“We Are Against Islam!”

Abstract

Since 1995, the Italian Lega Nord (LN) political party has depicted itself as the defender of Padania, a territory that covers the mainly affluent regions of Northern Italy. Around this politico-spatial territory, the LN has shaped an identity based on the notion of Popolo Padano (the Padanian People). Since the new millennium, LN rhetoric has increasingly focusedstemming more from the demands of realpolitik than those of conviction-on opposing irregular immigration per se and, more specifically, Islam and Muslim immigration. In the eyes of the LN propagandists and their media, the theology of Islam and its practitioners represent a growing threat to the modern Italian and Padanian identity (and tradition). The LN has not been alone in using the media to oppose Islam; the Italian media has reinforced LN messages; Muslims are generally depicted as dangerous and compared with terrorists and their religion and culture are described as the opposite of Italian/West values. Something approximating to a "moral panic" around this issue has ensued. Integral to this are notions of morality combined with practices of moral entrepreneurship. What follows seeks to highlight the LN's stereotypical depictions of Islam. This evaluation is important because the LN was a major player in former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's government (2008)(2009)(2010)(2011) and is still a significant party among the Italian political spectrum. Integral to what follows are the following questions: "Is contemporary Islamic immigration a threat to the Italian (and Padanian) way of life?" and "Are the perceived threats to be found in the periodic uncertainties that societies suffer or might we need to search for wider processes?" Keywords Italy, Lega Nord, Islam, immigration, moral panic, folk devil 2 SAGE Open "liquid society" (Bauman, 1998(Bauman, , 2000. Such a society is characterized by the absence of strong institutions, an overwhelming fear of unemployment and general uncertainty about the future. Bauman's assertion about the inability of the liquid State to be the "certainty producer" definitely holds in the case of Italy where a political class seems incapable of addressing-among many pressing issues-the North-South divide, which forever fractures the country's economy and psyche. In the eyes of many, Italy is a "sick" country affected by constant fear (Morici, 2010). Prominent among these fears are those relating to Islamic terrorism and Muslim immigration. In this framework, Muslims have become the perfect representative of Bauman's "underclass"; this demographic is perceived as a threat to social order by an increasingly fearful indigenous public who are subject to perpetual economic insecurities. In this milieu, new political movements have emerged.This article attempts to analyze the LN's construction of Islam using the concept of the moral panic (Cohen, 1972;Ben-Yehuda & Goode, 1994). Drawing on data expounded variously on Youtube, Facebook, the LN's main websites (LegaNord.org; studentipadani.com; giovanipadani.leganord....

Exclusionary Populism and Islamophobia: A Comparative Analysis of Italy and Spain

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“…Thus, it is banal as non-unique, in so much as these type of prejudices might be-and they actually are-applied to Roma, Asians or any other minorities, they have constructed an ad hoc enemy (Testa and Armstrong 2012).…”

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“…This similarity allows arguing that Muslims constitute only one of the possible options of constructing an ad hoc enemy (Testa and Armstrong 2012) to be politicized for the purpose of political mobilization.…”

Behold the monster: Mythical explanations of deviance and evil in news of the Amish school shooting

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