Conte is Italy’s Ocasio-Cortez: ‘The left doesn’t need to be “woke”’

"Can 'woke' culture form the ideological backbone of a progressive movement? I doubt it." This is the question posed in the pages of *La Repubblica* by Giuseppe Conte, leader of the Five Star Movement. The former prime minister is setting his sights on becoming the Italian Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez – that is, the MP who, just a few days ago, sparked a major debate in the United States, perhaps with a view to standing in the next presidential election, by declaring that “the first ‘woke’ movement was madness”.

Well, Conte has decided to have his say. Clarity. “Woke culture has become a sort of self-referential moral religion, and for a progressive force it would be a serious political strategic error to rely on it to build effective political action,” he writes. He adds: "A progressive force must necessarily tackle the material roots of inequality, making the reduction (if not the elimination) of economic imbalances and social injustices – which have taken on a structural significance – its primary objective." What the left must do, according to the Five Star Movement leader, is to focus on social struggles. The spectre of Marx looms large: "We must offer specific answers to the widespread anxieties of the underpaid, workers, small business owners and the middle classes, who face a future devoid of any certainties."

And, why not, mention rearmament (or are we really mistaking him for Ocasio-Cortez): “A progressive force,” Conte continues, “must decide how to tackle the rampant arms race and the obsession with military deterrence, which contribute to diverting precious resources from welfare to military spending, fuelling a false security paradigm that rewards escalation rather than prevention, diplomacy and international cooperation.” Peace becomes an obsession.

"It is in these areas that the decisive challenges for our future are taking shape," he says. “A progressive policy,” he concludes, “must penetrate the deepest mechanisms and structures of the current socio-economic system to find new paths and tools for pursuing more radical visions of social justice. We cannot resign ourselves to witnessing ever more exponential growth in productivity and profitability, whilst the distribution of benefits to communities becomes increasingly unequal.”