Abstract

Over the last twenty years or so, many experiences, even in the most peripheral and marginalised areas, have responded to state failure and the erosion of welfare by focusing on the participation of local communities. However, the growth of these participatory dynamics has led to an intense debate on the processes of depoliticisation of conflicts and social life, triggered by initiatives that are often considered irrelevant or even complicit with the status quo. Our study takes up these analytical perspectives by focusing on the forms of civic activism present in the internal areas of Calabria, in order to examine the meanings they have acquired over time from the point of view of the actors and the structural conditioning factors they face. Even in these areas, we observe generalised forms of participation aimed at reappropriating their internal resources in order to redirect them towards alternative forms of development, capable of offering opportunities for rest that are otherwise denied. At the same time, the testimonies collected here reveal the presence of logics and modes of action structured in different ways. Although they share the same tensions, they tend to develop very different visions with regard to the characteristics of the community in which the organisations operate and the processes of legitimation on which they base their activities