CasaPound Italia (abbr. CPI; "House of zraPound") is an

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance languag ...

neo-fascist Neo-fascism is a post-World War II far-right ideology which includes significant elements of fascism. Neo-fascism usually includes ultranationalism, ultraconservatism, racial supremacy, right-wing populism, authoritarianism, nativism, xe ...

movement. It was formerly a

political party A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular area's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific political ideology, ...

, born as a network of

far-right social centres CasaPound building in Rome A far-right social centre is a space inspired by neo-fascist and Third Position ideas, typically in the 21st century. Italy In Italy, a social centre called Il Bartolo was squatted in Rome, and was burnt down after one ...

arising from the occupation of a state-owned building by

squatters Squatting is the action of occupying an abandoned or unoccupied area of land or a building (usually residential) that the squatter does not own, rent or otherwise have lawful permission to use. The United Nations estimated in 2003 that there wer ...

in the neighborhood of Esquilino in

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

on 26 December 2003. Subsequently, CasaPound spread with other instances of squatting, demonstrations and various initiatives, becoming a

political movement A political movement is a collective attempt by a group of people to change government policy or social values. Political movements are usually in opposition to an element of the status quo, and are often associated with a certain ideology. Some t ...

. As such, in June 2008, CasaPound therefore constituted an "association of social promotion", and assumed its current name CasaPound Italia – CPI; the party's symbol is the "Arrowed Turtle". On 26 June 2019, CasaPound's leader Gianluca Iannone announced CasaPound's existence as a political party had ended, going back to its original status as a social movement.

History

image:CasaPound.JPG, left, CasaPound building in via Napoleone III,

(2010) The first occupation made using the name CasaPound was on 26 December 2003 in Rome, by a group of young people referring to the ONC/OSA area (an acronym for "Non-Compliant Occupations and Occupations with a Housing Purpose"), and coming from previous experience of CasaMontag (named after Guy Montag) at the gates of Rome. The building, a state-owned building via Napoleone III, later has been used as the national headquarters of the movement and the association. In 2010, 23 families and a total of 82 people lived in CasaPound-occupied building. Previously, CasaPound was associated with Tricolour Flame until 2008 but now has its movement, CasaPound Italy, extending all over Italy with many social centres. While CPI does not recognize the classic definitions of right and left, it is commonly placed in the category of the political groups and movements of the Italian radical right. Casapound is generally self-defined by its followers as

Third Position The Third Position is a set of neo-fascist political ideologies that were first described in Western Europe following the Second World War. Developed in the context of the Cold War, it developed its name through the claim that it represented ...

, however. In 2011 it was estimated that CasaPound Italy had 5,000 members, while in 2017 they reached 6,000.Tom Kington
"Italy's fascists stay true to Mussolini's ideology
"

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

(6 November 2011). Retrieved 14 December 2013. On 13 November 2017, Simone Di Stefano was elected secretary and nominal prime ministerial candidate for the 2018 general election, although the party subsequently formally stated that it hoped Northern League leader

Matteo Salvini Matteo Salvini (; born 9 March 1973) is an Italian politician who has been serving as Deputy Prime Minister of Italy and Italian Minister of Infrastructure and Transport, Minister of Infrastructure and Transport since 2022. He has been List of F ...

would become the prime minister. To participate in the

2019 European Parliament election in Italy The 2019 European Parliament election in Italy were held on 26 May 2019, electing members of the 9th Italian delegation to the European Parliament as part of the European elections held across the European Union. Background In 2014, the gov ...

, an electoral joint list was formed by CasaPound together with United Right. CasaPound leader Simone Di Stefano topped the coalition's list however the coalition was unable to win any seats in the

European Parliament The European Parliament (EP) is one of the two legislative bodies of the European Union and one of its seven institutions. Together with the Council of the European Union (known as the Council and informally as the Council of Ministers), it ...

. On 26 June 2019, CasaPound's Iannone announced CasaPound's existence as a political party had ended, going back to its original status as a social movement. During the

2022 Italian general election Snap election, Snap general elections were held in Italy on 25 September 2022. After the fall of the Draghi government, which led to a parliamentary impasse, President of Italy, President Sergio Mattarella dissolved Parliament on 21 July, and ca ...

, CasaPound supported Italexit, which had a candidate list that included CasaPound members.

Ideology

One feature of this movement, according to sociologist Emanuele Toscano, is to present a different interpretation of

fascism Fascism ( ) is a far-right, authoritarian, and ultranationalist political ideology and movement. It is characterized by a dictatorial leader, centralized autocracy, militarism, forcible suppression of opposition, belief in a natural social hie ...

aimed at overcoming the dichotomy of right-left. The political position of CasaPound is based on the fascist

, defined as "extreme-upper-centre" by the movement itself. The name, inspired by the poet

Ezra Pound Ezra Weston Loomis Pound (30 October 1885 – 1 November 1972) was an List of poets from the United States, American poet and critic, a major figure in the early modernist poetry movement, and a Collaboration with Nazi Germany and Fascist Ita ...

, refers to his '' Cantos'' against usury, criticisms of the economic positions of both

capitalism Capitalism is an economic system based on the private ownership of the means of production and their use for the purpose of obtaining profit. This socioeconomic system has developed historically through several stages and is defined by ...

and

Marxism Marxism is a political philosophy and method of socioeconomic analysis. It uses a dialectical and materialist interpretation of historical development, better known as historical materialism, to analyse class relations, social conflict, ...

and his cooperation with the

Italian Social Republic The Italian Social Republic (, ; RSI; , ), known prior to December 1943 as the National Republican State of Italy (; SNRI), but more popularly known as the Republic of Salò (, ), was a List of World War II puppet states#Germany, German puppe ...

. It also gives particular attention to the Manifesto of Verona, the

Labour Charter of 1927 The Charter of Labour of 1927 () was one of the main pieces of legislation Benito Mussolini, the Italian Fascist dictator from 1922–43, introduced in his attempts to modernise the Italian economy. The Charter was promulgated by the Grand Council o ...

and the social legislation of fascism. There has been collaboration with the

identitarian movement The Identitarian movement or Identitarianism is a Pan-European nationalism, pan-European nationalist, Ethnic nationalism, ethno-nationalist, Far-right politics, far-right ideological movement centred on the preservation of White people, white ...

which propagates a

white White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...

Christian A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the wo ...

Europe. The movement also praises the legacy of far-left figures, like

Che Guevara Ernesto "Che" Guevara (14th May 1928 – 9 October 1967) was an Argentines, Argentine Communist revolution, Marxist revolutionary, physician, author, Guerrilla warfare, guerrilla leader, diplomat, and Military theory, military theorist. A majo ...

and

Hugo Chávez Hugo Rafael Chávez Frías (; ; 28 July 1954 – 5 March 2013) was a Venezuelan politician, Bolivarian Revolution, revolutionary, and Officer (armed forces), military officer who served as the 52nd president of Venezuela from 1999 until De ...

. On social and domestic issues, CasaPound has a strong

anti-immigration Opposition to immigration, also known as anti-immigration, is a political position that seeks to restrict immigration. In the modern sense, immigration refers to the entry of people from one state or territory into another state or territory in ...

stance, but lacks homogeneity on other themes. In January 2016, many members of the movement participated in ''Family Day'', supporting the traditional family idea. In 2017, the establishment of CasaPound expressed support for same-sex civil unions, advance directives and improvement of the

welfare state A welfare state is a form of government in which the State (polity), state (or a well-established network of social institutions) protects and promotes the economic and social well-being of its citizens, based upon the principles of equal oppor ...

. The party supports

abortion Abortion is the early termination of a pregnancy by removal or expulsion of an embryo or fetus. Abortions that occur without intervention are known as miscarriages or "spontaneous abortions", and occur in roughly 30–40% of all pregnan ...

rights. Some activists of the movement expressed

antisemitic Antisemitism or Jew-hatred is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who harbours it is called an antisemite. Whether antisemitism is considered a form of racism depends on the school of thought. Antisemi ...

and

xenophobic Xenophobia (from (), 'strange, foreign, or alien', and (), 'fear') is the fear or dislike of anything that is perceived as being foreign or strange. It is an expression that is based on the perception that a conflict exists between an in-gr ...

rhetoric online, but CasaPound both refuses and expels members who support these ideas. On foreign policy, CasaPound is critical of the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...

, instead supporting a communitarian-nationalist Europe. The Movement was originally both

anti-American Anti-Americanism (also called anti-American sentiment and Americanophobia) is a term that can describe several sentiments and po ...

and

anti-Zionist Anti-Zionism is opposition to Zionism. Although anti-Zionism is a heterogeneous phenomenon, all its proponents agree that the creation of the State of Israel in 1948, and the movement to create a sovereign Jewish state in the Palestine (region) ...

, and started a cooperation with the Lebanese

anti-imperialist Anti-imperialism in political science and international relations is opposition to imperialism or neocolonialism. Anti-imperialist sentiment typically manifests as a political principle in independence struggles against intervention or influenc ...

Shia Shia Islam is the second-largest branch of Islam. It holds that Muhammad designated Ali ibn Abi Talib () as both his political successor (caliph) and as the spiritual leader of the Muslim community (imam). However, his right is understood ...

Islamist party

Hezbollah Hezbollah ( ; , , ) is a Lebanese Shia Islamist political party and paramilitary group. Hezbollah's paramilitary wing is the Jihad Council, and its political wing is the Loyalty to the Resistance Bloc party in the Lebanese Parliament. I ...

in 2015. However, Di Stefano later said, "We do not have problems with Israel". In 2018, Di Stefano defended Israeli Prime Minister

Benjamin Netanyahu Benjamin Netanyahu (born 21 October 1949) is an Israeli politician who has served as the prime minister of Israel since 2022, having previously held the office from 1996 to 1999 and from 2009 to 2021. Netanyahu is the longest-serving prime min ...

's policies regarding the repatriation of illegal immigrants to Africa as "undoubtedly excellent", and criticised humanitarian organisations and the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...

for intervening to prevent them. After the end of Di Stefano's leadership of CasaPound, it reverted to a strongly pro-Palestine stance in the

Israeli-Palestinian conflict Israelis (; ) are the citizens and nationals of the State of Israel. The country's populace is composed primarily of Jews and Arabs, who respectively account for 75 percent and 20 percent of the national figure, followed by other ethnic and ...

. Di Stefano has expressed support for U.S. President

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who is the 47th president of the United States. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served as the 45 ...

but requested that he close U.S. military bases in Italy. Although leader Di Stefano has maintained outspoken support for

Russian President The president of Russia, officially the president of the Russian Federation (), is the executive head of state of Russia. The president is the chair of the Federal State Council and the supreme commander-in-chief of the Russian Armed Forces. I ...

Vladimir Putin Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin (born 7 October 1952) is a Russian politician and former intelligence officer who has served as President of Russia since 2012, having previously served from 2000 to 2008. Putin also served as Prime Minister of Ru ...

, CasaPound has always taken a pro-

Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...

stance, being closely linked with the nationalist organization

Right Sector Right Sector () is a loosely defined coalition of right-wing to far-right Ukrainian nationalist organizations. It originated in November 2013 as a right-wing, paramilitary confederation of several ultranationalist organizations at the Euroma ...

, with members fighting among the ranks of the

Azov Battalion The 12th Special Forces Brigade "Azov" () is a formation of the National Guard of Ukraine formerly based in Mariupol, in the coastal region of the Sea of Azov, from which it derives its name. It was founded in May 2014 as the Azov Battalion (), ...

and

Misanthropic Division The Misanthropic Division (), also known as Division Phoenix since 2016, is an international neo-Nazi group based in Ukraine which has been described as a paramilitary organization, or as a movement. They originated in 2014 to take part in the E ...

. This positions the organization as opposed to its neo-fascist rival New Force, which although a former Italian ally of the Ukrainian party

Svoboda Svoboda () means "freedom" in various Slavic languages. It may refer to: People * Svoboda (surname) Organizations Media * Radio Svoboda, operated by Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty * ''Svoboda'' (newspaper), a daily Ukrainian language newspa ...

, it has, since 2014, taken a pro-Russian stance in the conflict and sent fighters to Donbas. According to the Italian edition of the ''

HuffPost ''HuffPost'' (''The Huffington Post'' until 2017, itself often abbreviated as ''HPo'') is an American progressive news website, with localized and international editions. The site offers news, satire, blogs, and original content, and covers p ...

'', members of CasaPound went to fight in Ukraine, among them Francesco Saverio Fontana, who enlisted in the

Activities

The social centre has its musical band, Zetazeroalfa, an association of

civil protection Civil defense or civil protection is an effort to protect the citizens of a state (generally non-combatants) from human-made and natural disasters. It uses the principles of emergency management: prevention, mitigation, preparation, response, ...

and promotes sports (

hiking A hike is a long, vigorous walk, usually on trails or footpaths in the countryside. Walking for pleasure developed in Europe during the eighteenth century. Long hikes as part of a religious pilgrimage have existed for a much longer time. "Hi ...

parachuting Parachuting and skydiving are methods of descending from a high point in an atmosphere to the ground or ocean surface with the aid of gravity, involving the control of speed during the descent using a parachute or multiple parachutes. For hu ...

diving Diving most often refers to: * Diving (sport), the sport of jumping into deep water * Underwater diving, human activity underwater for recreational or occupational purposes Diving or Dive may also refer to: Sports * Dive (American football), ...

and other disciplines), union activities, and recreational activities, including a theater company, web radio, web television and a monthly magazine. CasaPound has promoted initiatives outside the Italian territory through its non-profit organization Solidarité Identités. The activities of the movement have been the subject of attention by some foreign media. Giulia Basile
"Mussolinis Enkel. "Casa Pounds" rechte Jugendzentren in Italien,"
3sat.de (07.03.2011). Retrieved 14 December 2013. From the period of activity of the first social centre then were organized and cultural meetings with several guests, including writer Nicolai Lilin, the

LGBT LGBTQ people are individuals who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, or questioning. Many variants of the initialism are used; LGBTQIA+ people incorporates intersex, asexual, aromantic, agender, and other individuals. The gro ...

deputy

Paola Concia Anna Paola Concia (born 4 July 1963) is an Italian politician and LGBT rights activist. Biography Concia was born in Avezzano, Province of L'Aquila, and she graduated in sports science from L'Aquila's Istituto Superiore di Educazione Fisica; f ...

, an ex-

Red Brigades The Red Brigades ( , often abbreviated BR) were an Italian far-left Marxist–Leninist militant group. It was responsible for numerous violent incidents during Italy's Years of Lead, including the kidnapping and murder of Aldo Moro in 1978, ...

Valerio Morucci, and the Chinese community. The main CasaPound political proposal is the so-called ''Mutuo Sociale'' (''Social Mortgage''), as a response to the problem of housing which, according to official data, involving approximately 23,000 households throughout Italy. In October 2011, the Lazio Region officially approved it within its "House Plan". Starting with the 2011 elections CasaPound presented its candidates in local elections in civic lists or centre-right and succeeded in electing its representatives. At the regional and national elections of 2013, CasaPound Italy announced that it would present its civic lists throughout Italy.

Blocco Studentesco

CasaPounds student organization Blocco Studentesco was founded in 2006. Aside from being a place for interested people to find others with similar political views it also takes part in student elections. In 2009 it successfully entered the student parliaments with 100 representatives. Its logo is based on the flag of Oswald Mosley's British Union of Fascists from the 1930s. Blocco Studentesco's main forms of action are demonstrations and parades. Events such as flash mobs, hard bass and happenings are also organized and used for content production on social media. Some of the direct actions Blocco Studentesco takes part in are violent. In 2008 there was a fight between the student organisation and left-wing students in Piazza Navona in Rome. Questions have been submitted by parliamentarians of the Democratic Party about fascist propaganda and the violence of the student movement. In October 2023, the Students' Block protested an event in Rome attended by the

Likud Likud (, ), officially known as Likud – National Liberal Movement (), is a major Right-wing politics, right-wing, political party in Israel. It was founded in 1973 by Menachem Begin and Ariel Sharon in an alliance with several right-wing par ...

, the Republican Party, the

National Rally The National Rally (, , RN), known as the National Front from 1972 to 2018 (, , FN), is a French far-right politics, far-right political party, described as right-wing populist and French nationalism, nationalist. It is the single largest Nat ...

Fidesz Fidesz – Hungarian Civic Alliance (; ) is a national-conservative political party in Hungary led by Viktor Orbán. It has increasingly identified as illiberal. Originally formed in 1988 under the name of Alliance of Young Democrats () as ...

and the

Alternative for Germany Alternative for Germany (, AfD, ) is a Far-right politics in Germany (1945–present), far-right,Far-right: * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Right-wing populism, right-wing populist and National conservatism, national-conservative p ...

, calling for the liberation of Palestine, the

Golan Heights The Golan Heights, or simply the Golan, is a basaltic plateau at the southwest corner of Syria. It is bordered by the Yarmouk River in the south, the Sea of Galilee and Hula Valley in the west, the Anti-Lebanon mountains with Mount Hermon in t ...

and the

Republic of Artsakh Artsakh ( ), officially the Republic of Artsakh or the Republic of Nagorno-Karabakh ( ), was a breakaway state in the South Caucasus whose territory was internationally recognised as part of Azerbaijan. Between 1991 and 2023, Artsakh cont ...

, and condemning the parties in attendance as "pro-Russian and anti-European".

International meetings

Over the years the leaders of CasaPound Italy have been invited to explain its “political model” in many of the major European capitals (

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

Madrid Madrid ( ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in Spain, most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 7 million. It i ...

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

Lisbon Lisbon ( ; ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 567,131, as of 2023, within its administrative limits and 3,028,000 within the Lisbon Metropolitan Area, metropolis, as of 2025. Lisbon is mainlan ...

Brussels Brussels, officially the Brussels-Capital Region, (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) is a Communities, regions and language areas of Belgium#Regions, region of Belgium comprising #Municipalit ...

Warsaw Warsaw, officially the Capital City of Warsaw, is the capital and List of cities and towns in Poland, largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the Vistula, River Vistula in east-central Poland. Its population is officially estimated at ...

) and the organization has been the subject of some reports by foreign media. In 2011 the

Finnish Resistance Movement The Nordic Resistance Movement is a Scandinavism, pan-Nordic neo-Nazi movement in the Nordic countries and a political party in Sweden. Besides Sweden, it is established in Norway, Denmark and Iceland, and formerly in Finland before it was ba ...

also invited members of CasaPound to a seminar in

Helsinki Helsinki () is the Capital city, capital and most populous List of cities and towns in Finland, city in Finland. It is on the shore of the Gulf of Finland and is the seat of southern Finland's Uusimaa region. About people live in the municipali ...

. The Finnish Resistance Movement represents

national socialism Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During Hitler's rise to power, it was frequ ...

. The

Finnish Security Intelligence Service The Finnish Security and Intelligence Service (, ; , ), formerly the Finnish Security Police and Finnish Security Intelligence Service, is the Security agency, security and intelligence agency of Finland in charge of national security, such as Co ...

researched the connections of the Finnish Resistance Movement to CasaPound after the 2011 Florence shootings.

Symbolic figures

The party's choice of American poet

as a symbol of the movement has caused controversy with his daughter,

Mary de Rachewiltz Mary de Rachewiltz (born Maria Rudge) is an Italian-American poet and translator. She is the daughter of the American poet Ezra Pound, whose ''The Cantos'' she translated into Italian. Her childhood memoir '' Discretions'' was published in 1971. ...

, who claimed it distorts the meaning of Pound's work and represents a "misappropriation" of his image,Tom Kingtom
"Ezra Pound's daughter fights to wrest the renegade poet's legacy from fascists,"
The Observer (14 January 2012). Retrieved 14 December 2013. despite Pound's stated support for fascism.

Electoral results

Italian Parliament

European Parliament

Regional or Provincial Councils

References

External links

*
Blocco Studentesco - official website

CasaPound Nationalist Squat in Rome
on

YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...

The hipster fascists trying to bring Mussolini back into the mainstream
on

* {{Authority control 2003 establishments in Italy Anti-Islam political parties in Europe Anti-Islam sentiment in Italy Far-right politics in Italy Ezra Pound Neo-fascist organisations in Italy Right-wing anti-capitalism Self-managed social centers Squats in Italy Third Position Anti-Zionist organizations Anti-Zionism in Italy