On the Historical Evolution of the Northern League in Italy

Abstract

In 2018, Italy’s newly formed government, which included the far right League, raised concerns among European political and financial elites. The international press portrayed the parties that won the elections as the (Eurosceptic) barbarians ready to besiege the city walls of Rome. In this article, I argue that hard-line anti-immigration policies were their most visible characteristic. In particular, I demonstrate that the League’s xenophobic approach was not new, as its precursors already promoted discrimination, and that the party moved from regionalism to the far right side of the political spectrum. I also question the party’s recent national(ist) shift, which seems to have been made uncritically and for pragmatic, electoral reasons. The article thus contributes to the history of the far right since the 1980s while demonstrating the usefulness of a historical methodology for scholars from other disciplines who work on right-wing prejudice.

Keywords

• the far right, racism, immigration, nationalism, regionalism