Who rules Lecce?

Who rules Lecce?

This thorny question has been widely discussed on Thursday 30th April in Palazzo Nervegna, Brindisi.






















The event is organised by the association SinP (Sociologia in Progress).







The opportunity is given by the recent book Il salotto invisibile. Chi ha il potere a Lecce? written by Valentina Cremonesini, Stefano Cristante and Mariano Longo, sociologists who teach at Università del Salento.

Beside the authors, it is invited the deputy mayor of Brindisi, Giuseppe Marchionna.
















The moderator is Francesco Gioffredi, a young but sharp journalist who works for Nuovo Quotidiano di Puglia.






The mentioned book is the result of three years of work, where the researchers have used the typical methods of social research such as the interview.

In other words, this book portrays the perception of power of people who live in Lecce.

Valentina Cremonesini begins saying: “this work has been done by a team of researchers named <<smallville>>, which echoes the cult book Middletown, written by Robert Staughton Lynd and Helen Merrell Lynd, husband-and-wife sociologists".




She continues: “Lecce is a conservative city, which does not acknowledge different ways of doing things.

Let us see how Roberto Cingolani, innovative researcher in nanotechnology, has been treated in Lecce. He had to leave Lecce. Actually, Cingolany leads the CNR of Genoa.

“Of course” the sociologist adds: “this doesn’t imply just a bad connotation. Indeed, whereas Taranto and Brindisi have almost jeopardised their land due to the steel industry (Taranto) and chemical one (Brindisi), Lecce has preserved its territory by refusing any big and polluting factory”.





According to Stefano Cristante, this book is sparking debate in Lecce. Indeed, 10 articles of
newspapers have already been published because of the extreme importance of the topic.






He says: “In Lecce the warfare class has never taken place. Because of the lack of both working class and entrepreneurial bourgeoisie.”

Mariano Longo adds: “the law replaced the medieval relation between Lord and serfs. However, nowadays the patronage system is endemic in the south as well as in the whole country”.





Since after the II world war, the key sector of Lecce has been building industry.

Nevertheless, from the beginning of 2000, the local politicians devise a touristic future for Lecce, of which have benefit mainly the middle class by opening B&Bs.

The deputy mayor of Brindisi recalls the old times in which people of Lecce used to envy Brindisi due to its sparkling life. Now it is the opposite. Brindisi seems suffering of identity crisis.

Therefore, it’s needed a ruling class with a new vision for Brindisi.

For instance, I propose to stop car traffic in the city centre, leaving it to pedestrians and cyclists.

This would definitely enhance the appeal of Brindisi.