From performative anti-fascism to post-fascism: the Lega (Nord)'s political discourse in historical context (original) (raw)
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‘No Federalism Please, We Are Leghisti!’ The Lega Nord under Matteo Salvini.
Since 2013, the ideology of the Lega Nord (LN – Northern League) has changed under the influence of its new leader, Matteo Salvini. Having abandoned the claim that Italy should become a federal state and having embraced nationalism, Salvini has focused his party’s message on immigration/law and order and started to collaborate at various levels with extreme right organisations, both inside and outside Italy. In so doing, the LN’s leader has sought to capitalise on the state of disarray which has recently characterised the LN’s former ally in government and competitor on the right: Silvio Berlusconi’s Forza Italia (FI). Based on empirical data collected in 2016 and 2017 via an analysis of the party’s strategic communication, and elite interviews with LN regional leaders, this paper explores the extent to which the LN’s ideology has changed under Salvini and how recent developments are seen within his party. It concludes by arguing that Salvini’s Lega Nord now fulfils the criteria to be included in the ‘populist radical right’ party family.
2021
Italy's Lega Nord is one of the most notorious radical right-wing parties in Europe. It was founded in 1991 as a movement that represented the interests of the country's northern regions which were collectively labelled as 'Padania' in their political platform. Under the leadership of Umberto Bossi (1991-2012) it participated in coalition governments with Silvio Berlusconi and continually advocated for federalism and sometimes independence for the North of Italy. The Northern League's success was largely due to its opposition towards what they regarded as the 'Other' i.e. southern Italians, immigrants and the EU. In 2013, Matteo Salvini became the party's leader and began changing its strategy. It stopped being hostile to southern Italians and rebranded itself as the Lega, but its anti-migrant and anti-EU discourses have remained intact and have been amplified by Salvini's shrewd use of social media. This article aims to explain why the League wanted to confront their main enemies and how they were represented in its discourse. It will start with a description of the party's evolution between 1991 and 2013 that will be followed by an examination of the Lega's position on 'Padanian' identity, southern Italians, foreign migrants, and European integration during this period. Afterwards, an account of how the League has changed under Salvini will be provided, before finishing with an analysis of his treatment of immigrants and the EU and his social media approach. The source material for this article includes books, edited chapters, journals and online articles written in English and Italian.
2018
Whilst the Lega Nord has traditionally been defined as a regionalist populist party, since Matteo Salvini became its leader in 2013 it has undergone a process of profound ideological transformation. This article assesses this momentous change and the impact it could have on the future of the Lega, drawing on a content analysis of Salvini’s and the party’s Facebook posts, as well as interviews with regional leaders. It argues that, under Salvini’s personal style of leadership: (a) regionalism has been replaced by an empty form of nativist nationalism, which fails to address socio-economic issues related to the North–South divide; (b) populism remains central to the party’s strategic communication, but the EU has taken Rome’s place as the people’s ‘enemy’; (c) this ideological shift has paid-off at the 2018 general election, but is underpinned by latent fractures between the leader and regional representatives which could have profound implications in the future. KEYWORDS: Regionalism, nationalism, Lega Nord, populism, personalization
The Lega Nord in the Second Berlusconi Government: In a League of Its Own
For regionalist populists like the Lega Nord, participation in coalition at national level requires striking a delicate balance between being a party of government and a movement of opposition. The key to this is choosing the right ‘friends’ and ‘enemies’ within government. In contrast to its previous time in power in 1994, in the second Berlusconi government (2001–05) the Lega cast itself as the Forza Italia leader’s most faithful ally, while being seen to be in almost constant conflict with its fellow junior coalition partners: Alleanza Nazionale (AN) and the UDC. Indeed, as AN repositions itself within a respectable governmental ‘European’ Right, so the Lega appears ever more in a league of its own within the Italian centre-right. Based on exclusive recent interviews, this article examines the Lega’s relationship to its heartland and its positions on issues such as immigration, Europe, globalisation and constitutional reform. We argue that the party has transformed itself into an ‘institutionalised’ populist movement that has successfully walked the tightrope of being seen to have ‘one foot in and one foot out’ of government.
Going, Going,… Not Quite Gone Yet? "Bossi’s Lega" and the Survival of the Mass Party
The scholarly literature has devoted a lot of attention to the declining number of party members in post-industrial societies, arguing that parties now lack the incentives to maintain a large membership. However, some right-wing populist parties have continued to rely on activism by being rooted at the local level and by fostering the creation of closed communities of ideologically committed members. In short, they have adopted an organisational model in many ways reminiscent of the mass party. By focusing on one of these organisations, the Italian Lega Nord (LN – Northern League) under the leadership of Umberto Bossi (1991–2012), and by drawing on individual and group interviews with party members, this article explores the latter’s experiences of activism. It highlights the reasons why activists stayed in the LN and what they gained from doing so, arguing that the fostering of a strong collective identity among people was an important ingredient of the LN’s appeal, and that understanding it can help us achieve a more nuanced conceptualisation of different forms of activism today.