Scaglia il tuo dissenso sui signori del potere
(Unleash Your Dissent on the Overlords of Power)
This poster incorporates the logos of three far-right youth groups affiliated with Fratelli d'Italia (Brothers of Italy, FdI): Azione Studentesca (Student Action), which between 1995 and 2009 served as the Alleanza Nazionale's (National Alliance, AN) far-right high school-level youth group, but is now loosely partnered with FdI; Gioventù Nazionale (National Youth), which is FdI's official youth division; and Azione Universitaria (University Action), which serves as FdI's university-level youth group. The address of FdI's Roman headquarters is included at the bottom of the poster: Via Sommacampagna 29.
The words "Scaglia il tuo dissenso sui signori del potere" (Unleash Your Dissent on the Overlords of Power) have been taken from the 1999 song "Onda" (Wave) by the far-right rock 'n roll group Aurora. The band first played in Verona in 1998 at an event organized by Azione Giovani (Youth Action), the former youth group of AN. The lyrics describe a wave of rage and protest as it rises over the city: "Un popolo che si desta dal sonno e dal torpore e scaglia il suo dissenso sui signori del potere" (A people awakening from slumber and torpor, unleashing their dissent on the overlords of power) (Aurora 1999).
The graphic at the center of the poster features the silhouette of a crowd of demonstrators, which with its burnt orange color palette takes on the appearance of rising flames. As they march, the demonstrators are shouting into megaphones while waving tricolor flags (see also Fig. 1). With its revolutionary symbolism, this poster is typical of the neo-fascist aesthetic in contemporary Italy: it includes a call to action against an imagined corrupt political class, an underlying suggestion of violence as a legitimate method for pursuing socio-political change, and a reverence of youthful rebellion.
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