In September 2018, Dr. Brian J Griffith moved to Rome, Italy to complete his Ph.D. dissertation. Unbeknownst to him, Griffith had relocated to Balduina—one of Rome's most active neo-fascist neighborhoods. Upon his arrival, Griffith was immediately confronted by spray-painted swastikas, Roman fasces, tributes to the "Duce," as well as neo-fascist posters, handbills, and stickers everywhere. In his 2017 monograph On Tyranny, historian Timothy Snyder encourages his readers to "[t]ake responsibility for the face of the world" and "[r]emove them yourself." In reflecting upon Snyder’s wisdom, Griffith decided to do something about these "signs of hate" in Rome.

While his immediate motivation was to simply remove these materials from public display, Griffith gradually came to the realization that they were, in fact, valuable historical sources on the various ways in which far-right groups push their illiberal politics of collective—and selective—memory into Italy’s public sphere. This realization led to an idea: Why not collect, or "harvest," these materials, photograph them, and showcase them in an Open Access digital archive? Using a primitive repertoire of make-shift tools—a putty knife and a razorblade—Griffith “harvested” thirty-five posters, seven stickers, two handbills, and one banner, with the majority gathered at night to go unnoticed.

In recent years, Western democracies have, once again, come under assault from a variety of far-right movements, such as CasaPound Italia and the Proud Boys. Given these conditions, scholars have a duty to share their knowledge with the public. Named after Antonio Gramsci's observations that "monsters are born" in periods of transition, Where Monsters Are Born (WMAB) is intended as an Open Access resource exploring the visual and spatial strategies deployed by contemporary Italy's neo-fascist community between October 2018 and July 2019. The collection can be navigated via Groups, Materials, Themes, Tags, Timeline, and Map. Co-curators Dr. Griffith and Dr. Amy King intend to make a modest contribution to the struggle against neo-fascism by promoting a visual literacy that will equip viewers with the skill sets required for identifying and combating far-right values across the Atlantic.

Digital Archive

• Co-curated with Dr. Amy King, Where Monsters Are Born: Documenting a Fascist Revival in the Streets of Rome, 2018-2019 (November 2024)

Exhibition

• Where Monsters Are Born: Documenting a Fascist Revival in the Streets of Rome, 2018-2019 (Fresno State Library  |  January 27 - March 22, 2025)