Difference between revisions of "Raccomandazione (Italy)"

Among its wide-ranging implications, the term ''raccomandazione'' evokes principally the practice of using connections to find employment, especially in an attempt to secure a job in the public sector.  This fact has led to the consolidation of an Italian cultural stereotype of the civil servant who, under-qualified and motivated primarily by the job security and benefits provided by public employment, has undeservingly managed to land such a job through his connections, and who performs his work in a lackadaisical manner. By association, ''raccomandazione'' is further linked to the overall perception of a bloated, Byzantine Italian bureaucracy.  As a result, bureaucratic inefficiency itself begets the need for yet more ''raccomandazioni'' in order to speed things up or otherwise improve the delivery of services in the public sphere, including public hospitals.  In the education sector, school and university students may become ''raccomandati'' in order to obtain better marks, often thanks to the initiative taken by their parents.  More generally, ''raccomandazione'' can come into play in virtually every sphere of daily life:  even in shopping or dining out, where a ''raccomandazione'' can be deployed to receive special attention (''un occhio di riguardo'') or a discount.

Among its wide-ranging implications, the term ''raccomandazione'' evokes principally the practice of using connections to find employment, especially in an attempt to secure a job in the public sector.  This fact has led to the consolidation of an Italian cultural stereotype of the civil servant who, under-qualified and motivated primarily by the job security and benefits provided by public employment, has undeservingly managed to land such a job through his connections, and who performs his work in a lackadaisical manner. By association, ''raccomandazione'' is further linked to the overall perception of a bloated, Byzantine Italian bureaucracy.  As a result, bureaucratic inefficiency itself begets the need for yet more ''raccomandazioni'' in order to speed things up or otherwise improve the delivery of services in the public sphere, including public hospitals.  In the education sector, school and university students may become ''raccomandati'' in order to obtain better marks, often thanks to the initiative taken by their parents.  More generally, ''raccomandazione'' can come into play in virtually every sphere of daily life:  even in shopping or dining out, where a ''raccomandazione'' can be deployed to receive special attention (''un occhio di riguardo'') or a discount.

Early social science treatments of Italian ''raccomandazione'' from the 1950s to the early 1970s framed the discussion in terms of patronage-clientelism issues that characterised a large part of the Mediterranean region, looking in particular at rural contexts.  Such traditional clientelistic relationships featured vertical, dyadic ties between the ''raccomandante'' and ''raccomandato''.  In urban settings, the use of ''raccomandazioni'' for electoral patronage and organised crime has received greater attention (Gellner and Waterbury 1977<ref>Gellner, E. and J. Waterbury, (eds.) 1977. Patrons and Clients in Mediterranean Societies.  London:  Duckworth.</ref>, Chubb 1982<ref>Chubb, J. 1982. Patronage, Power and Poverty in Southern Italy:  A Tale of Two Cities.  New York:  Cambridge University Press.</ref>).  In Italy and in many other Mediterranean settings, the literature also describes how the language and practice of god-parenthood consolidated such relations.  Moreover, Jeremy Boissevain’s pioneering work in Sicily (1966<ref>Boissevain, J. 1966. ‘Patronage in Sicily’, Man 1 (1): 18-33.</ref>) noted the homologies between ''raccomandazione'' in patronage-clientelism and the Catholic religion, in which the devout may recommend themselves to the saints in order to reach a purpose. More recent analyses (Zinn 2001<ref>Zinn, D. L. 2001. La raccomandazione: Clientelismo vecchio e nuovo.  Rome: Donzelli Editore.</ref>, 2013<ref>Zinn, D. L. 2013. ‘Power, Corruption and Reflexive Truths: A Reprise of ‘Mediterranean’ Corruption’, Journal of Mediterranean Studies, 22 (2): 293-315.</ref>) have traced continuity and change in ''raccomandazione'' with Italy’s modernisation, underlining the way in which this cultural category and practice remains deeply entrenched.  Post-war Italian society created the conditions for a ‘democratisation’ of ''raccomandazione'', allowing it to become consolidated in new spheres and among ever-wider segments of the population.

Early social science treatments of Italian ''raccomandazione'' from the 1950s to the early 1970s framed the discussion in terms of patronage-clientelism issues that characterised a large part of the Mediterranean region, looking in particular at rural contexts.  Such traditional clientelistic relationships featured vertical, dyadic ties between the ''raccomandante'' and ''raccomandato''.  In urban settings, the use of ''raccomandazioni'' for electoral patronage and organised crime has received greater attention (Gellner and Waterbury 1977<ref>Gellner, E. and J. Waterbury, (eds.) 1977. Patrons and Clients in Mediterranean Societies.  London:  Duckworth.</ref>, Chubb 1982<ref>Chubb, J. 1982. Patronage, Power and Poverty in Southern Italy:  A Tale of Two Cities.  New York:  Cambridge University Press.</ref>).  In Italy and in many other Mediterranean settings, the literature also describes how the language and practice of god-parenthood consolidated such relations.  Moreover, Jeremy Boissevain’s pioneering work in Sicily (1966<ref>Boissevain, J. 1966. ‘Patronage in Sicily’, Man 1 (1): 18-33.</ref>) noted the homologies between ''raccomandazione'' in patronage-clientelism and the Catholic religion, in which the devout may recommend themselves to the saints in order to reach a purpose. More recent analyses (Zinn 2001<ref>Zinn, D. L. 2001. La raccomandazione: Clientelismo vecchio e nuovo.  Rome: Donzelli Editore.</ref>, 2013<ref>Zinn, D. L. 2013. ‘Power, Corruption and Reflexive Truths: A Reprise of ‘Mediterranean’ Corruption’, Journal of Mediterranean Studies, 22 (2): 293-315.</ref>) have traced continuity and change in ''raccomandazione'' with Italy’s modernisation, underlining the way in which this cultural category and practice remains deeply entrenched.  Post-war Italian society created the conditions for a ‘democratisation’ of ''raccomandazione'', allowing it to become consolidated in new spheres and among ever-wider segments of the population.