Abstract

The essay is aimed at analysing the identity dynamics that involved the Italian social movement (Ism) in Latina and the youth components gravitating around it during the intense season of 1968. This transitional phase led to an internal turning point for the party and its local structures, consolidating what had been built previously and shaping – especially in the dialectical clash with the youth – the subsequent electoral successes. Thanks to the contribution of nationally prominent figures, such as Ajmone Finestra and Antonio Pennacchi, for example, and to the deep territorial roots given above all by the legacy of land reclamation, the Pontine Ism was able to succeed by reclaiming in democracy the inconvenient memory of fascism.