Fondazione Bruno Kessler (Trento)

November 19-20 2026

The Genoa G8 summit of July 19–22, 2001, is often described as the high-water mark of international mobilization against neoliberal globalization and, simultaneously, as a watershed moment in the history of social movements in Europe. The protests, the death of Carlo Giuliani, the violence and torture later acknowledged by the European Court of Human Rights, and the protracted legal proceedings turned Genoa into a crucial laboratory for understanding the relationships between movements, states, and supranational bodies at the dawn of the twenty-first century. At the same time, studies on the global justice and alter-globalization movements have highlighted the transnational and distinctly European character of this cycle of protest: networks such as the Association for the Taxation of Financial Transactions and for Citizens’ Action (ATTAC), the Genoa Social Forum, the Indymedia network, and the World and European Social Forums redefined democratic practices, organizational forms, and political imaginaries that continued to circulate well beyond 2001, fueling subsequent mobilizations against war and austerity, and in support of the climate and migrants’ rights.

The conference fosters an opportunity for interdisciplinary reflection and exchange, addressing—from diverse perspectives and using varied methodologies—themes such as the transformation of social movements, political cultures of conflict, democratic participation practices, forms of repression, and public memories of collective mobilizations. It positions the 2001 Genoa G8 summit as a pivotal juncture within a broader trajectory spanning from the 1970s to the present day.

The conference’s central themes thus offer a significant opportunity to reflect on the continuities and ruptures between different cycles of protest, the relationships among movements, institutions, and civil society, and the political and cultural legacies that converged dramatically at the Genoa G8—legacies that remain vivid in public memory. In this spirit, the conference aims to serve not only as a forum for historical and interdisciplinary analysis but also as an occasion for public reflection.

Cosmos is a co-organizer of this event

Find the whole program here