POLICE FORCES, SECURITY AND IGNORED INSECURITIES, IN PARTICULAR IN ITALY

Abstract

Starting over 25 years of research and based on multiple empirical observations, this text proposes a new description and reflection on how Italian police forces (at national and local level) have adapted to the neoliberal frame. Among the various theoretical and methodological aspects, it is important to note that such forces are always characterized by the coexistence of authoritarian and violent practices and other pacific ("stick and carrot"), i.e. the oscillation between violent and or peaceful management of disorder. Police forces reflect what prevails in society and among the population and above all at the local level, though they always try to mediate between the inputs from the top of political power and from their hierarchy and from bottom by the economico-social actors dominant at local level.