The arrest and subsequent trials in the late 1980s/early 1990s did not change Stefano Delle Chiaie’s worldview. As soon as he was acquitted, he once again tried to assume a leadership position within Italy’s far-right. Thereby, he at first seemed to benefit from the decline and ultimate collapse of the Italian political system at the… Continue reading ““The Black Carlos”: The story of Italian right-wing terrorist Stefano Delle Chiaie (Part IV: Delle Chiaie’s Revival)”
On February 12 2020, the Senate chamber of the Italian Parliament approved the go-ahead to revoke parliamentary immunity for the former Interior Minister Matteo Salvini – leader of the Italian populist radical-right League – in order to be tried on the Gregoretti case. Matteo Salivini is accused for abuse of power and for kidnapping 135… Continue reading “Is Italian right-wing populism in decline?”
Salvini’s showcasing of religious devotion and rhetoric about the pandemic are part of a political strategy aimed at taking over the reigns of power. Unlike the Rassemblement National (RN), formerly Front National, in France, the radical populist right in Italy has largely managed to hold on to its electorate. In early April, Matteo Salvini’s Lega still polled a bit… Continue reading “After COVID-19: will Matteo Salvini lead Europe’s radical right?”
Polls show that the COVID-19 crisis, and particularly the EU’s more than hesitant response to it, has soured Italians’ views of the European Union. In no country in Europe has COVID-19 claimed more victims than in Italy. Similarly, nowhere in Europe has the radical populist right benefitted more from the pandemic than in Italy. At… Continue reading “How the European Union Lost Italy to the Radical Right”
A descriptive and benign term, “family” has been turned into the primary frontier of social wars by the radical right. In March 2019, the World Congress of Families (WCF), in collaboration with the International Organization for the Family (IOF), organized its 13th conference, “The Wind of Change: Europe and the Global Pro-Family Movement,” in Verona, Italy.… Continue reading “Turning Family Into a Political Weapon”
Unlike yesterday’s fascists, today’s radical right-wing leaders propagate neither territorial expansion nor anything close to the racial laws of the 1930s. Björn Höcke is public enemy number one in present-day Germany. At least that’s what German media suggest. Höcke is a leading exponent of the “völkisch” wing of Alternative for Germany (AfD), the country’s radical right-wing populist… Continue reading “Have We Seen the Eternal Return of Fascism?”
Matteo Salvini’s League party takes advantage of the frustration felt by Italians living in poverty to fuel xenophobia and hatred toward immigrants. Since Matteo Salvini took over the leadership of the Northern League party (rebranded as the League before last year’s elections) in late 2013, the focus of his harsh political campaigns shifted from southern… Continue reading “Italian Populists Use Social Welfare to Ignite a “War Between the Poor””
Populist radical right parties and their leaders openly despise expertise: they often parade their ignorance and inexperience by developing, in electoral terms, propaganda depicting them shoulder-to-shoulder with ordinary citizens (“the People”) – as distant as possible from accultured, intellectual cosmopolitan elites. Mainstream political parties have, especially in recent years, often championed recourse to unelected experts… Continue reading “Expertise in politics: boon or bane?”
In May 2019, the Italian government approved an anti-immigration “decreto sicurezza” (or security decree). Among other nationalist policies, the new law foresees a fine against anyone who is found transporting a migrant into the country. In response, the students of Sicilian high school teacher Rosa Maria dell’Aria produced a short video that compared the decree,… Continue reading “Is freedom of expression at stake in Italy?”
The vision of a fascist Europe proved to be a chimera. Today’s watchers of the radical right must hope that things will be no different when the heirs of ‘classic fascism’ meet in Milan next week. It was reported on 5 April that Matteo Salvini, leader of Italy’s League Party (formerly the Northern League) and the country’s… Continue reading “A pan-European radical right – contradiction in terms?”