Talk by Prof Dominic Fenech: The Self-Government Experience in Malta: 1921-1933

Dominic Fenech’s Talk – The Self-Government Experience in Malta

Fast forward from the year Malta gained independence in 1964 to the current year. Unsurprisingly the  Malta’s political scenario is still dominated by two mainstream political parties who have contributed to a  high level of polarisation  Although Malta, like all other countries in the West, has embraced secularism it has remained imbued with a religious conservative mindset that has not yet fully opened up to the liberal issues of our times. The Church still retains a heavy influence on the mindset of the Maltese establishment while clientelism , a relic of colonialism, is still highly embedded in the Maltese political culture. Such a dominant culture sustains the political rivalry of  the ‘us versus them’  which seeps into other aspects of Maltese culture, most notably in village feasts and village bands. Another peculiar rivalry in our island features football fans who support…