Browse 2 Items in this collection.

Fronte della Gioventù (Youth Front, FdG) takes its name and logo from the neo-fascist youth group of the Movimento Sociale Italiano (Italian Social Movement, MSI), both of which dissolved in the mid-1990s. The far-right youth organization presents itself as a reincarnation of the MSI group, evoking memories of post-World War II Italian neo-fascism (as well as interwar Italian Fascism) through its choice of iconography and collective rituals. 

In its first Instagram post, the group posted an image of its logo overlaid upon the silhouette of a crowd carrying a banner that reads: "against the system." This is the opening line of a chant associated with the MSI's university group, the Fronte Universitario d'Azione Nazionale (National Action University Front), during the Years of Lead (1968-82): Youth lashes out against the system. Death to traitors is our battle cry."

The latter slogan, "death to traitors," was originally shouted by the fascist squadristi the Red Biennium uprisings (1919-20) and then by members of the Italian Social Republic's (1943-45) military. In the 1970s, it was chanted by neo-fascist groups and then by the football Ultras of the extreme right-wing. The hashtag beneath the Instagram post reads: #AVolteRitornano (#SometimesTheyComeBack). The youth organization has not posted anything on social media since 2015.

The two posters in this collection present youth as an unstoppable, rebellious and ultra-patriotic force with the power to overthrow the status quo. Their imagery draws upon interwar Italian fascist values, including a reverence for classical Rome and, somewhat related, the celebration of (male) violence.

Browse 2 Items in this collection.