Filed Under Poster

Chi osa vince

(He Who Dares Wins)

Produced by Lotta Studentesca (Student Struggle, LS) – Forza Nuova's (New Force, FN) neo-fascist youth group – this poster proclaims that "Chi osa vince" (He Who Dares Wins). Named after a dissolved neo-fascist youth group founded in 1976, LS describes itself as "the gladius [sword] of the Arditi, the assault unit that represented the vanguard of our army during World War I." The "Arditi," who engaged in hand-to-hand combat using this type of knife during World War I, were revered by Benito Mussolini's regime as Italy's most elite soldiers, and are celebrated by neo-fascists today. Serving as one of many typical symbols for Italian neo-fascism, a silhouette of the gladius – a type of sword used by Roman soldiers dating back to the third century BCE – features prominently in the LS logo.

Similar to many other neo-fascist youth groups in Italy, LS poses strong critiques of the Italian education system and calls for its members to take action against what they imagine to be a pro-leftist, anti-patriotic national curriculum. The youth group lists its aims and objectives on its website. These include taking a stand against COVID safety measures in Italian schools ("Green passes, distancing, and masks? It's going to be war!"), banning the "ideological factionalism" of anti-fascist instructors, calling for more physical exercise during the school day (with at least one gym per public school), and standing against drugs, which, according to LS' website, "annihilate the minds of young people, enslaving them to a society without ideals" (2022).

This poster's visual elements consist of a collection of photographs taken during various far-right demonstrations in Italy, which have been collaged together in a flame-like colorway, framing LS' politics as a patriotic platform for protecting the Italian national community from its many (and largely imagined) "enemies." The poster also includes the youth division's social media handles, including a QR code to direct passersby to its channel on Telegram, one of the messaging applications that the twice-impeached former American president, Donald J. Trump, joined when he was banned from Twitter in 2021.

Images

Chi osa vince
Chi osa vince This poster was produced by Student Struggle, New Force's far-right youth group. It features the slogan "He Who Dares Wins" and the gladius sword, a symbol linked to Italy's Arditi soldiers from World War I. Much like Italy's various other neo-fascist youth divisions, Student Struggle criticizes the country's education system and, during the years of the COVID-19 pandemic, protested safety measures in schools, emphasizing patriotism and physical fitness over masks and vaccines. Source: Photograph by Brian J Griffith (December 28, 2020).
Fig. 1
Fig. 1 A collection of Student Struggle's "He Who Dares Wins" posters on the façade of Cornelio Tacito State Classical Lyceum in Rome. Source: Photograph by Brian J Griffith (March 24, 2019).

Location

Related Resources

Lotta Studentesca, “Chi osa vince,” Where Monsters Are Born: Documenting a Fascist Revival in the Streets of Rome, 2018-2019, accessed October 22, 2024, https://wheremonstersareborn.com/items/show/36.