Who are you? What do you do? what do you bring? a florin! on reclusions, dissidences, mutual aid, kinships, and irony during italian lockdown

Abstract

This essay elaborates upon some ethnographic notes taken during informal participant observation by a freelance cultural anthropologist living in Turin (capital of Piedmont, one of the regions most affected by COVID-19) during the pandemic in Italy. The essay explores many issues faced by Italian residents during the lockdown, including inequality and grassroots initiatives, isolation conditions in a variety of contexts (home, prisons, retirement homes), stereotypes of Italians from abroad, the misunderstanding of personal distancing guidelines and the concept of family and community.