Network itself operates strictly on legal principles-it did appear to herald something of the lively concern that the Network's leading activists hoped to revive. These activists are very aware of the pressures of time as neoliberal management styles erode the social conditions that favor critical debate. Riccardo Troisi is one of the more engaged Network activists. Another is the urban planner Carlo Cellamare. Both have contributed enormously to my understanding of the local dynamics-Troisi as a resident, Cellamare as a nonresident who teaches in the locally based department of urban studies of the University of Rome-I ("La Sapienza"~ and who has become a key player in articulating the complexities of reducing traffic noise and pollution in ways that respect the interests of merchants and artisans. There are many others, including numerous students. Mentioning them now rather than in the formal acknowledgments alone is, like a zoom lens spotting some key feature in the physical landscape and bringing it to the foreground, a way of underscoring the enormously creative role they play in reshaping the local environment. The identification of Monti people as either colleagues or informants blurs into a shared bustle of engaged activity. The intellectuals are very much a part of the ethnographic picture.'°

CHAPTER THREE

The Wages of Original Sin

he presence of the church and its bureaucratic panoply deeply affects the daily lives of Monti residents-even those who, as members of the old Jewish community or as Muslim immigrants, or again as self-declared atheists-do not worship in its halls. It is an inescapable presence; simply in terms of the number of churches and of houses owned by religious institutions, it commands the spaces through which Monticiani move on their daily rounds. Artisan and intellectual, honest merchant and crooked moneylender: all must reckon with the pervasive odor of a somewhat decayed sanctity, even if they do not accept either its doctrinal principles or its selfappointed