CISPAC is hosting a research stay by Michael Tortorella, a PhD candidate in Global Studies at the University of Bologna, whose work focuses on the relationships between memory, colonialism and territorial construction from a decolonial perspective.
In this interview, he discusses the main lines of his research, the relevance of an interdisciplinary approach to the study of colonialism, and his experience working at the centre.
1. What does your research consist of and what are its main lines of work at the moment?
I am pursuing a PhD in Global Studies at the University of Bologna, with a specific focus on memory, geography and Italian colonialism. In particular, my research examines the relationship between the colonial construction of the idea of the Mezzogiorno and the Italian imperial project in Ethiopia, from a decolonial perspective.
I aim to trace this relationship within the Patto Colonico of the Ente di Puglia (1937), understood as an experiment in settler colonialism and colonial inhabitation, through the instrumentalization of Pugliese peasant emigration and the control of women’s bodies in Puglia, with the aim of building a fascist, racist and explicitly anti-indigenous society. The goal is to politicise two memories that are often marginalised or invisibilised and that underpin the modern Italian national project: the Southern Question and the coloniality inherited from Italian colonialism, which remains omnipresent in the present.
2. 2. What is it like to address the role of colonialism from different territories and historical and social contexts? Do you think there is still a tendency to look away instead of critically revisiting colonial processes and their present-day consequences?
From my position as an activist and Pugliese migrant, confronting global colonialism means recognising, as Iain Chambers points out, that the colonial past, slavery and necropolitics are not only history but structures that shape the present. From the borders of the Mediterranean to settler colonialism in Palestine, from extraction in Venezuela to racist discourses towards the Global South, it becomes clear that our current time and space are colonial, reflecting a power that decides which lives and territories are expendable.
3. Do you think that approaching this process from an interdisciplinary perspective is beneficial for your research?
Questioning European modernity and colonialism means understanding that modern knowledge has never been neutral: from social sciences such as history, geography and sociology to natural sciences such as geology or physics, all have contributed to the colonial project. Decolonising this knowledge not only involves applying decolonial, queer or transfeminist approaches, but also valuing what emerges from people’s resistance, liberation theologies and current conflicts, dismantling the intrinsically violent nature of modernity.
Questioning European modernity and colonialism means understanding that modern knowledge has never been neutral: from social sciences such as history, geography and sociology to natural sciences such as geology or physics, all have contributed to the colonial project
4. Finally, how has your stay at CISPAC been and what expectations do you have for this period of research and collaboration?
My stay at CISPAC has been very positive. The structure is broad and efficient and adapts to all study and work needs. The environment is warm and welcoming. My expectations are based on two aspects: academic and existential.
Academically, I am learning a great deal thanks to the supervision of my professor Marco Armiero. He is helping me understand how historiographical research and archival work are carried out. More generally, he is teaching me how to approach the topic of memory from a methodological perspective. On a personal level, this is my first experience studying in another country, and I hope to get to know and connect with the experiences and people who live here.