Founded in 2015, but based on a dissolved neo-fascist youth organization formerly coordinated by the Movimento Sociale Italiano (Italian Social Movement, MSI), the Fronte della Gioventù's (Youth Front, FdG) objective is to "bring youth back on top." The youth group's contemporary leadership has described the condition of the global economy as an "explosive mixture that will affect the most vulnerable social class: young people," due to "falling oil prices, latent recession, slowdown in the U.S. economic cycle, sluggish domestic demand in emerging countries, [and] plunging stock markets." In the face of the lethargy of "a political class devoid of values," FdG calls for its members to take action against "this social war that not only affects Italy but also the rest of Europe." Echoing the language of interwar Italian Fascism, which presented itself as neither left nor right but, instead, a "Third Way" approach to industrial modernity, the organization concludes its manifesto with the following call-to-arms: "Let us take up our flag again and continue in this direction, towards the third way, a direction born from the union of alternative forces to the system, with a strong pro-European stance, not the Europe of bureaucrats and technocrats, of course, but a Europe of fatherlands, who will never stop fighting for the good of their people!" (Fronte della Gioventù 2016).
This poster celebrates "una gioventù ingovernabile" (an ungovernable youth). Whereas the original FdG logo featured a clenched fist holding onto a tricolor flame, here the Italian colors have been replaced by black, white and red – colors typically associated with neo-Nazism, neo-fascism and white supremacism. The young man at the center of the poster holds aloft an ignited road flare, its flames bleeding into the upper-left-hand side of the poster. His identity is concealed by a balaclava and a hooded sweatshirt, both of which date the photograph to the twenty-first century. The mirroring of the original FdG logo in the pose adopted by the young man reinforces the perceived line of historical continuity among many in today's neo-fascist community in Italy between the MSI's and the contemporary Youth Front.
This poster does not publicize any particular event, nor is it designed to honor a fallen "martyr" – the primary objectives of a majority of the propaganda materials in this collection. Instead, it centers on youthful rebellion, representing young members of the contemporary far right as the vanguard of a long-term ideological struggle in Italy. It also celebrates faceless street violence, presenting young Italian men as an irrepressible force aimed at overturning the socio-political status quo. As with the majority of posters targeting Italian youth, FdG's social media handles are included at the bottom of the poster, underlining the importance of the digital sphere – and particularly social media – to neo-fascist youth groups in Italy. (At the time of this writing, FdG has not posted on any social media channels since 2018. The group's Instagram and Facebook pages, both of which are advertised on this poster, are no longer available.)
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