Lotta Continua

Lotta Continua ("continuous struggle", in Italian) was a far left extra-parliamentary organization in Italy. It was founded in autumn 1969 by a split in the student-worker movement of Turin, which had started militant activity at the universities and factories such as Fiat. The first issue of Lotta Continuas eponymous newspaper was published in November 1969, and publication continued until 1982 after the organization disbanded in 1976.

Focusing

Lotta Continua focused on spreading radicalisation from students and youth to workers, and played a large role in setting up social centre. Its influence was greatest among recently-immigrated, young, unqualified workers in large factories, while the "traditional" working class kept its allegiance to the Italian Communist Party and the trade union movement.

Among the newspaper's enduring features was Roberto Zamarin's comic strip "Gasparazzo", which poignantly and humorously related the struggles of a worker at a Fiat plant.Nicola Pizzolato, "Revolution in a Comic Strip: Gasparazzo and the Identity of Southern Migrants in Turin, 1969–1975," Humor and Social Protest, ed. Dennis Bos and Marjolein t'Hart (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2008)

The group's leadership included Adriano Sofri, Mauro Rostagno, Guido Viale, Giorgio Pietrostefani, Paolo Brogi and Marco Boato. Other notable contributors included Gad Lerner and Alexander Langer. Since Italian law required...
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