Foreign rights: Silvia Bellingeri (silvia.bellingeri@lanavediteseo.eu)
“In a time when political correctness has become the fundamental ideology of the progressive world, it shouldn’t be surprising if censoring any misaligned expression has become a temptation for the left-wing, while fighting against censorship has turned into an unexpected libertarian opportunity for the right.
It’s a mistake in both cases. Ideas and behaviors that we don’t like should be fought with other ideas and ways of being, not by preventing others from expressing themselves.”
Who is afraid of freedom of expression? Paola Mastrocola and Luca Ricolfi seek the answer to a question that has insinuated itself into our lives in a dangerous way. Authoritarian censorship of the past has turned into the wildly correct, which bends the language to current trends (from innocent words being put on trial, to surreal “inclusive” neologisms), and into a cancel culture that reinterprets the past with the eyes of today. So, in the jungle of the Internet and on the global pillory that banned humor and dialogue, an intimidating and inquisitorial climate is spreading, imposed by the self-proclaimed guardians of Good. Mastrocola and Ricolfi write about it, identifying its historical causes and presenting solutions, composing a veritable manifesto to restore freedom to the oppressed language of our times.
Paola Mastrocola
Paola Mastrocola was born and lives in Turin. She has a very special voice among Italian contemporary writers and bestseller authors. She is the author of La gallina volante (2000, Premio Calvino), Palline di pane (2001), Una barca nel bosco (Premio Campiello 2004), La scuola raccontata al mio cane (2004), Che animale sei? (2007), Più lontana della luna (2007), La felicità del galleggiante (2010), Togliamo il disturbo. Saggio sulla libertà di non studiare (2011), Non so niente di te (2013), L’esercito delle cose inutili (2015), La passione ribelle (2015), L’anno che non caddero le foglie (2016), L’amore prima di noi (2016), Leone (2018), Diario di una talpa (2020), La saggezza del lupo (2020), Se tu fossi vero (2021), Il danno scolastico (con Luca Ricolfi, 2021), Manifesto del libero pensiero (con Luca Ricolfi, 2022), La memoria del cielo (2023). Her books have been translated in France, Germany, Spain and Latin America, Portugal, Turkey and Japan.
- Manifesto del libero pensiero (The Freedom of Thought Manifesto)
- Leone
- L’amore prima di noi (The Love Before Us)
- La passione ribelle (Rebel Passion)
- L’esercito delle cose inutili (The Army of Useless Things)
- Non so niente di te (I know Nothing of You)
Luca Ricolfi
A summa cum laude graduate of philosophy, Luca Ricolfi taught Sociology at the University of Modena and Turin, before becoming a tenured professor of Psychometrics at the University of Turin in 1999. He is now a tenured professor of Data Analysis at the University of Turin.
He wrote over a hundred papers, articles and essays on many topics, including political communication, political corruption, school and job market, data analysis and research methodology. He is a member of the EAS (European Academy of Sociology) and in 2003, together with Silvia Testa, he founded Polena (Italian journal on electoral and political analysis). He is president of the David Hume Foundation. He has been a regular contributor to La Stampa, Il Sole 24 Ore and Panorama. He is now a columnist for Il Messaggero.
Among his books, La frattura etica (2002), Manuale di analisi dei dati (2002), Dossier Italia (2005), Perché siamo antipatici? (2005; 2008), Tempo scaduto. Il “Contratto con gli italiani” alla prova dei fatti (2006), L’arte del non governo (2007), Le tre società (2007), Ostaggi dello Stato (2008), Profondo rosso (2008), Il sacco del Nord (2010; 2012), Illusioni italiche (2010), La Repubblica delle tasse. Perché l’Italia non cresce più (2011), La sfida (2013), L’enigma della crescita (2014), Sinistra e popolo (2017), La società signorile di massa (2019, Premio Biella Letteratura e Industria – Giuria dei Lettori), La notte delle ninfee (2021), Il danno scolastico (con Paola Mastrocola, 2021), Manifesto del libero pensiero (con Paola Mastrocola, 2022), La mutazione (2022).