“Pump!”: The Construction of Fascist Personalities in the Italian Armed Forces

This article analyzes – by means of a one year period of participant observation inside an Italian paratrooper barracks, as well as a series of in-depth interviews with expert witnesses – the process which forms authoritarian and evidently fascist personalities within the Italian armed forces. The rituals, practices and adaptation mechanisms typical of the organization under observation are discussed. Further, the authors sustain that the Italian case shows a substantial interblending of the roles, practices and ideologies of the army and the police force, with dangerous consequences for public security.