ABSTRACT

This chapter focuses on the formation and activities of the Comitato No Grandi Navi Laguna Bene Comune, a local social movement that has challenged the city government's and harbour authorities' approach to cruise ship tourism and has campaigned to ban giant cruise liners from the entire Venetian Lagoon. Daher suggests that contemporary Italian social movements have relied upon a combination of three types of strategies of institution, association and lobby. The activities of Ambiente Venezia thus contributed to one of the distinctive features of the protest movement: the collective production of knowledge to advance the Committee's agenda. The concerted action against cruise tourism in Venice has acted as a catalyst for the convergence of different actors and mobilization efforts and as a focal point to address broader issues related to Venice's decline as a lived city': depopulation, industrial decline, political corruption.