The roots of the Lega Nord’s populist regionalism

Abstract

and holds an MA in Contemporary Italian Culture and History from UCL. His doctoral research reconceptualizes the roots of the Lega Nord in the light of 1950s' regionalist movements in Lombardy and Piedmont. He has previously published A brief comparative history of economic regionalism in the North Italian macro-region and Catalonia (Rivista Progressus -Università di Siena. 2014), The Movimento Autonomista Bergamasco and the Lega Nord (Modern Italy. 2018) and also collaborates with 'The Conversation' and 'Novara Media'.

Italian discontent and right‐wing populism: determinants, geographies, patterns

“…The rise of populism in Italy can be brought back to two additional subcategories: from one side, the “eclectic” populism of the M5S, founded in 2009, has always been characterized by an anti‐establishment identity, although without clear positions towards economic policies and national safety related to immigration phenomenon (Mosca & Tronconi, 2019); from the other side, the right‐wing “regionalist” populism by “Lega Nord” (hereinafter, Lega) (Newth, 2019), born at the beginning of the 1990s in Italian northern regions. The Lega party’s ideology was initially marked by strong secessionist pushes favouring regional autonomy, and it has progressively become the main RWPP in Italy.…”

Rethinking ‘nativism’: beyond the ideational approach

“…The term itself originated in the USA to define 'an 'ideology' or 'certain kind of nationalism' which expresses 'intense opposition to an internal minority on the ground of its foreign connections' (Higham 1955, 4;Higham 1958, 149;Knoll 2012, 911;Riedel 2018, 19). Since then scholars have used nativism to denote the 'nationalist doctrine' or 'ideology' of the European 'radical right' (Betz 2017, 171;Mudde 2007Zaslove 2009;Newth 2019Newth , 2021 while also applying it to explain the decline of civic narratives of 'African nationalism' and the rise of xenophobic and exclusionary nationalist discourses in several African states. (Ndlovu-Ndlovu-Gatsheni 2010;Neocosmos 2006).…”

“…(Ndlovu-Ndlovu-Gatsheni 2010;Neocosmos 2006). Perhaps the most ubiquitous definition of nativism is that coined by Mudde (2020, 27) as a 'combination of nationalism and xenophobia' and an ideology, which holds that states should be inhabited exclusively by members of the native group ('the nation') and that non-native elements (persons and ideas) are fundamentally threatening to the homogenous nation-state (Mudde 2007, 19) While this minimal ideational approach has been greatly influential in studies of the European far right (Albertazzi and McDonnell 2008;Zaslove 2009;Newth 2019Newth , 2021, it can lead to a conflation of nativism with nationalism, overlooks the importance of the civic-ethnic binary and also neglects the fuzzy borders between nationalism and xenophobia.…”

Populism in abeyance: the survival of populist repertoires of contention in North Italy

“…(Piemonte Nuovo, 1956a) This highlights the first cultural repertoire of 'a Northern underdog exploited by Southern and centralist elites.' At the centre of this populist regionalism was an antipolitical and anti-southern discourse protesting against a 'partitocrazia' (regime of parties) whilst demanding fewer contributions to the Cassa per il Mezzogiorno (The fund for the South) and a stop to post-war migration from the South to the North (Newth, 2019). This is captured by imagery released by the MRAs throughout the 1950s which depicts a hard-working north being sucked dry by the parasitic south (Figure 1).…”