I love the progress of the article - from appearing to be strongly against raccomandazione to realising (& accepting) that you are part of it. I so relate to the feeling of elation (and belonging) from getting a discount at the bar or the fruit shop when I am in Italy. But I have also been on the receiving end when I didn't get something that someone else did - for no valid reason.
After returning to Australia from living in Italy, I moved to a small regional town (after spending most of my adult life in Sydney). Here I have become dependent on the raccomandazione far more than in the city - the handyman, the gardener, the electrician and the list goes on. It felt so good recently when a friend was happy with the service from the plumber I had recommended. I belong!
That feeling of belonging is great! I know just what you mean.
In my fruit shop I don't get a discount except maybe rounding down. But at the end of the transaction, the seller always puts a couple of extra oranges or tomatoes or whatever in the bag. He also gives little snack to Mocha. I think that's better than a discount. If you read the coffee bar article from a few weeks back ("Not up to you") then you know my thoughts on fitting in at the coffee bar.
Excellent article. We have the same concept in Spain ... it's called "enchufados" and I know others do similar things, I never thought about the religious aspect. I think it's more evident in Italy, though.
No, no idea what happened to her. This all happened several years ago. As I mentioned at the end, Massimo and Salvatore's names are changed. They are people I know. Federica's name is changed, too, but to be honest I can't remember what her real name was!
Agreed about the religious aspect! I hadn't considered that either before the interview, but it makes perfect sense.
I don't have an assistant any more. The nature of the work I do has changed -- less breaking news, fewer interviews, less travel. Plus, I don't have the quantity of work I used to have. But thanks for the offer!
It may be a universal phenomenon but in Italy it's what making many people leave the country and it's the reason most of it is sinking.
In post-war Italy there were raccomandazioni for sure, but they didn't completely block qualified people from getting by and making progress. What we've come to now, is that in order to ensure that the " raccomandati" progress, there's no possibility at all for qualified ones.
Let's not gloss over it, knowing that there's a system not of referrals ( that's not what they are in a million years) but of pushing undeserving people forward, changes a country's mindset for the worse. It leaves many feeling hopeless, like Salvatore's father. And if Salvatore had been a woman, the father would have thought even worse.
As you can see, I feel very strongly about the topic!
I'm obviously no fan of the corrupt part of the system. Imagine how much I would have struggled with work if I'd hired Federica just to please my landlord! I also think you are correct that the game is even more rigged against women in most situations. Salvatore does have a sister who tried to move to Rome as well. I don't know the whole story but I know she's back in Calabria now.
I agree it's still a big problem, but it doesn't seem as bad as it once was.
For example, I have three friends to got jobs in the public administration via public "consorsi." I also have a friend who was about to be hired by an Italian multinational company based in Rome, but in the end wasn't because it was revealed her uncle was a manger in another section of the company and that ran afoul of the company's internal anti-nepotism rules.
When I first got to Italy those examples would be almost unheard of, especially in the southern half of the country.
It's obviously not perfect. The friends who git hired after "concorsi" seem to get passed over for "tempo indeterminato" contracts and at least one of them says she is the hardest worker in the office while the "raccomandati" take long lunches and show up late. Many of the directors still seem to be hired because of personal connections.
I do think the worst aspects of the "raccomandate" system are eroding, mostly because Italian institutions are becoming stronger and more transparent thanks to integration with the EU. Would you disagree with that?
I'd like it to change faster, but I also don't think it would be a good idea to pull it out by the roots because there are many soft versions of it that are lovely, like the "sconto di amici," the barista making my coffee without being told, and that kind of thing. I probably won't live to see it, but ideally Italy will be able to maintain the things that make it unique while making it more of a meritocracy.
The most interesting parts were Salvatore's father sending you veggies and the comments from Prof. Zinn. All, I'm glad you recognized you're part of it. You couldn't last long in italy fighting against the system on basic stuff like this.
I recently quizzed my circle of friends for recommendations for a roofer and chose one who provided the best estimate and also happened to have connections in my neighborhood. I was so thankful for the "hive mind" input - it saved me so much angst and the hassle of going through the estimate process with a bunch of random roofers. It takes a village!
I'm glad some of that remains in the U.S. But Tallahassee has kind of a "village" quality to it, doesn't it? It's welcoming. I mean, obviously, it's a medium-sized city and a state capital. But it doesn't feel as impersonal as (much larger) Orlando, which is the other city in Florida I know well. Do you think that's right? And if it is, why do you think it is? If it's because of the university, do Gainesville and Athens and other college towns feel like that as well?
Wow! Every week, you truly find another view point to teach your readers. I had never thought about recommendations in this context, but it does live very fluently here in the U.S. When Betty and I moved back to our home town in Oklahoma, things had dramatically changed over the 20 years we were gone. All the doctors we used before were retied or passed. Very common in a small, rural Oklahoma town that is literally (as I tell people where we are located) "about 100 miles from the closest escalator." Through life-long friends, we discovered they drive 45 miles to another town for their various doctors and specialists, as none of the crop of doctors in our town are competent. So we do too. We found a plumber and HVAC servicing through recommendations as well. The jury is still out on which internet provider is best, but we have been lucky with our selection for the last 7 1/2 years. Now, as you know, we will be "on the search" for new recommendations within 2 months (or less, as we are now a homeowner about 1 mile from Eric and Jennifer!).
We have a saying in America that has proven to be extremely accurate in job hunting over 55 years: "It isn't what you know, but who you know." The various jobs I held in my early working years came from recommendations on my behalf. And over the years, as my rank and status grew with my job, I gave recommendations and advice to people to help them at least get an interview. So I'm guilty. And Thank You for the note on your Mom's praying habits. Very interesting perspective!
Wonderful story and so precisely described! And YES - this is a universal phenomenon. I spent 35 years in Austria which - without recommendations - would have been a lot tougher. Today it's me who sends people to others and tell them to mention my name. Works for everyone. It just depends on the fact if the person you recommend is really the right fit or not. But the act always remains the same. It is like handing over a part of the trust we have in another person.
I guess that's Dorothy Zinn's point, and I suppose it's true. She's studied the topic and other commentators here have talked about examples -- good and bad -- in the U.S., which considers itself a meritocracy. But I think it's particularly prevelent here. Same in Peru, where I lived before moving to Italy. Your examples show it exists in a Germanic culture like Austria, but here I think it's hard to operate even if one wanted to without being part of the system.
Same, same. Without the "system" I would have stayed yet another woman with a child trying to survive. But I knew the mayor where we lived and YES - I got a noce apartment. I knew people and YES - I got a good job. I qualified anyway for all of this. Without the "system" nobody cared.
Maybe Sweden is different - Austria is not.
The other thing to be reminded - while in the US cash is king in Italy it is the people you know. Is that actually bad?
By way of overture, I love this content and can natter on about it all day long, and often do over in my corner.
I like your take and the inflection point here - that all cultures participate in the practice of raccomandazione. Italy may be an outlier in its relative candor about it all.
After almost 30 years in Italy, I have been on every side of this rolled dice.
1 - I owe my current (cosidetto) professional activity, to some extent, to a racommandazione - a friend heard about the work by word of mouth, and referred me to the office, where I met with an Italian whom I'd met a few years before when my daughter and his son were in asilo nido together in Firenze. It was an easy transition. By Italian rights we were practically cugini. Seven years later, it's been a fruitful collaboration, all told, and well worth my time.
2 - Once, years ago, I was interviewing for a position in my (then-US) office (immigration advising on campus) and an application came through for the Cuban-born wife of a French professor who otherwise had no qualifications for the work, other than she spoke some Spanish and liked foreign films. (Who doesn't!) Then came the racommandazione phone call from the Calabria-born professoressa friend of the French professor's wife and (perhaps more importantly) colleague of my husband. This was my first personal experience with the concept and I was utterly tongue tied. The Calabrian was insistent, "Ma ti do una racommandazione!" (Me to myself: she can't write a letter??) I simply had no idea what was expected and why the Calabian phone call was happening. We didn't hire the unqualified wife of the French professor and my, she was miffed. She had come with a bulletproof racommandazione! The "thanksnothanks" call was soo awkward.
3 - I am often approached by people of all stripes in Florence (and beyond) asking me if I might put their CV in front of my husband. As an upper Midwesterner this is appalling. What, when? On his pillowcase? ("Come on, Monica, I know you can get me an indeterminato at your husband's place of work!") No, actually, I can't. But they never believe me. They persist. It's so predictable. (and a real statement on the labor market even in a relatively wealthy regione like Tuscany)
3a. I have learned over the decades: that it is as prestigious, in terms of community, to offer to give a racommandazione, no matter what happens after. To swan in like Tony Servillo in a tailored suit, glowingly in charge, and say, yes, I'd be happy to put in a word on your behalf - delighted, in fact!
And if someone asks me for a raccomandazione? Perhaps best to simply smile and say, sure, send it to me. I'll put in a word. That's how the currency of social capital is traded. I need to train my inner Finn on this better. Truly, the outcome is not as important as the willingness to help.
I am still laughing about your friend's acquaintance with her beach house, no laptop, no English, and distant start date. YES! THE PERFECT FIT!
Haha. You're the first to mention the woman who wanted the job but only after the beach house and all that. I really wish I'd kept track of her so I could know how things worked out for her in the end. I have a feeling she probably married well and so it worked out.
I think most people do what you described when asked for a raccomandazione: sure, I'm happy to help and then ... mostly nothing. You put it very succinctly: the outcome is not as important as the willingness to help.
So, after all these experiences you've had with raccomandazioni, what percentage of it do you think is corruption and what percent a natural progression from relationships one may have?
I have come to believe that the raccomendazione in its purest concept functions as a sort of mutual aid society, within a community under stress - be it economic, extrajudicial, or cultural. The Italian raccomendazione was borne out of necessity as a way to get a leg up into a slightly better situation. As such, we cannot blame it for its motives.
The grey area begins when sums and favors become ever larger. Governmental in scope, rooted in ministries and courts. A courtesy arancia from the fruttivendolo is a far cry from the Agenzia dell'Entrate or the guardia di finanza or suchlike. The proverbial net becomes smaller and tighter, less porous and more, shall we say, inbred. HIgh context reigns - the less said, the better - the more, and more quickly, to accrue social and financial capital.
The racommendazione came about as the response of the disenfranchised to noblesse oblige and the blithe expectations of landowners and piccola nobilità. But I don't think those tenants ever imagined that a cortesia could become so large and shadowed. Jesù, all they were hoping for was an extra 5L of olio nuovo.
All that to say, because you asked for a percentuale. Italian raccomendazione gauge reads: 90% helpful / 10% corruption.
Italy you marvelous creature you 😘 Complex like a good wine, ripened and strong like a good cheese, and with the soft, delicious underbelly of a tette delle monache 🇮🇹
Not to be cynical, but do you think the father might have sent you the veggies as a way to reinforce your decision to hire the son? Is that playing the same "recommendation game"?
I don't know. Probably not, by who knows? When you get down to the nitty-gritty it's all grey areas. When I asked Salvatore to take Mocha (my dog) when I couldn't find a dog sitter, was he doing it to curry favor in a manipulative way? Or because he was a nice guy and he liked dogs?
The barista who occasionally gives me a free coffee and who lets me use a table while paying the stand-up price ... does he do that so I'll owe him? I don't think so. But he also got a post card in English from a tourist once and I translated it for him. Another time, he was alone and had to move his car so he asked me to stay in the bar until he got back and I did. I don't think any of it was manipulative ... just a nice guy helping out another nice guy.
All this seems more than normal to be honest. I remember putting in a good word (vouching) for a friend to get her a job in television in London. She did the same for me when she was working in a similar role in Rome. https://www.treccani.it/vocabolario/raccomandazione/
I actually had that Treccani page bookmarked and thought about linking to it in the essay! I rely on Treccani a lot. And the most nervous I ever was speaking Italian wasn't a TV appearance or a lecture, it was interviewing the head of Treccani by phone! I told him I was nervous because I'd learned most of my Italian just by speaking it, reading, and writing, etc., not by studying, and he was very kind.
I do agree that some of this exists everywhere (a point Zinn made as well). And vouching for someone you know is always helpful. But I think the relationship system is unusually important in Italy.
Loved this reflection. "Referrals", "Putting in a good word", "An introduction", "Lunch with [name of important connection" etc. We definitely have a culture of raccomandazione in the U.S.
I read back around 2002 or 2003, before the Internet was so widely used, that the phone company for a big U.S. city like Houston or Philidelphia printed around as many phone books as were printed in all of Italy, with a population 60 million. What's the lesson that illustrates: Americans are much, much more likely to "let their fingers do the walking" and pick a business run by someone they don't know than Italians are. Now that I think of it, that stat (if I could find the exact data) would have been a good fit for this essay.
I love the progress of the article - from appearing to be strongly against raccomandazione to realising (& accepting) that you are part of it. I so relate to the feeling of elation (and belonging) from getting a discount at the bar or the fruit shop when I am in Italy. But I have also been on the receiving end when I didn't get something that someone else did - for no valid reason.
After returning to Australia from living in Italy, I moved to a small regional town (after spending most of my adult life in Sydney). Here I have become dependent on the raccomandazione far more than in the city - the handyman, the gardener, the electrician and the list goes on. It felt so good recently when a friend was happy with the service from the plumber I had recommended. I belong!
That feeling of belonging is great! I know just what you mean.
In my fruit shop I don't get a discount except maybe rounding down. But at the end of the transaction, the seller always puts a couple of extra oranges or tomatoes or whatever in the bag. He also gives little snack to Mocha. I think that's better than a discount. If you read the coffee bar article from a few weeks back ("Not up to you") then you know my thoughts on fitting in at the coffee bar.
Thanks for commenting, Glenda.
Yes, I noticed the same thing! It's interesting and informative , but also an evolution
Excellent article. We have the same concept in Spain ... it's called "enchufados" and I know others do similar things, I never thought about the religious aspect. I think it's more evident in Italy, though.
I love the top photo.
I wonder what happened to Federica. Do you know?
No, no idea what happened to her. This all happened several years ago. As I mentioned at the end, Massimo and Salvatore's names are changed. They are people I know. Federica's name is changed, too, but to be honest I can't remember what her real name was!
Agreed about the religious aspect! I hadn't considered that either before the interview, but it makes perfect sense.
I can think of 25 people I know who are like Federica or like Massimo. They're OK, but they operate like that
Yeah, it's an archetype for sure.
P.S. If you still need an assistant, I think I'd be good at a job like that!!
I don't have an assistant any more. The nature of the work I do has changed -- less breaking news, fewer interviews, less travel. Plus, I don't have the quantity of work I used to have. But thanks for the offer!
Damn, Lyman, your articles are packed with good info! It was an interesting read.
Haha! Thanks, Matisse!
What a painful word raccomandazione is!
It may be a universal phenomenon but in Italy it's what making many people leave the country and it's the reason most of it is sinking.
In post-war Italy there were raccomandazioni for sure, but they didn't completely block qualified people from getting by and making progress. What we've come to now, is that in order to ensure that the " raccomandati" progress, there's no possibility at all for qualified ones.
Let's not gloss over it, knowing that there's a system not of referrals ( that's not what they are in a million years) but of pushing undeserving people forward, changes a country's mindset for the worse. It leaves many feeling hopeless, like Salvatore's father. And if Salvatore had been a woman, the father would have thought even worse.
As you can see, I feel very strongly about the topic!
I'm obviously no fan of the corrupt part of the system. Imagine how much I would have struggled with work if I'd hired Federica just to please my landlord! I also think you are correct that the game is even more rigged against women in most situations. Salvatore does have a sister who tried to move to Rome as well. I don't know the whole story but I know she's back in Calabria now.
I agree it's still a big problem, but it doesn't seem as bad as it once was.
For example, I have three friends to got jobs in the public administration via public "consorsi." I also have a friend who was about to be hired by an Italian multinational company based in Rome, but in the end wasn't because it was revealed her uncle was a manger in another section of the company and that ran afoul of the company's internal anti-nepotism rules.
When I first got to Italy those examples would be almost unheard of, especially in the southern half of the country.
It's obviously not perfect. The friends who git hired after "concorsi" seem to get passed over for "tempo indeterminato" contracts and at least one of them says she is the hardest worker in the office while the "raccomandati" take long lunches and show up late. Many of the directors still seem to be hired because of personal connections.
I do think the worst aspects of the "raccomandate" system are eroding, mostly because Italian institutions are becoming stronger and more transparent thanks to integration with the EU. Would you disagree with that?
I'd like it to change faster, but I also don't think it would be a good idea to pull it out by the roots because there are many soft versions of it that are lovely, like the "sconto di amici," the barista making my coffee without being told, and that kind of thing. I probably won't live to see it, but ideally Italy will be able to maintain the things that make it unique while making it more of a meritocracy.
The most interesting parts were Salvatore's father sending you veggies and the comments from Prof. Zinn. All, I'm glad you recognized you're part of it. You couldn't last long in italy fighting against the system on basic stuff like this.
After so long in Italy I've become part Italian!
I recently quizzed my circle of friends for recommendations for a roofer and chose one who provided the best estimate and also happened to have connections in my neighborhood. I was so thankful for the "hive mind" input - it saved me so much angst and the hassle of going through the estimate process with a bunch of random roofers. It takes a village!
I'm glad some of that remains in the U.S. But Tallahassee has kind of a "village" quality to it, doesn't it? It's welcoming. I mean, obviously, it's a medium-sized city and a state capital. But it doesn't feel as impersonal as (much larger) Orlando, which is the other city in Florida I know well. Do you think that's right? And if it is, why do you think it is? If it's because of the university, do Gainesville and Athens and other college towns feel like that as well?
Wow! Every week, you truly find another view point to teach your readers. I had never thought about recommendations in this context, but it does live very fluently here in the U.S. When Betty and I moved back to our home town in Oklahoma, things had dramatically changed over the 20 years we were gone. All the doctors we used before were retied or passed. Very common in a small, rural Oklahoma town that is literally (as I tell people where we are located) "about 100 miles from the closest escalator." Through life-long friends, we discovered they drive 45 miles to another town for their various doctors and specialists, as none of the crop of doctors in our town are competent. So we do too. We found a plumber and HVAC servicing through recommendations as well. The jury is still out on which internet provider is best, but we have been lucky with our selection for the last 7 1/2 years. Now, as you know, we will be "on the search" for new recommendations within 2 months (or less, as we are now a homeowner about 1 mile from Eric and Jennifer!).
We have a saying in America that has proven to be extremely accurate in job hunting over 55 years: "It isn't what you know, but who you know." The various jobs I held in my early working years came from recommendations on my behalf. And over the years, as my rank and status grew with my job, I gave recommendations and advice to people to help them at least get an interview. So I'm guilty. And Thank You for the note on your Mom's praying habits. Very interesting perspective!
Wonderful story and so precisely described! And YES - this is a universal phenomenon. I spent 35 years in Austria which - without recommendations - would have been a lot tougher. Today it's me who sends people to others and tell them to mention my name. Works for everyone. It just depends on the fact if the person you recommend is really the right fit or not. But the act always remains the same. It is like handing over a part of the trust we have in another person.
A wonderful human act.
I guess that's Dorothy Zinn's point, and I suppose it's true. She's studied the topic and other commentators here have talked about examples -- good and bad -- in the U.S., which considers itself a meritocracy. But I think it's particularly prevelent here. Same in Peru, where I lived before moving to Italy. Your examples show it exists in a Germanic culture like Austria, but here I think it's hard to operate even if one wanted to without being part of the system.
Same, same. Without the "system" I would have stayed yet another woman with a child trying to survive. But I knew the mayor where we lived and YES - I got a noce apartment. I knew people and YES - I got a good job. I qualified anyway for all of this. Without the "system" nobody cared.
Maybe Sweden is different - Austria is not.
The other thing to be reminded - while in the US cash is king in Italy it is the people you know. Is that actually bad?
By way of overture, I love this content and can natter on about it all day long, and often do over in my corner.
I like your take and the inflection point here - that all cultures participate in the practice of raccomandazione. Italy may be an outlier in its relative candor about it all.
After almost 30 years in Italy, I have been on every side of this rolled dice.
1 - I owe my current (cosidetto) professional activity, to some extent, to a racommandazione - a friend heard about the work by word of mouth, and referred me to the office, where I met with an Italian whom I'd met a few years before when my daughter and his son were in asilo nido together in Firenze. It was an easy transition. By Italian rights we were practically cugini. Seven years later, it's been a fruitful collaboration, all told, and well worth my time.
2 - Once, years ago, I was interviewing for a position in my (then-US) office (immigration advising on campus) and an application came through for the Cuban-born wife of a French professor who otherwise had no qualifications for the work, other than she spoke some Spanish and liked foreign films. (Who doesn't!) Then came the racommandazione phone call from the Calabria-born professoressa friend of the French professor's wife and (perhaps more importantly) colleague of my husband. This was my first personal experience with the concept and I was utterly tongue tied. The Calabrian was insistent, "Ma ti do una racommandazione!" (Me to myself: she can't write a letter??) I simply had no idea what was expected and why the Calabian phone call was happening. We didn't hire the unqualified wife of the French professor and my, she was miffed. She had come with a bulletproof racommandazione! The "thanksnothanks" call was soo awkward.
3 - I am often approached by people of all stripes in Florence (and beyond) asking me if I might put their CV in front of my husband. As an upper Midwesterner this is appalling. What, when? On his pillowcase? ("Come on, Monica, I know you can get me an indeterminato at your husband's place of work!") No, actually, I can't. But they never believe me. They persist. It's so predictable. (and a real statement on the labor market even in a relatively wealthy regione like Tuscany)
3a. I have learned over the decades: that it is as prestigious, in terms of community, to offer to give a racommandazione, no matter what happens after. To swan in like Tony Servillo in a tailored suit, glowingly in charge, and say, yes, I'd be happy to put in a word on your behalf - delighted, in fact!
And if someone asks me for a raccomandazione? Perhaps best to simply smile and say, sure, send it to me. I'll put in a word. That's how the currency of social capital is traded. I need to train my inner Finn on this better. Truly, the outcome is not as important as the willingness to help.
I am still laughing about your friend's acquaintance with her beach house, no laptop, no English, and distant start date. YES! THE PERFECT FIT!
Haha. You're the first to mention the woman who wanted the job but only after the beach house and all that. I really wish I'd kept track of her so I could know how things worked out for her in the end. I have a feeling she probably married well and so it worked out.
I think most people do what you described when asked for a raccomandazione: sure, I'm happy to help and then ... mostly nothing. You put it very succinctly: the outcome is not as important as the willingness to help.
So, after all these experiences you've had with raccomandazioni, what percentage of it do you think is corruption and what percent a natural progression from relationships one may have?
I have come to believe that the raccomendazione in its purest concept functions as a sort of mutual aid society, within a community under stress - be it economic, extrajudicial, or cultural. The Italian raccomendazione was borne out of necessity as a way to get a leg up into a slightly better situation. As such, we cannot blame it for its motives.
The grey area begins when sums and favors become ever larger. Governmental in scope, rooted in ministries and courts. A courtesy arancia from the fruttivendolo is a far cry from the Agenzia dell'Entrate or the guardia di finanza or suchlike. The proverbial net becomes smaller and tighter, less porous and more, shall we say, inbred. HIgh context reigns - the less said, the better - the more, and more quickly, to accrue social and financial capital.
The racommendazione came about as the response of the disenfranchised to noblesse oblige and the blithe expectations of landowners and piccola nobilità. But I don't think those tenants ever imagined that a cortesia could become so large and shadowed. Jesù, all they were hoping for was an extra 5L of olio nuovo.
All that to say, because you asked for a percentuale. Italian raccomendazione gauge reads: 90% helpful / 10% corruption.
Italy you marvelous creature you 😘 Complex like a good wine, ripened and strong like a good cheese, and with the soft, delicious underbelly of a tette delle monache 🇮🇹
Never change darling ❤️
I've recommended people I know in Rome because they're friends and I have no idea if they're any good at their job. So I guess I'm guilty.
You’re just doing as the Romans do!
Not to be cynical, but do you think the father might have sent you the veggies as a way to reinforce your decision to hire the son? Is that playing the same "recommendation game"?
I don't know. Probably not, by who knows? When you get down to the nitty-gritty it's all grey areas. When I asked Salvatore to take Mocha (my dog) when I couldn't find a dog sitter, was he doing it to curry favor in a manipulative way? Or because he was a nice guy and he liked dogs?
The barista who occasionally gives me a free coffee and who lets me use a table while paying the stand-up price ... does he do that so I'll owe him? I don't think so. But he also got a post card in English from a tourist once and I translated it for him. Another time, he was alone and had to move his car so he asked me to stay in the bar until he got back and I did. I don't think any of it was manipulative ... just a nice guy helping out another nice guy.
All this seems more than normal to be honest. I remember putting in a good word (vouching) for a friend to get her a job in television in London. She did the same for me when she was working in a similar role in Rome. https://www.treccani.it/vocabolario/raccomandazione/
I actually had that Treccani page bookmarked and thought about linking to it in the essay! I rely on Treccani a lot. And the most nervous I ever was speaking Italian wasn't a TV appearance or a lecture, it was interviewing the head of Treccani by phone! I told him I was nervous because I'd learned most of my Italian just by speaking it, reading, and writing, etc., not by studying, and he was very kind.
I do agree that some of this exists everywhere (a point Zinn made as well). And vouching for someone you know is always helpful. But I think the relationship system is unusually important in Italy.
Loved this reflection. "Referrals", "Putting in a good word", "An introduction", "Lunch with [name of important connection" etc. We definitely have a culture of raccomandazione in the U.S.
I read back around 2002 or 2003, before the Internet was so widely used, that the phone company for a big U.S. city like Houston or Philidelphia printed around as many phone books as were printed in all of Italy, with a population 60 million. What's the lesson that illustrates: Americans are much, much more likely to "let their fingers do the walking" and pick a business run by someone they don't know than Italians are. Now that I think of it, that stat (if I could find the exact data) would have been a good fit for this essay.
Yes!
Wow, raccomandazione! What a loaded topic.