In the late 1960s Italy witnessed extraordinary levels of labour unrest. Millions of workers, men and women across the country, took part, many for the first time, in strikes, street demonstrations, and factory occupations. They demanded and obtained better working conditions and a fairer share of the prosperity created by the post-war economic miracle. It was a time of exhilarating mobilisation during which industrial workers attracted extensive public support, and forged new alliances with students, academics, writers, filmmakers, theatre directors, and musicians.

Drawing on workers’ memoirs and testimonies (read by actor Marco Gambino), as well as film excerpts, industrial novels and songs, Professor Ilaria Favretto (author of Cultures of Protest and Industrial Conflict in Italy since 1945 - OUP, 2025) in conversation with Paolo Nelli (lecturer at King's College, writer and author of La Fabbrica dei paraurti) will revisit those years and those struggles. Together they will explore workers’ aspirations, what they achieved, how they achieved it, as well as the profound transformations of work and labour conflicts since the 1980s.

Convenors:

Paolo Nelli: lecturer in Italian Language Education at King’s College London. He is the author of several novels including his debut La fabbrica di paraurti, (Derive/Approdi, 1999). More recently, with the publisher La Nave di Teseo he has published: Trattato di economia affettiva (2018); Il terzo giorno (2020); and Sindrome da assicuratore (2024)

Professor Ilaria Favretto: cultural historian of modern and contemporary Europe, currently based at the Institute of Languages, Cultures and Societies of the School of Advanced Study of the University of London. Author of Cultures of Protest and Industrial Conflict in Italy since 1945 (Oxford University Press, October 2025) and of Protest, Popular Culture and Tradition in Modern and Contemporary Western European History(co-edited with Xabier Itcaina, Palgrave 2017).

Marco Gambino: theatre, film, and television actor. Based in London, he performs in Italian, French, and English. Among his recent works is the series Those About to Die and the horror film Ferine. Marco is also known for a number of monologues which he interprets in more than one language: Words of Honour, Othello’s Guilt, Maria Callas the Black Pearl, The Grey Zone.

Registrations required. Please email language.resources@kcl.ac.uk if you have any access requirements.

Photo credit: General strike for reforms, Milan – Pirelli workers. Photo by Silvestre Loconsolo (Archivio del Lavoro).