Re-inventing the Italian Right
Re-inventing the Italian Right

Author: Stefano Fella

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2009-06-26

Total Pages: 560

ISBN-13: 1134286333

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Following his third election victory in 2008, the Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi was the most controversial head of government in the EU. This is a cogent examination of the Berlusconi phenomenon, exploring the success and development of the new populist right-wing coalition in Italy since the collapse of the post-war party system in the early 1990s. Carlo Ruzza and Stefano Fella provide a comprehensive discussion of the three main parties of the Italian right: Berlusconi’s Forza Italia, the xenophobic and regionalist populist Northern League and the post-fascist National Alliance. The book assesses the implications of this controversial right for the Italian democratic system and examines how the social and political peculiarities of Italy have allowed such political formations to emerge and enjoy repeated electoral success. Framed in a comparative perspective, the authors: explore the nature of the Italian right in the context of right-wing parties and populist phenomena elsewhere in other advanced democracies, drawing comparisons and providing broader explanations. locate the parties of the Italian right within the existing theoretical conceptions of right-wing and populist parties, utilising a multi-method approach, including a content analysis of party programmes. highlight the importance of political and discursive opportunities in explaining the success of the Italian right, and the agency role of a political leadership that has skilfully shaped and communicated an ideological package to exploit these opportunities. Providing an excellent insight into a key European nation, this work provides a thoughtful and stimulating contribution to the research on the Italian right, and its implications for democratic politics.

First They Took Rome
First They Took Rome

Author: David Broder

Publisher: Verso Books

Published: 2020-07-14

Total Pages: 225

ISBN-13: 1786637634

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It is difficult for Italians to have much faith in the future. The last Labour Minister said it was a good thing if young people emigrated, to stop them 'getting under our feet'; one recent Prime Minister said that young Italians should not invest their hopes in securing a stable job, for that would be 'boring', anyway. Examining Italy's history since the end of the Cold War, Italy is the Future argues that its dismal situation should not be understood in terms of a stereotyped narrative of Italian chaos or backwardness. In a country that could once boast Europe's strongest Left, Italy today epitomises the crisis of democracy in the West. The scandals of Silvio Berlusconi's rule, the pervasive corruption of public life and sky-high youth unemployment are indicators of a particularly sick society. Yet what is also apparent is the difficulty of any new force emerging to renew Italy's institutions, as its atomised citizens lose hope in political change. What has broken apart in Italy is not just its once-mighty Left but the very bases of social solidarity. The parties of the 1990s and 2000s directly express the social demolition wrought by neoliberalism, as isolated and endangered individuals face the consequences of the crisis alone. Not this or that political party, but public life itself, is in full-scale collapse

Women and the Reinvention of the Political
Women and the Reinvention of the Political

Author: Maud Anne Bracke

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2014-07-11

Total Pages: 271

ISBN-13: 131767412X

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This is the first in-depth study of the feminist movement that swept Italy during the "long 1970s" (1968-1983), and one of the first to use a combination of oral history interviews and newly-released archive sources to analyze the origins, themes, practices and impacts of "second-wave" feminism. While detailing the local and national contexts in which the movement operated, it sees this movement as transnationally connected. Emerging in a society that was both characterized by traditional gender roles, and a microcosm of radical political projects in the wake of 1968, the feminist movement was able to transform the lives of thousands of women, shape gender identities and roles, and provoke political and legislative change. More strongly mass-based and socially diverse than its counterparts in other Western countries at the time, its agenda encompassed questions of work, unpaid care-work, sexuality, health, reproductive rights, sexual violence, social justice, and self-expression. The case studies detailing feminist politics in three cities (Turin, Naples, and Rome) are framed in a wider analysis of the movement’s emergence, its transnational links and local specificities, and its practices and discourses. The book concludes on a series of hypotheses regarding the movement’s longer-term impacts and trajectories, taking it up to the Berlusconi era and the present day.

The Oxford Handbook of the Radical Right
The Oxford Handbook of the Radical Right

Author: Jens Rydgren

Publisher: Oxford University Press

Published: 2018-02-01

Total Pages: 761

ISBN-13: 0190644184

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The resurgence of strong radical right-wing parties and movements constitutes one of the most significant political changes in democratic states during the past several decades, particularly in Europe. The radical right's comeback has notably attracted interest from political scientists, sociologists, and historians, although the majority of past research focuses on party and electoral politics. In contrast, The Oxford Handbook of the Radical Right not only covers existing literature, but also shows how the radical right forms movements rather than parties. Editor Jens Rydren has gathered an international cast of contributors to cover concepts and definitions; ideologies and discourses; and a range of contemporary issues such as religion, globalization, gender, and activism. Further, this volume is one of few to provide a number of cases focusing on areas outside of Europe, including Russia, the US, Australia, Israel, and Japan. By integrating various strands of scholarship on the radical right that covers different regions and different research perspectives, this Handbook provides an authoritative and state of the art overview of the topic and will set the agenda for scholarship on the radical right for years to come.

The Heritage Arena
The Heritage Arena

Author: Cristina Grasseni

Publisher: Berghahn Books

Published: 2016-10-01

Total Pages: 202

ISBN-13: 1785332953

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In Europe a number of production and communication strategies have long tried to establish local products as resources for local development. At the foot of the Alps, this scenario appears in all its contradictions, especially in relation to cheese production. The Heritage Arena focuses on the saga of Strachitunt, a cheese that has been designated an EU Protected Designation of Origin after years of negotiation and competition involving cheese-makers, merchants, and Slow Food activists. The book explores how the reinvention of cheese as a form of heritage is an ongoing and dynamic process rife with conflict and drama.

Populists in Power
Populists in Power

Author: Daniele Albertazzi

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2015-02-11

Total Pages: 219

ISBN-13: 1317535030

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The main area of sustained populist growth in recent decades has been Western Europe, where populist parties have not only endured longer than expected, but have increasingly begun to enter government. Focusing on three high-profile cases in Italy and Switzerland – the Popolo della Libertà (PDL), Lega Nord (LN) and Schweizerische Volkspartei (SVP) – Populists in Power is the first in-depth comparative study to examine whether these parties are indeed doomed to failure in office as many commentators have claimed. Albertazzi and McDonnell’s findings run contrary to much of the received wisdom. Based on extensive original research and fieldwork, they show that populist parties can be built to last, can achieve key policy victories and can survive the experience of government, without losing the support of either the voters or those within their parties. Contributing a new perspective to studies in populist politics, Populists in Power is essential reading for undergraduate and postgraduate students, as well as scholars interested in modern government, parties and politics.

On Extremism and Democracy in Europe
On Extremism and Democracy in Europe

Author: Cas Mudde

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2016-03-17

Total Pages: 189

ISBN-13: 1317222229

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On Extremism and Democracy in Europe is a collection of short and accessible essays on the far right, populism, Euroscepticism, and liberal democracy by one of the leading academic and public voices today. It includes both sober, fact-based analysis of the often sensationalized "rise of the far right" in Europe as well as passionate defence of the fundamental values of liberal democracy. Sometimes counter-intuitive and always thought-provoking, Mudde argues that the true challenge to liberal democracy comes from the political elites at the centre of the political systems rather than from the political challengers at the political margins. Pushing to go beyond the simplistic opposition of extremism and democracy, which is much clearer in theory than in practice, he accentuates the internal dangers of liberal democracy without ignoring the external threats. This book is essential reading for anyone interested in European politics, extremism and/or current affairs more generally.

Revolt on the Right
Revolt on the Right

Author: Robert Ford

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2014-03-17

Total Pages: 264

ISBN-13: 1317938542

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Winner of the Political Book of the Year Award 2015 The UK Independence Party (UKIP) is the most significant new party in British politics for a generation. In recent years UKIP and their charismatic leader Nigel Farage have captivated British politics, media and voters. Yet both the party and the roots of its support remain poorly understood. Where has this political revolt come from? Who is supporting them, and why? How are UKIP attempting to win over voters? And how far can their insurgency against the main parties go? Drawing on a wealth of new data – from surveys of UKIP voters to extensive interviews with party insiders – in this book prominent political scientists Robert Ford and Matthew Goodwin put UKIP's revolt under the microscope and show how many conventional wisdoms about the party and the radical right are wrong. Along the way they provide unprecedented insight into this new revolt, and deliver some crucial messages for those with an interest in the state of British politics, the radical right in Europe and political behaviour more generally.

Routledge Handbook of Global Populism
Routledge Handbook of Global Populism

Author: Carlos de la Torre

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2018-10-10

Total Pages: 611

ISBN-13: 1351850148

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This volume illustrates the diversity of populism globally. When seeking power, populists politicize issues, and point to problems that need to be addressed such as inequalities, the loss of national sovereignty to globalization, or the rule of unresponsive political elites. Yet their solutions tend to be problematic, simplistic, and in most instances, instead of leading to better forms of democracy, their outcomes are authoritarian. Populists use a playbook of concentrating power in the hands of the president, using the legal system instrumentally to punish critics, and attacking the media and civil society. Despite promising to empower the people, populists lead to processes of democratic erosion and even transform malfunctioning democracies into hybrid regimes. The Routledge Handbook of Global Populism provides instructors, students, and researchers with a thorough and systematic overview of the history and development of populism and analyzes the main debates. It is divided into sections on the theories of populism, on political and social theory and populism, on how populists politicize inequalities and differences, on the media and populism, on its ambiguous relationships with democratization and authoritarianism, and on the distinct regional manifestations of populism. Leading international academics from history, political science, media studies, and sociology map innovative ideas and areas of theoretical and empirical research to understand the phenomenon of global populism.